JOHANNESBURG, Feb 16 – Swiss multinational private bank and financial services company Banque Pictet & Cie has established its first office in Africa after receiving regulatory approval to open a representative presence in South Africa, marking a historic expansion for the Swiss private bank.
The move follows authorization from the country’s Prudential Authority and reflects growing international interest in Africa’s rapidly expanding private wealth sector. The opening represents the bank’s first physical footprint on the continent in its more than 220 year history.
Headquartered in Geneva, the Swiss financial institution specializes in wealth management, asset management and asset servicing for private individuals and institutional clients. The firm oversees more than $900 billion in assets under management, making it one of Europe’s largest privately owned financial institutions and Switzerland’s second largest bank by assets under management after UBS.
The expansion comes as Africa’s wealth landscape undergoes structural transformation. The number of millionaires across the continent is projected to rise by approximately 65% over the next decade, driven by growth in entrepreneurship, natural resources, financial markets and cross border investment activity.
The bank remains privately owned and is managed by seven senior partners, supported by dozens of equity partners and an independent supervisory board. The founding Pictet family continues to play a central leadership role, underscoring the institution’s longstanding tradition of private ownership and governance.
South Africa’s position as one of Africa’s largest financial hubs, alongside its concentration of high net worth individuals, makes it a strategic entry point for global wealth managers seeking exposure to the continent’s expanding affluent class.
Banque Pictet’s presence signals increasing global competition to serve Africa’s emerging wealth segment, as international financial institutions position themselves to capture long term growth in private capital, asset management and cross border wealth structuring.
