Partners' View May 2022
Issue 02|2022 of our magazine Partners’ View on Art & Creativity. Request your personal copy of the print edition by sending an E-mail to: marketing@swisspartners.com
Issue 02|2022 of our magazine Partners’ View on Art & Creativity. Request your personal copy of the print edition by sending an E-mail to: marketing@swisspartners.com
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The art of reading.<br />
PART<br />
NERS‘<br />
VIEW<br />
02|<strong>2022</strong><br />
<strong>May</strong> <strong>2022</strong><br />
FOCUS<br />
ART &<br />
CREATIVITY<br />
WIE STABIL IST DIE WELT?<br />
THEMEN<br />
< Politik &<br />
Gesellschaft<br />
TOPICS < swisspartners-<br />
< NFTs Mission in art<br />
< Creative < Finanzmarkt advisory<br />
solutions < Versicherungen<br />
< Finance < Human meets Resources art<br />
< Who < Who is? is?
ART &<br />
CREATIVITY<br />
PART<br />
NERS‘<br />
VIEW<br />
ISSUE 04
EDITORIAL<br />
F<br />
Francis Picabia (1879–1953) was one of<br />
the most exciting and influential figures<br />
of classical modernism. A painter,<br />
writer and provocateur, Picabia is<br />
famously quoted as saying “Our heads<br />
are round so our thoughts can change<br />
direction”.<br />
Especially in challenging times, it was<br />
often artists who creatively reflected<br />
contemporary events and significantly<br />
influenced society through their art.<br />
Times of crisis call for creative<br />
solutions and courageous action.<br />
At swisspartners, art has a<br />
longstanding tradition. We have<br />
therefore dedicated the current issue<br />
of Partners’ <strong>View</strong> to a topic that is a<br />
constant source of food for thought:<br />
Art & Creativity. You are cordially<br />
invited to join our editorial team on a<br />
tour through the artistic world – from<br />
the perspective of swisspartners and<br />
the art experts with whom we<br />
collaborate.<br />
Everyone seems to be talking about<br />
NFTs these days. Digital assets expert<br />
Alexander Brunner shares a profound<br />
insight into the topic of NFTs in the art<br />
world and we ask ourselves the<br />
provocative question: Yes, but is it art?<br />
“Creative solutions in wealth advice<br />
need to be custom-tailored to people’s<br />
needs”, says our CEO Asset Management<br />
Christian Dietsche. This point is<br />
clearly demonstrated by two innovative<br />
services: ONE by swisspartners and our<br />
comprehensive stress-free package.<br />
Under the motto ‘Finance meets art’,<br />
we speak with our CEO Markus<br />
Wintsch and our cooperation partners<br />
Claudius Ochsner and Daniel<br />
Wahrenberger from the Gallery WOS<br />
in Zurich about their love of art and<br />
the importance of creativity.<br />
To round off this issue, in the ‘Who is?’<br />
column, we introduce Bernhard<br />
Schürmann, a long-standing<br />
relationship manager and a passionate<br />
art lover.<br />
I wish you a creative read.<br />
Yours<br />
Simone Töllner<br />
Head Marketing<br />
PARTNERS‘ VIEW | Editorial 3
CONTENTS<br />
4 Contents | PARTNERS‘ VIEW
YES, BUT IS IT ART? 6<br />
Alexander Brunner on NFTs in art<br />
CREATIVE ADVISORY<br />
SOLUTIONS 10<br />
Innovative services from swisspartners<br />
FINANCE MEETS ART 12<br />
swisspartners in conversation with Claudius Ochsner<br />
and Daniel Wahrenberger from the Gallery WOS<br />
WHO IS? 18<br />
Profile: Bernhard Schürmann<br />
PUBLISHING<br />
INFORMATION 19<br />
PARTNERS‘ VIEW | Contents 5
YES, BUT IS IT ART?<br />
BETWEEN FASCINATION AND IRRITATION:<br />
NFTS IN THE ART WORLD<br />
Guest commentary by Alexander Brunner<br />
Digital art has become „socially acceptable.”<br />
6 NFTs in art | PARTNERS‘ VIEW
„<br />
Back in 2017, software developers Hall and Watkinson<br />
issued 10,000 NFTs: virtual certificates of ownership<br />
recorded on the blockchain and linked to algorithmically<br />
generated portraits of characters inspired by the London<br />
punk scene, for free. In February <strong>2022</strong>, Sotheby’s planned<br />
to sell 104 of these ‘CryptoPunks’ for a total of USD 30<br />
million. A year earlier, in March 2021, Christie’s auctioned<br />
an NFT by artist Mike Winkelmann for USD 69 million. In<br />
2019, Swiss artist Johannes Gees created 360 NFTs<br />
based on a laser platform. These too were valued in the<br />
millions in 2021. As a new form of digital art, NFTs have<br />
undeniably made it on the mainstream art scene – and<br />
have become a hotly sought-after investment.<br />
With NFTs, the<br />
traditional concept<br />
of art is reaching<br />
its limits.”<br />
The generally technology-averse and slow-to-change art<br />
world is now seeing rapid innovation driven by accelerating<br />
technological advances based on blockchain. It is a<br />
familiar phenomenon from the business world: Wherever<br />
new technologies disrupt the established way of doing<br />
things, they create momentum for rapid change. We only<br />
need to think here of how Amazon transformed the book<br />
trade or how Spotify revolutionised how we listen to<br />
music.<br />
DIGITAL WORLD MEETS THE ART WORLD<br />
An NFT is a non-fungible token – essentially a digital code<br />
that points to a digital or physical object, similar to a<br />
digital certificate of ownership. The token is stored,<br />
immutably and publicly, on the blockchain.<br />
For many years, ‘digital’ or ‘generative’ art – art generated<br />
via computer algorithms – eked out a niche existence.<br />
This was mainly because digital objects are easy, cheap,<br />
and quick to copy – and thus of little value to collectors<br />
or investors.<br />
Combining digital artworks with manipulation-proof<br />
digital certificates in the form of NFTs proved an immediate<br />
game changer, giving a huge uplift to digital art and<br />
propelling it into the realm of respectability. Auction<br />
houses and galleries are not the only ones to profit from<br />
the digital art gold-rush. For artists, too, it has opened up<br />
a completely new market.<br />
A NEW CONCEPT OF ART?<br />
When the first NFTs were pitched onto the art market,<br />
tempers flared: Can digital art be considered art? Can’t<br />
digital artworks simply be copied at will? Something that<br />
is digitally reproducible and consequently anything but<br />
unique surely can’t be valuable in the conventional sense<br />
– or can it?<br />
How does art define itself? And is art only ‘good’ art if it<br />
costs a lot of money? At what point does the physical (art)<br />
world transition to the digital world? Question upon<br />
question, but one thing is clear: with NFTs, the traditional<br />
concept of art is reaching its limits. At the same time, it<br />
has always been the task of art to critically reflect<br />
contemporary events and to play with traditional ideas.<br />
The connection between NFTs and art shows once again<br />
that wherever there is innovation, there are also breaks<br />
with tradition. In my view, the beauty of technological<br />
acceleration is that it generates a wealth of new ideas<br />
and projects in rapid succession. It promotes iteration as<br />
an intrinsic feature of creative work. At the same time,<br />
rapid reproduction raises the question of whether<br />
generative art is artistically substantial and of lasting<br />
value whatsoever. What constitutes quality in digital art?<br />
What will stand the test of time?<br />
PARTNERS‘ VIEW | NFTs in art 7
I am fascinated by the interface „between digital and physical.”<br />
DIGITAL ART AS A STATUS SYMBOL<br />
Top-priced NFTs today include the well-known Bored Ape<br />
(Yacht Club) and the CryptoPunks mentioned earlier.<br />
They enjoy cult status in the crypto world and attract<br />
strong media attention. Their high prices (several hundred<br />
thousand USD) result in people showing them off in<br />
social media. This brings another important function of<br />
digital art into focus: Owners use it to burnish their social<br />
status and prestige, and to gain access to an exclusive<br />
coterie – just as with traditional art.<br />
In this context, it is quite legitimate to ask if the focus<br />
here is on art at all – or if it is all about investing and<br />
media self-promotion. Some hail generative art as visionary,<br />
iconic and trailblazing while others denounce it as trashy<br />
and over-hyped.<br />
Another area of tension is the relationship between capital<br />
and art. While artists are all too quick to say they have<br />
nothing to do with the commercial art world, they still<br />
profit from the enormous value development of their<br />
artistic output. Both aspects collide with great force in<br />
NFTs.<br />
FUSION OF DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL ART<br />
I have worked together with the Zurich artist Christian<br />
Etter for a number of years. He is the founder of the<br />
Museum of Digital Arts in Zurich and designed my book,<br />
Crypto Nation Switzerland. Right now, he is working on<br />
a physical sculpture that incorporates digital, NFT<br />
elements. His aim is to transport predominantly digital<br />
art into the physical world. And it is important to him that<br />
his artwork remains aesthetically compelling, both<br />
digitally and physically. As the co-initiator of this art<br />
project, I am fascinated by the creative process and the<br />
challenges of the interface between digital and physical<br />
art.<br />
8 NFTs in art | PARTNERS‘ VIEW
Foto © Filipa Peixeiro<br />
DIGITAL ART: A GOOD INVESTMENT?<br />
Even the Swiss Art Market Association is grappling with<br />
the question of how the digital transformation will affect<br />
the art world. The question is, where is all this going? Are<br />
NFTs in art no more than a flash in the pan, or do they<br />
have sustainable future potential? Are they worth<br />
investing in?<br />
The current hype around NFTs reminds me of the initial<br />
coin offering (ICO) boom in 2017. Back then, countless<br />
blockchain start-ups raised huge sums in fundraising<br />
campaigns. Shortly thereafter, the crypto market<br />
corrected sharply. Most of the projects turned out to be<br />
pump-and-dump schemes, and in some cases, investors<br />
lost a lot of money. I can imagine a similar situation with<br />
NFTs. In fact, no one can give a reliable prognosis at the<br />
present time.<br />
ART AS MIRROR OF SOCIETY<br />
Digital art has found its way into the classical art world<br />
within a few years due to blockchain technology. High<br />
auction prices and strong media attention have put an<br />
end to generative art’s niche existence. Whether that<br />
makes lasting sense is something only time will tell. But<br />
ultimately, art is expected to mirror society, thereby<br />
promoting critical discourse. This is precisely the contribution<br />
that NFTs can make in view of the rapid digital<br />
transformation in business and society.<br />
THE ART OF ABOUT REAL ESTATE THE AUTHOR<br />
Alexander E. Brunner is from Zurich and works as a<br />
consultant for international technology companies. He<br />
also writes about digital assets and is a member of the<br />
Zurich City Council. As an art lover, he has long taken a<br />
personal interest in the arts and promotes artists in<br />
Switzerland and abroad.<br />
Before working for Ben & Jerry’s, the cult ice cream<br />
brand, Alexander studied business administration at the<br />
University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. He later worked<br />
for over a decade in alternative investments, hedge funds<br />
and impact investing before becoming a senior executive<br />
at a Swedish-Swiss big data start-up.<br />
Alexander is the author of Crypto Nation Switzerland, the<br />
first book about the Swiss Crypto Valley (2019). He also<br />
authored the first Swiss Digital Asset and Wealth<br />
Management Report (2021).<br />
„ Art is expected to mirror<br />
society, thereby promoting<br />
critical discourse.”<br />
PARTNERS‘ VIEW | NFTs in art 9
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Alongside this focus on individual requirements, Dietsche<br />
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10 Creative advisory solutions | PARTNERS‘ VIEW
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PARTNERS‘ VIEW | Creative advisory solutions 11
FINANCEMEETSART<br />
MARKUS WINTSCH, CEO OF THE SWISSPARTNERS GROUP,<br />
AND SIMONE TÖLLNER, HEAD MARKETING, EXCHANGE IDEAS<br />
WITH GALLERY OWNERS CLAUDIUS OCHSNER AND DANIEL<br />
WAHRENBERGER FROM THE GALLERY WOS ON THEIR LOVE<br />
OF ART AND ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ART AND CREATIVITY<br />
AT SWISSPARTNERS.<br />
The discussion was moderated by Kathrin Meister.<br />
„ Our affinity to art is also<br />
expressed in our slogan,<br />
‘The art of finance’.”<br />
Markus Wintsch<br />
12 Finance meets art | PARTNERS‘ VIEW
ART HAS ALWAYS FEATURED LARGE AT<br />
SWISSPARTNERS. THE SWISSPARTNERS SLOGAN,<br />
“THE ART OF FINANCE”, WAS CREATED IN 2016. HOW<br />
DID THIS STRONG AFFINITY TO ART COME ABOUT?<br />
MARKUS WINTSCH: Art plays a central role at swisspartners<br />
and has done for the past 29 years. The founding partners, as<br />
well as the partners who joined through to the end of the<br />
1990s, are all art lovers. They all share close connections with<br />
art. And the same partners have a long track record of<br />
erving clients who also have an affinity to art.<br />
In some cases, partners have brought their own private<br />
artworks into the office. Building on this, we have gradually<br />
expanded our art collection in collaboration with various art<br />
dealers. When selecting works for this purpose, we have<br />
always insisted on them having a connection to the world of<br />
finance. We have also commissioned painters to create works<br />
of art exclusively for swisspartners. One picture, for example,<br />
embodies the swisspartners values. (see page 12)<br />
Our affinity to art is also expressed in<br />
our slogan, “The art of finance”. This<br />
was created during the last makeover of<br />
our corporate identity. Today, it is an<br />
integral part of our corporate design. It<br />
is a highly versatile slogan that we mix<br />
and match in a variety of ways. In the<br />
case of Partners’ <strong>View</strong>, for instance, we<br />
have picked “The art of reading”.<br />
WHAT ROLE DOES ART PLAY IN YOUR CLIENTS’ ASSET<br />
PORTFOLIOS?<br />
MARKUS WINTSCH: Just like real estate or collectible cars,<br />
art has long been firmly established as an asset class in the<br />
investment portfolios of wealthy private clients.<br />
Many clients of swisspartners have been collecting art for<br />
decades. This is something we frequently only learn about<br />
when we visit them in their own homes. In their home<br />
surroundings, we are not only able to gain a better picture of<br />
our clients and their families, but also get to see how they<br />
live and what is important to them. Art often plays a<br />
prominent role here.<br />
„<br />
I see my role as<br />
an opportunity<br />
to combine the<br />
fields of art and<br />
marketing.”<br />
Simone Töllner<br />
THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE GALLERY WOS AND<br />
SWISSPARTNERS GOES BACK A LONG WAY. HOW DID IT<br />
COME ABOUT?<br />
CLAUDIUS OCHSNER: Through my former gallery Barr &<br />
Ochsner, I have been in close contact with Ralph Schuler ever<br />
since early 2000. Our collaboration took on a more concrete<br />
form when Simone Töllner came in.<br />
SIMONE TÖLLNER: Art in our organisation is a subject that<br />
is very close to my heart. Shortly after I joined swisspartners<br />
in July 2019, I met with the three owners of the Gallery WOS<br />
to set up a working partnership. This covers, on the one hand,<br />
the swisspartners art events and, on the other, support for<br />
our in-house art exhibitions. We enjoy a great degree of<br />
freedom and trust on the part of swisspartners’ management<br />
in advancing our art projects. This has naturally added to the<br />
success of our partnership to date. Thanks to art, we are able<br />
to bring new creative flair to our office premises and to inspire<br />
our clients at art events.<br />
PARTNERS‘ VIEW | Finance meets art 13
WHAT DO THE THREE LETTERS WOS STAND FOR AND<br />
HOW ARE YOU SPECIALISED?<br />
DANIEL WAHRENBERGER: The letters stand for the gallery’s<br />
three owners, Wahrenberger, Ochsner and Schafflützel. Its<br />
‘predecessor’ galleries, Barr & Ochsner and Wahrenberger,<br />
boast over 50 years of combined experience in the art market.<br />
Back then, Thomas Schafflützel helped out in my gallery. At<br />
a meeting with Claudius Ochsner, we came up with the idea<br />
of presenting a combined booth at the next art fair. Shortly<br />
after that, Thomas Schafflützel moved to Barr & Ochsner. We<br />
then launched our joint gallery, the Gallery WOS, in September<br />
2019. You can find us in Zurich’s beautiful Kirchgasse, where<br />
we opened our premises in mid-2020. We inaugurated another<br />
showroom in Pfäffikon this March.<br />
CLAUDIUS OCHSNER: Due to the merger of two galleries,<br />
we are naturally very broadly positioned. On the one hand,<br />
we represent the programme of the former Barr & Ochsner<br />
gallery: classical modernism with a<br />
focus on German expressionism, American<br />
pop art and European art of the 1940s<br />
and 1950s. Daniel Wahrenberger traditionally<br />
has a different approach to art:<br />
He primarily represents a small circle of<br />
contemporary artists with whom he<br />
maintains personal contact.<br />
„<br />
Only together with his<br />
friends could someone<br />
like Picasso become a<br />
person who influenced<br />
generations of artists.”<br />
Claudius Ochsner<br />
SIMONE TÖLLNER, YOU ARE HEAD MARKETING AT SWISSPARTNERS AND<br />
OVERSEE THE IN-HOUSE ART EXHIBITIONS AND ART EVENTS. WOULD YOU<br />
LIKE TO TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR CONNECTION TO CREATIVITY<br />
AND ART?<br />
SIMONE TÖLLNER: I was given the opportunity to join swisspartners as Head<br />
Marketing in 2019. My background is actually in the humanities: I studied art history,<br />
philosophy and German literature and followed up with a master’s in cultural<br />
studies and media conception in Zurich. After that, I qualified in marketing in<br />
part-time study. That makes me quite the odd one out in finance (laughs).<br />
Creativity is literally something I was born into, as my grandfather was a landscape<br />
painter of the classical Munich school at Munich Academy of Fine Arts. I spent my<br />
childhood between canvases and the smell of turpentine and linseed oil (painting<br />
materials – ed.). Before swisspartners, I worked for about 12 years in sales and<br />
marketing at several prestigious Swiss art galleries. As many of my former gallery<br />
clients were from finance, I was able to develop a high affinity for the finance sector<br />
during that time. I see my role at swisspartners as an opportunity to combine the<br />
fields of art and marketing. The working atmosphere in our organisation is characterised<br />
by individuality and creativity. That’s probably why I feel so at home here.<br />
14 Finance meets art | PARTNERS‘ VIEW
SWISSPARTNERS IS CURRENTLY REDESIGNING ITS<br />
ZURICH OFFICE. MEANWHILE, THE GALLERY WOS HAS<br />
OPENED A NEW SHOWROOM IN PFÄFFIKON, SCHWYZ.<br />
HOW BIG A ROLE DO SPACES PLAY IN UNLOCKING<br />
CREATIVITY?<br />
MARKUS WINTSCH: Certainly a big one! The only thing I<br />
regret about the remodelling of our office premises is that art<br />
will probably have to take a back seat. But together with the<br />
Gallery WOS or our artist friends, I’m confident that we will<br />
find a way to integrate art into our open-plan layout. We<br />
would like to continue to give our team the opportunity to<br />
identify themselves through art and to create a creative<br />
atmosphere of well-being in our premises.<br />
SIMONE TÖLLNER: At swisspartners, we had two different<br />
permanent exhibitions in the past, each with a completely<br />
different ambiance. We are also noticing how strongly our<br />
employees have identified with ‘our’ art over time. As already<br />
mentioned, works of art that hung in our corridors and offices<br />
for many years were sold because of the redesign – in some<br />
cases triggering strong emotions.<br />
MARKUS WINTSCH: Clients have frequently picked up on our<br />
artworks as a talking point over the last 29 years. Often<br />
enough, we spoke at greater length about the art in our<br />
premises than about the performance of their portfolios<br />
(laughs). Because our redesigned offices will have an openplan<br />
layout, it’s going to be a challenge to hang art here. In<br />
future, we will make more flexible use of the space<br />
we have available for creativity and art – among<br />
other things with loans from the Gallery WOS.<br />
Accordingly, we are now in the process of selling a<br />
large part of our art collection.<br />
DANIEL WAHRENBERGER: Not long after opening<br />
our gallery in July 2020, we had to go into lockdown.<br />
One positive outcome of the pandemic has been that<br />
because people had to spend more time working<br />
from home, they wanted to make their home<br />
surroundings more attractive. It goes without saying<br />
that art is an important part of this. Art also plays a<br />
major role when it comes to receiving visitors, whether<br />
at home or in the office. As the saying goes, you never get<br />
a second chance to make a first impression.<br />
WHAT DO YOU HOPE THAT THE OPEN-PLAN LAYOUT<br />
WILL DO FOR THE CREATIVITY OF YOUR WORK AT<br />
SWISSPARTNERS?<br />
MARKUS WINTSCH: My great wish is that after the pandemic,<br />
people will be happy to come back to the office to exchange<br />
ideas and maintain social contacts. All of that has suffered<br />
over the last two-and-a-half years. Getting people to return<br />
to work from the office isn’t at all easy. But the remodelling<br />
of our office premises is bound to motivate our team to come<br />
and work in a superbly designed office environment and<br />
finally meet colleagues again. After all, we spend around twothirds<br />
of our waking hours at work.<br />
As part of the redesign, we hope to incorporate ideas that<br />
were previously unthinkable, such as living green walls. So<br />
as well as promoting art and creativity, we will also to an<br />
extent be bringing nature into the office.<br />
„<br />
We would like to<br />
continue to give our<br />
team the opportunity<br />
to identify themselves<br />
through art.”<br />
Simone Töllner, Markus Wintsch<br />
Markus Wintsch<br />
PARTNERS‘ VIEW | Finance meets art 15
„ At some point, you embark on your<br />
own ‘art journey’, and that ends up<br />
resembling a tree that branches out<br />
in all sorts of directions,<br />
again and again.”<br />
Daniel Wahrenberger<br />
ON 5 MAY, THE GALLERY WOS OPENED A NEW<br />
EXHIBITION, PICASSO & FRIENDS. THE EXHIBITION<br />
SHINES THE LIGHT ON PICASSO’S WORK IN<br />
CONNECTION WITH A CIRCLE OF OTHER OUTSTANDING<br />
ARTISTIC PERSONALITIES. TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THE<br />
PRINCIPLE OF “INDIVIDUALITY AND MUTUALITY” ALSO<br />
APPLY TO THE FINANCE SECTOR?<br />
MARKUS WINTSCH: As our client base gets younger, the<br />
more important the team approach to customer service<br />
becomes for us as a financial boutique. Today, flexible advisory<br />
approaches are needed from different people with different<br />
know-how, strengths and weaknesses. In the past, you could<br />
cover all bases with a one-man or one-woman show – one<br />
Picasso, if you will. But growing specialisation has massively<br />
changed the game over the last ten years. Nowadays, no one<br />
person can know everything, or provide all services. It always<br />
takes a strong team.<br />
In the Picasso & Friends exhibition, it is the ‘friends’ who are<br />
the team. At swisspartners, we not only need friends from<br />
within our own ranks, but also friends from outside the<br />
company.<br />
Claudius Ochsner, Daniel Wahrenberger,<br />
Thomas Schafflützel (left to to right)<br />
IS OUR INTERPRETATION OF THE PICASSO & FRIENDS EXHIBITION AT THE<br />
GALLERY WOS ACCURATE?<br />
CLAUDIUS OCHSNER: Picasso was, of course, an outstanding personality. Together<br />
with Georges Braques and Juan Gris, he founded Cubism. But if his circle of friends –<br />
other artists who were also productive at the time – had not taken up the movement,<br />
it would have remained a flash in the pan. Only together with his friends could someone<br />
like Picasso become a person who influenced generations of artists.<br />
In the other direction, his friends also influenced Picasso’s own work. He too took up<br />
elements from other artists and reinterpreted them. A good artist doesn’t live and work<br />
in isolation from the outside world. He or she goes out to see, hear, read and visit<br />
exhibitions. The result is either a poor impression of the collected elements – or something<br />
brilliant. In Picasso’s case, it was the latter.<br />
16 Finance meets art | PARTNERS‘ VIEW
WHICH ART MOVEMENT OR ARTIST HAS SHAPED AND<br />
INSPIRED YOU MOST OVER THE YEARS?<br />
CLAUDIUS OCHSNER: Paul Cézanne never fails to fascinate<br />
me as an artist. He is one of the founders of modernism,<br />
redefined the artistic eye for detail, played with light and<br />
shadow, left unfinished works that as far as he was concerned<br />
were finished, and anticipated Cubism and abstraction.<br />
Without him, 20th century art would simply not have happened.<br />
DANIEL WAHRENBERGER: My background is in contemporary<br />
art, as you know, and I have always actively worked with<br />
artists and also coached them. After we merged our two<br />
galleries, for example, I discovered modernist cynicism for<br />
myself. Committing to a single art movement would definitely<br />
be too narrow. At some point, you embark on your own ‘art<br />
journey’, and that ends up resembling a tree that branches<br />
out in all sorts of directions, again and again. There is always<br />
something new to discover, but everything goes back to the<br />
same roots.<br />
SIMONE TÖLLNER: My roots without question are drawn<br />
from the old masters. At the same time, out there in the<br />
fringes, there are many artists that I admire very much. But<br />
the common thread that has followed me through my entire<br />
life is figurative art. I am fascinated by art that depicts, or that<br />
completely distorts reality. At home, I have lots of portraits<br />
and full-length works – I like to surround myself with people<br />
and faces. I live with my ‘friends’ on the canvases and am<br />
happy in their company.<br />
MARKUS WINTSCH: When collecting, I focus on modern art,<br />
which is atypical for the finance sector. An important factor<br />
for me is to know the artists personally. For example, I have<br />
acquired 50 artworks from one artist, because supporting the<br />
livelihood of this artist and his family is a project close to my<br />
heart. I also love large-format paintings and value harmonious<br />
colours. Art has to flow as part of the contextual<br />
environment – the frame, the surroundings and the people<br />
who live there.<br />
WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS CREATIVE?<br />
DANIEL WAHRENBERGER: We are not short on creativity.<br />
The important thing is to channel it in an organised way.<br />
When you own a gallery and deal with different artists, art<br />
movements, projects, art fairs and so forth on a daily basis,<br />
creativity just flows of its own accord. It is important to find a<br />
common thread while staying open to new projects, such as<br />
with swisspartners.<br />
CLAUDIUS OCHSNER: Another facet of creativity is that we<br />
seek creative financing solutions for collectors who would like<br />
to buy something but do not have enough money at that<br />
moment.<br />
SIMONE TÖLLNER: Sure I’m creative, or I wouldn’t be where<br />
I am today. I might not create art as such in the way that an<br />
artist does, but I always try and find creative solutions.<br />
MARKUS WINTSCH: I like to bring my creativity to bear in<br />
the interior and exterior of investment properties – that’s my<br />
passion. Creativity is particularly needed in the property<br />
sector because buildings are often so monotonous. When it<br />
comes to the interior design of our offices, though, I’m happy<br />
to leave the creativity to Simone Töllner and Vanessa Burkart<br />
(Head Human Relations). They do a great job here on their<br />
own! I look forward to finally getting back together in person<br />
with the swisspartners team and harnessing our mutual<br />
inspiration in our redesigned premises.<br />
MORE ABOUT<br />
THE GALLERY WOS:<br />
galerie-wos.com/en<br />
„<br />
Art has to flow as part<br />
of the contextual<br />
environment – the<br />
frame, the surroundings<br />
and the people who live<br />
there.”<br />
Markus Wintsch<br />
PARTNERS‘ VIEW | Finance meets art 17
WHO IS?<br />
A COMPANY IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS<br />
EMPLOYEES. IN THIS COLUMN, WE<br />
PRESENT TALENTED MEMBERS OF<br />
THE SWISSPARTNERS TEAM.<br />
Bernhard Schürmann (right) and Simone<br />
Töllner with a sculpture by Swiss artist<br />
Ludwig Stocker.<br />
BERNHARD<br />
SCHÜRMANN<br />
Partner<br />
bernhard.schuermann@swisspartners.com<br />
Bernhard Schürmann<br />
describes himself with a quote attributed to<br />
Confucius: “To get to the source, you need to<br />
swim against the current.” Having been with<br />
swisspartners for 25 years, he is one of the<br />
longest-standing members of the team. As<br />
well as being an expert in asset management,<br />
Bernhard has always had a great interest in<br />
the arts and culture.<br />
He began his education with a commercial<br />
apprenticeship at Union Bank of Switzerland<br />
in Lucerne. Subsequently, he completed his<br />
secondary schooling at the Cantonal school<br />
of Lucerne. To finance his studies at the<br />
University of Zurich, he taught part-time at a<br />
commercial school in Lucerne – characterwise<br />
a major challenge for him, as he says today.<br />
After completing his studies, he took his first<br />
steps in asset management at Privatbank<br />
und Verwaltungsgesellschaft in Zurich (a part<br />
of the Schmidheiny Group) and spent a year<br />
in New York for training and further education.<br />
The Schmidheiny family was very fond of art<br />
and he had the privilege of being present<br />
when Alexander Schmidheiny built up his<br />
large collection of works by American pop<br />
artists.<br />
Later, Bernhard was appointed Director of<br />
the group’s publicly listed Allgemeine Finanzgesellschaft.<br />
Then followed ten years at<br />
Cantrade Privatbank as a relationship manager<br />
and curator of the bank’s art collection.<br />
Finally, he joined swisspartners, together<br />
with some of his colleagues from Cantrade<br />
Privatbank. In advising clients, Bernhard has<br />
always believed the saying “If the client is<br />
happy, then the relationship manager is<br />
happy,” pointing out that happiness is the<br />
only thing that doubles when you share it.<br />
5<br />
5 QUESTIONS TO BERNHARD SCHÜRMANN<br />
WHAT’S THE BEST THING YOU HAVE TO GIVE AT<br />
SWISSPARTNERS?<br />
The network that I have built up over the years. I might be a bit of an<br />
individualist, but I have always enjoyed networking. I was on the<br />
Board of Directors of Private Equity Holding for a number of years.<br />
That gave me the opportunity to forge contacts with interesting people<br />
and companies from fields such as medicine and engineering. I also<br />
look after a number of clients from the arts and culture sector, which<br />
lets me combine my hobby with my profession.<br />
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST STRENGTH?<br />
The fact that I have been able to retain almost all of my clients over<br />
the last 25 years. I’m not a one-size-fits-all relationship manager and<br />
have always looked after clients and their portfolios personally. Client<br />
service in my mind encompasses comprehensive support for all<br />
situations and problems.<br />
WHAT DOES ART MEAN TO YOU?<br />
I appreciate beautiful things and I especially love collecting art. But I<br />
have never fallen for the mainstream. I own works of art from<br />
classical modernism, Swiss art, as well as works by internationally<br />
renowned artists (including China). One of my best friends, a major<br />
collector of Chinese art, is a constant source of inspiration for me. I<br />
have never sold any of the works in my collection. For me, art is not<br />
a financial investment, but is something close to my heart.<br />
WHAT KEEPS YOU YOUNG?<br />
My family, sports and culture. I work out once a week with a personal<br />
yoga instructor and play tennis (doubles only nowadays) as well as<br />
golf. Aside from that, I am passionately involved in a cultural foundation<br />
and sit on the advisory board of an international art collection.<br />
WHERE DO YOU SEE THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE ARTS AND THE<br />
WORLD OF FINANCE?<br />
Both areas need serious, competent analysis and advice. Because no<br />
one person can do everything and know everything themselves, good<br />
contacts and networks are indispensable.<br />
Interview by Simone Töllner.<br />
18 WHO IS? | PARTNERS‘ VIEW
IMPRESSUM<br />
EDITORIAL TEAM<br />
Kathrin Meister | wordflow.de<br />
Simone Töllner | swisspartners.com<br />
LAYOUT & DESIGN<br />
Angelika Plag | corporate-concepts.de<br />
© PHOTOS<br />
Getty Images: cover, pages 2, 10, back<br />
Adobe Stock: pages 2, 4, 6–9<br />
Karin Bischof: Employees pages 3, 11,18<br />
Filipa Peixeiro: Alexander Brunner, page 9<br />
Gabriela Dumitrescu: pages 11, 19<br />
Daniel Chardon: Gallery WOS pages 15, 16<br />
ARTWORK<br />
pages 12, 18: „Verpflichtung“, triptych,<br />
oil on canvas, 80 x 360 cm<br />
PARTNERS‘ VIEW | Publishing information 19
The art of reading.<br />
swisspartners Group AG<br />
Am Schanzengraben 23<br />
P.O. Box<br />
CH-8022 Zurich<br />
Phone +41 58 200 00 00<br />
swisspartners.com<br />
swisspartners-group-ag<br />
swiss.partners<br />
swisspartners