Marc-André Pépin, a Quebec native and CEO of the Swiss company Invescap, is counting on his cradle to bring his European financial products into the North American high-net-worth clientele market.
Invescap intends to establish a first office in Montreal in order to establish itself in the Canadian market. The long-term goal is to expand its offer in the United States.
The CEO chose Quebec as a gateway in order to benefit from the loyalty of the staff. “It’s necessary when you start a company,” said Marc-André Pépin. “If we had decided to start in New York, it would have been more difficult to find this quality in the candidates since there is more competition. In addition, I think that there are very competent people who are able to do the job in Quebec.”
In fact, the company has been carrying out market studies for a year now from an office located at 1000 de la Gauchetière in downtown Montréal. Moreover, its manager plans to establish his new premises in the same sector. “It’s a matter of weeks; the time to obtain our accreditations to do business in Quebec and Canada,” said Marc-André Pépin in an interview with Finance et Investissement.
A headhunter is currently looking for a person to fill the position of vice-president, business development in Quebec. The interview process has already begun.
About Invescap
The Swiss manufacturer creates, develops, and distributes European financial products “which are otherwise inaccessible in the local market of its institutional clients”, indicates its website. Invescap is obviously already present in Europe, but also in Asia and the Middle East.
On the Invescap website, we can read that “European financial products are innovative and flexible investment instruments which constitute an advantageous alternative solution to direct investments (such as stocks, bonds, currencies, etc.). As a general rule, European financial products are bearer bonds, for which the issuer responds with his entire fortune.”
Invescap Products
Invescap’s product types have existed for 30 years in Europe and practically not in North America, according to Marc-André Pépin.
“These are conservative products for independent wealth managers, mid-sized financial institutions, insurance companies, and high net worth clients who want to preserve capital with 5-7% returns with risk, but very low. These are constructions that are all of the bond type. This is so that all are notes — certificates that are issued with fixed and predetermined maturity dates,” says Marc-André Pépin.
Big Players Interested
Without wanting to reveal the names, Marc-André Pépin says that several managers of large fortunes, among which are big names in the Canadian financial field, wish to integrate Invescap products into the portfolio of their clients. “Some are even ready to add them up to a proportion of 20%,” he adds.
According to him, his clients in Europe devote 20 to 50% of their portfolios to European financial products. For Swiss customers, the proportion can reach 100%, according to him.
Marc-André Pépin: Quebecer in the Service of Royalty
Marc-André Pépin has, to say the least, a sparkling career. At 23, he left Canada to study in London on a scholarship. He passed his MBA there and then got hired for the JP Morgan bank in London.
It was then his passage, still at JP Morgan, but in New York this time, which took him to Switzerland through the company of one of his clients: the princely family of Liechtenstein, whose bank managed the assets in Geneva in Swiss. He also acquired experience in Switzerland at LGT, RVM, and the Crédit Suisse Group. He is the founder and CEO of Invescap.
