Christel Rendu de Lint will take over the management of Vontobel Investments from Zeno Staub, effective January 13, 2023. The Center of Excellence Investments encompasses six investment boutiques – Quality Growth, Sustainable Equities, TwentyFour Asset Management, Fixed Income, Vontobel Multi Asset and Vescore, which are headed by Matthew Benkendorf, Jean-Louis Nakamura, Ben Hayward, Simon Lue-Fong, Dan Scott and Daniel Seiler, respectively. With its global investment expertise, Vontobel enables clients to invest in actively managed equity, fixed income and multi asset solutions.
In total, around 300 investment experts work for Vontobel at its investment boutiques in Hong Kong, London, Milan, Munich, New York and Zurich, managing more than CHF 120 billion for their clients (as of September 30, 2022). The quality of Vontobel’s investment expertise is demonstrated in particular by the numerous awards it has received in recent years, as well as its good performance in key industry rankings.
Christel Rendu de Lint joined Vontobel in the role of Deputy Head of Investments in May 2021. She previously worked for Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), where she built and managed a fixed income boutique from end-2007 to end 2020, growing its asset under management from around USD 1 billion to USD 20 billion over that period. Before joining UBP, Christel Rendu de Lint was a Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at Pictet. She began her career in the financial sector in 2000 at Morgan Stanley in London as a Senior Economist in Sell-Side Equity Research. Prior to that, she studied at London Business School and the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland, and she holds a PhD in Economics from London Business School. During that time, she worked on various research projects for the IMF, the UK Treasury and the Swiss National Bank, among others.
At the time of Vontobel’s repositioning as a global, client-centric pure-play investment firm in 2020, Zeno Staub took over the management of Investments and of the Digital Investing Client Unit in addition to his position as CEO. Zeno Staub already handed over the management of the Client Unit two years ago and is now also handing over responsibility for Investments to his deputy, Christel Rendu de Lint, in order to focus fully on his role as CEO. Investments, which represents the firm’s core area of expertise, will continue to be represented on the Executive Committee of Vontobel Holding AG in the future, with the appointment of Christel Rendu de Lint to the Executive Committee, effective January 13, 2023.
“I am very pleased that Christel Rendu de Lint, an internationally recognized investment expert, is taking over the management of our Investment team, which largely embodies Vontobel’s value proposition for clients – empowering them to build better futures. I look forward to continuing our successful collaboration for the benefit of our clients and thus also for Vontobel,” stated Zeno Staub, CEO.
“As explained at Investor Day in November 2022, we want to further expand our position as a global investment firm in the coming years and to further increase our diversified range of future-proof investment solutions. To achieve this, we will further enhance the quality of our investment expertise – especially in the area of equity products, with a particular emphasis on ESG and Impact Investing. In addition, Vontobel will establish partnerships to give clients access to private market investments in the future. Such investments offer clients additional opportunities for diversification,” said Christel Rendu de Lint, Head of Investments.
New Board Committee
Vontobel’s Board of Directors established a new committee – the Investment Oversight Committee – on January 1, 2023. With the Investment Oversight Committee, the Board of Directors is implementing an appropriate institutional framework for the assumption of its fiduciary supervisory duties as the most senior governing body of the investment firm Vontobel. The new Committee is chaired by Andreas Utermann, Chairman of the Board of Directors. The Investment Oversight Committee will also comprise Elisabeth Bourqui and Björn Wettergren, who are both members of Vontobel’s Board of Directors.
“Vontobel took the right strategic decision three years ago when it positioned itself as a client-centric pure-play active investment firm. The demand for attractive, customized investment solutions and professional wealth and asset management is continuing to grow – especially in the established markets in which Vontobel operates. Investing is the new form of saving in the current market environment. The new Investment Oversight Committee of the Board of Directors emphasizes the central importance assigned to investing by Vontobel at all levels of the company,” stated Andreas Utermann, Chairman of Vontobel’s Board of Directors.
