the people

the partners | the management

Since its establishment, the Aurelia Group has made the competence and loyalty of its staff its highest priorities, as pre-requisites to providing its clients with the service they expect.

the partners

laurent mathysen-gerst Managing director, founding partner, born 1956. Mr Mathysen-Gerst worked for more than 10 years in the major markets for such companies as Chase Manhattan Bank and Nomura Securities. In addition to looking after his clients, Mr Mathysen-Gerst has responsibilities for the Group finances. He is a political science graduate of Columbia University and an OPM graduate of the Harvard Business School.

vladimir stepczynski Director, managing partner, born 1945. Mr Stepczynski entered Geneva's banking and financial sector after a career in financial journalism. He joined the Aurelia Group in 1988 and is today responsible for its external relations and communications as well as for the financial well being of his clients. Mr Stepczynski studied law at Geneva University.

pascal cattaneo Director, managing partner, born 1961. Mr Cattaneo joined BNP Paribas (Suisse) S.A. in Geneva in 1985 and developed his career with this bank before joining the Aurelia Group in 1992. He manages the portfolios of his clients and assumes responsibility for the development of the Group's operations and strategies. Mr Cattaneo is an economics graduate of Geneva University, majoring in finance.

olivier ador Director, managing partner, born 1951. Mr Ador joined the Credit Suisse in Geneva in 1979, where he pursued a successful career before joining Aurelia in 1994. Apart from his responsibilities to his clients, Mr Ador oversees the Group's activities in marketing and human resources. He is a business graduate of Geneva University and of the Credit Suisse New York International Banking School.

jean-marc wenger Director, managing partner, born 1963. Mr Wenger has spent most of his working life in Geneva's banking sector, in particular with the Crédit Lyonnais. He joined Aurelia Finance in 1998, where he manages a number of private portfolios. Mr Wenger is also responsible for the Group's investment policies, "compliance" issues and the development of its information technology. He is a business graduate of Geneva University, majoring in finance.

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the management

yves pillonel

General manager, born 1961. Mr Pillonel worked for Pictet & Co. both in Switzerland and abroad before joining Aurelia Finance in 2000 to manage his clients and to take up the post of personnel manager. He has a German-language interpreter's licence from the Heidelberg institute of languages. He holds diplomas in options and futures from the New York Institute of Finance (NYIF) and the Chicago Board of Exchange (CBOE).

jean-philippe gigon

General manager, born 1962. After Geneva Business School, Mr. Gigon followed a career in international private banking and portfolio management. He has been with UBS in Geneva and Panama for twelve years. He covered primarily clients from Latin America and Spain. In early 1994, he joined Banco Santander (Suisse) S.A. to focus on the Southern Cone area (Argentina, Chile). In 1997, he moved to J.P. Morgan (Suisse) S.A. to be in charge of the same region. Mr. Gigon joined Aurelia Finance S.A. in 2002 to pursue his career in wealth management.

mark mathysen-gerst

General manager, born 1971. Mr Mathysen-Gerst gained early working experience in Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico and the United States before joining Fidelity Investments in London for two years as an analyst. He joined Aurelia Finance in 1997 to further his career in asset management. Mr Mathysen-Gerst is an economics graduate of the American College in London.

philippe favre

General Manager, born 1966. Mr Favre holds a B.A. of Geneva University. He spent two years in Taiwan, where he learned the language and worked in import-export with Asia, then with eastern countries. After a training course at the Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, he joined Aurelia Finance in 2000 to pursue a career in asset management. Since 2004, after obtaining a certificate in compliance management, Mr Favre is the compliance officer at Aurelia Finance.

joël johnson

General manager, Bermuda, born 1965. Mr Johnson worked for three years with Capital International S.A. in Geneva, obtaining his Swiss federal diploma as a licensed financial analyst and portfolio manager (CFA). He joined Aurelia in Geneva in 1995 and managed the Group's London office from 1997 to 2001. Mr Johnson is a business graduate of Geneva University, majoring in finance.

david howard

General manager, Bermuda, born 1962. Mr Howard joined Barclays Private Bank in 1994 developed business with private clients in Spain and Latin America before becoming the manager of the Europe and Americas region. He moved to the Bank of Bermuda in 2000 to head the Americas’ private client services division before joining Aurelia Research in 2005. Mr Howard holds a BA (Hons) degree in modern languages from the University of Bristol.

giuseppina flammia

Manager, born 1971. Mrs Flammia obtained her Swiss federal business diploma with Coutts & Co SA in 1989 and went on to work in the bank's portfolio-management department for the next two years. After a six-month appointment in Britain, she joined Aurelia Finance in 1992 for a career in asset management.

marie-thérèse pereira

Manager, born 1965. Mrs Pereira joined J.P. Morgan Geneva in 1989 and worked there for 11 years as a management assistant for European, Latin-American and Asian clients. After spending one year with Darier Hentsch Geneva, Mrs Pereira joined Aurelia Finance in 2004 to pursue a career in asset management. Mrs Pereira studied in the Faculty of Economic and Social Science, at Geneva University.

francine schwab

Manager, born 1968. Mrs Schwab started her career in documentary credits and loans. She then gained experience in private-asset management with Bank Julius Baer. After a few years working for an independent asset-manager, she worked for Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch and UBS in their departments for independent managers. She joined Aurelia Finance in 2006.

fabienne oberson

Manager, born 1976. After obtaining a degree in international management, Ms Oberson entered the marketing department of HSBC Republic in 2001. To round off her qualifications, she followed the relevant courses and was awarded an MBA at the Lausanne Business School. Ms Oberson joined Aurelia Finance at the beginning of 2004 and wants to pursue a career in asset management.

sandra stephens

General Manager, born 1969. After attaining her MBA, Ms. Stephens worked for Bank of Bermuda for 11 years in various departments. Prior to leaving she was Vice President, Head of Credit for the Private Banking division. Ms. Stephens joined us in 2007.

lisa leblanc

Manager, born 1975. Mrs LeBlanc obtained a BS (hons) degree in Business Management from the University of Massachusetts. She returned to Bermuda to begin her career at Bermuda Trust Company Ltd (Bank of Bermuda) in 2000 and then moved into fund administration with Fulcrum Limited in 2003. She joined Aurelia Fund Management in 2005 to further her career in asset management.

lisa lacey

Manager, born 1970.After working for a local insurance company for two years, Lisa Lacey joined Aurelia Research early 2002. She was educated in the United States and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Rehabilitation from Springfield College in Massachusetts.

nadia della-bianca marin

Assistant manager, born 1967. Mrs della-Bianca Marin worked at UBS in Geneva from 1985 to 1991. After spending three years in Italy, she returned to UBS as an assistant asset-manager for local clients from 1995 to 1999. Nadia della-Bianca Marin gained her diploma at Geneva’s business high school. She joined Aurelia Finance in 1999 to continue her career in wealth management.

sandra aguiar

Assistant manager, born 1970. Mrs Aguiar has a secretary’s cantonal diploma majoring in asset management.She gained professional experience over several years working for various finance companies as well as for the multinational Mercer human-resources consultancy. Attracted to the banking environment, she took a job with Lombard Odier & Co. (now LODH) and completed her banking experience during three years with Banco Santander before joining Aurelia Finance in September 2006.

kim siegrist

Assistant manager, born 1978. Ms Siegrist joined UBS in Lugano in 1999 and worked there for four years as an assistant asset manager. In 2003, she spent a year in California where she obtained a Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English, before returning to UBS, Lugano. In 2005, she was transferred to UBS Geneva to co-ordinate assistants in a wealth-management department. Kim Siegrist joined Aurelia Finance in 2007.

shinan wang

Computer programmer and assistant in Chinese language, born 1981. After completing her schooling in China, decided to come to Switzerland where she took a degree in French followed by a master’s degree in computer science at the University of Neuchâtel. She joined Aurelia Finance in 2006 to continue her career in information technology and as Chinese-language assistant.