Investment bankers What is an investment banker anyway? He is the man you go and see when you want to buy, sell, merge or float a company. In the world of banking, investment banking is like rocket science, and JP Morgan Chase is like the Nasa.

When he came to see us, Mr P. was heading JP Morgan Chase 's operations for a whole continent. He had 500 bankers working for him.

An exceptional pedigree
Mr. P. has a rather impressive pedigree. With a Phd in Chemistry, he was hired as an investment banker by Chase Manhattan in London. Mr. P. began working on the chemical and pharmaceutical industry between London and New-York. In New-York he married an American lady.

America, Austria or Switzerland?
Mr. P. had lived extended periods of time on four continents. This meant that, wherever he retired, he would still have to take the plane to see friends and relatives. He could live just anywhere.

America is a great country, but Mr. P. and his wife longed for European cultural diversity and sophistication. So they investigated Austria, a country where the family had spent numerous vacations and whose mountains they loved. Austria is a nice place for skiing and hunting, but its charms diminish greatly by the time you become a taxpayer. Another option came as obvious, a country that would have all the charms of Austria without its defects - Switzerland.

Due diligence is my second name Mr P. is a man who knows what he wants. He is also very careful about who he chooses to represent him. That's called due diligence and it's no joke for an investment bankers. After all, when a company retains the services of an investment bank, it expects the bank to be thoroughly familiar with the company's business, finances and directors. If a skeleton was later to be found in the company's closet, the investment bank could be liable for any ensuing damage. So when we first met him, Mr. P., did not ask much about what we could do for him. He was more interested to learn about our company, our track record, what sort of clients we had in the past, how satisfied they were and so on. We called two former clients - both from Australia - to ask if they would talk to Mr. P. about our company. They both agreed and Mr. P. must have liked what he heard because when he came back the talk was now about how we could help him become a Swiss resident.

The investor program
If you are under 55 and not from a EU country, you need to invest in a local company to be able to retire in Switzerland and benefit from a lump sum taxation. Mr. P. was in this case. He enlisted our help to find him companies in which he could make a suitable investment, if possible high-tech.

Don't forget that Mr. P.'s profession is investment - that means he has high standards. So we worked hard to show him companies that would match his expectations. And actually, our client was "disappointed in good " as we say in Switzerland, to see the high quality of the companies we presented him.

After having met with the management of numerous companies, Mr. P. decided to pursue two companies. The first was a young high-tech company with 20 employees that manufactures several types of detectors used in industrial and security applications. This company had already received plenty of venture capital funding and did not need any additional capital. To boot, the company's main investor, a Swiss venture capital fund, had made a lock-out close preventing new investors to dilute their stake. But Mr P. is a man you'd like to seat on the board of your company. So the Zurich venture capitalist accepted, after meeting our client, to make an exception and allow him to invest.

The second company was a small startup company working out of a local incubator. They had developped a new technology to make gas detectors at a tenth of the cost of existing detectors but now needed to market their product to OEMs across the world. Were they happy to have Mr. P. join their boat? You bet they were.

Once the investment details had been worked out we had to submit an application for Mr. P. and his family to become Swiss residents. Mr P. was one of the quickest clients we ever had. He made all the decisions and sent us all the documents we needed in less than a month ! The application was quickly submitted and quickly approved.

Finding a house
While we were preparing his application, we arranged for Mr. P. to visit houses in the Montreux area. He saw many houses, a tiny baroque chalet, a huge turn-of-the-century chalet and a 1970's villa on a hilltop complete with an underground swimming pools and tunnels. Finally he settled for a more manageable french-style villa overlooking Montreux. We made a purchase agreement conditional on the receipt of a residence permit and Mr. Micheloud was given a power of attorney to buy the house in Mr. P.'s absence if the need be.

Mr. P. now lives on the Riviera and concentrates on what he likes best : skiing, paleontology and his family.

Our company does not have relations with JP Morgan Chase. Our client was Mr. P., not JP Morgan Chase. JP Morgan Chase is mentionned in this text only because it is our client's former employer. JP Morgan Chase had no part in our client's relations with us and does not endorse us in any way.