Two intensive days in the mountains are over – and I’m taking a lot of impressions with me. This year’s big topic: emerging cities as engines of growth and innovation. From North Africa to South Asia to Latin America – urban centres are rising everywhere and reshaping the economy.
Three points stayed with me:
- Demographics: Young populations and a growing middle class need housing, infrastructure and services. The pace is impressive – in Europe, we don’t see this anymore.
- Technology: Many of these cities skip traditional development steps. AI, fintech and digital infrastructure are opening doors that were closed before.
- Sustainability: Existing systems are not replaced, but adapted and improved. A pragmatic way to build stable, future-ready cities.
For us as long-term investors, the question is: what does this mean for long-horizon investment strategies? The discussions on this were very valuable.
Emerging Cities Made the Agenda, People Made the Days
But what impressed me even more was the exchange itself. Events like this show again and again how important personal conversations are – with wealth managers, family offices and experts. People discuss openly, share experiences and learn from each other.
My key takeaway: we are an industry with real solidarity. Despite competition, we share a common goal – to think ahead for our clients and take responsibility for the long term.
Thank you, everyone, for the great conversations. I look forward to continuing them.
What Emerging Cities Change for Our Clients
Emerging cities do not only change skylines; moreover, they change the questions our clients ask us. A family with business interests in Casablanca, Karachi or Bogotá weighs currency risk, custody and succession quite differently from a family whose assets sit entirely in Europe. Consequently, an adviser needs a structure that can hold several jurisdictions at the same time, rather than a single product shelf. That is precisely where wealth management in Switzerland still offers something rare: neutrality, legal stability and decades of cross-border practice. The United Nations urbanisation projections put numbers behind what we discussed on stage.
Why Speed Favours Independent Firms in Emerging Cities
Because these markets move quickly, flexibility counts for more than scale. An independent firm can switch custodians, bring in a specialist or step back from a theme without waiting for a head-office decision. As a result, clients keep access to the whole market instead of one house view. In addition, smaller teams tend to test new ideas earlier, simply because fewer people need to agree. Emerging cities reward that kind of speed.
Conversations Still Beat Slide Decks
Finally, conferences remain one of the few places where competitors talk openly. Indeed, the most useful insight of these two days did not come from a presentation, but from a coffee break. Therefore, I keep blocking time for these events, even in busy quarters – the return on two days of listening is hard to match. Emerging cities will stay on the agenda; so will the conversations around them.
Source: https://vapa.ch/emerging-cities-wealth-management/ · vapa.ch
