Mirabaud Bets on Private Assets as Wealth Clients Seek Portfolio Differentiation

Swiss bank develops evergreen funds and club deals where founding family invests alongside clients

Mirabaud has expanded private assets capabilities to meet client demand for investment opportunities beyond traditional stocks and bonds. The Geneva-based wealth manager offers evergreen private equity funds and bespoke club deals—direct investments in private companies where the founding Mirabaud family commits capital alongside clients.

The family co-investment structure addresses a persistent challenge in alternative investments: alignment of interests between fund managers and limited partners. When the bank’s controlling shareholders invest personal capital into deals presented to clients, conflicts between management fees and investment returns diminish.

“Clients are seeking services that genuinely set their bank apart,” according to firm executives. “Mirabaud offers this notably through a broad range of private assets solutions, from evergreen private equity funds to bespoke club deals. The Mirabaud family invests alongside clients, ensuring full alignment of interests.”

Private assets have gained prominence among wealth management clients as public market valuations reached elevated levels and interest rates remained low through much of the past decade. Institutional investors led the migration toward private equity, real estate, infrastructure and other alternatives seeking higher returns and portfolio diversification.

High-net-worth individuals followed institutional trends with a lag, constrained by traditional private equity fund structures requiring large minimum investments, multi-year lockups and complex tax reporting. Wealth managers responded by developing products addressing these friction points while maintaining access to private company opportunities.

Evergreen fund structures eliminate the fixed term typical of traditional private equity vehicles. Investors can enter and exit at scheduled intervals rather than committing capital for 10-year periods, improving liquidity while accepting some redemption restrictions necessary for managing illiquid underlying holdings.

The trade-off involves reduced returns compared to fully committed capital deployed by traditional funds. Evergreen vehicles must maintain liquidity reserves to meet redemptions, creating cash drag on performance. However, many wealth clients prioritize flexibility over maximum return optimization.

Club deals represent direct co-investments where multiple investors participate in specific transactions rather than contributing to blind pool funds. This structure provides transparency about precisely which companies receive capital and enables larger individual allocations than typical fund diversification permits.

Clients participating in club deals assume greater concentration risk but gain control over investment selection and timing. For entrepreneurs who built wealth through concentrated business ownership, this approach feels more familiar than delegating decisions to fund managers making discretionary investments.

Family office clients particularly favor club deal structures enabling active involvement in portfolio companies through board seats, strategic guidance and operational support. Many successful entrepreneurs prefer investing in businesses they can influence rather than passively holding fund shares with no governance participation.

Mirabaud’s club deal sourcing benefits from the bank’s network across entrepreneurs, family offices and institutional investors in multiple markets. Deal flow—the volume and quality of investment opportunities available for evaluation—determines ultimate performance more than analytical sophistication in selecting among presented options.

The family’s co-investment commitment serves multiple purposes beyond interest alignment. Capital participation signals conviction that proposed investments meet the family’s own risk-return standards rather than representing marginal opportunities suitable only for client portfolios.

Co-investment also mitigates concerns about conflicts of interest when banks recommend proprietary products generating management fees. If the Mirabaud family loses money alongside clients, advisory relationship integrity remains intact despite poor investment outcomes.

Private assets require specialized expertise for deal sourcing, due diligence, valuation, portfolio monitoring and exit execution. Wealth managers building these capabilities face substantial investment in personnel, systems and processes before generating meaningful revenue or demonstrating track records.

Smaller institutions like Mirabaud must determine whether developing in-house private assets teams justifies costs or whether partnering with external managers provides superior economics. The co-investment model suggests Mirabaud has chosen direct participation over pure intermediation.

Regulatory considerations complicate private assets distribution to wealth clients. Many jurisdictions classify these investments as suitable only for sophisticated or professional investors meeting income, net worth or experience thresholds—limiting potential client base while protecting less experienced investors from inappropriate risk exposure.

Performance measurement challenges also distinguish private assets from public securities. Private company valuations rely on subjective appraisals rather than market prices, creating potential for delayed loss recognition or inflated interim reporting that obscures true performance until exit events realize gains or losses.

Despite these complications, client interest in private assets continues growing as search for yield and diversification intensifies. Wealth managers lacking alternative investment capabilities risk losing clients to competitors offering comprehensive solutions spanning public and private markets.

Mirabaud’s technology investments support private assets administration through improved data management, reporting and client communication capabilities. Effective technology infrastructure becomes essential when managing illiquid investments requiring detailed record-keeping and customized reporting.

The bank positions private assets as complementary to traditional portfolio holdings rather than wholesale replacements. Balanced approaches typically allocate 10-20% of portfolios to alternatives depending on client liquidity needs, risk tolerance and investment experience—recognizing that excessive alternative allocations create liquidity constraints and portfolio management complexity.

Private equity returns have varied dramatically across funds, managers and vintage years. Top-quartile managers consistently outperform, while bottom-quartile funds often underperform public market equivalents after accounting for illiquidity premiums and management fees. Manager selection therefore determines results more in private assets than public markets where index performance proves harder to exceed.

Mirabaud’s entrepreneurial client base brings relevant experience evaluating businesses, assessing management teams and understanding operational challenges—capabilities that translate into informed private assets investment decisions. Former business owners often evaluate private equity opportunities more critically than clients whose wealth derived from employment or inheritance.

Club deal structures also facilitate intergenerational wealth transfer discussions. Families can involve next-generation members in investment decisions, providing education and experience before assuming full portfolio responsibility. This involvement addresses common succession challenges where inheritors lack confidence or knowledge managing concentrated wealth.

The private assets market has grown substantially over recent decades as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and endowments increased allocations seeking returns uncorrelated with public markets. This growth created opportunities but also intensified competition for attractive deals and compressed returns as capital abundance elevated entry valuations.

Whether Mirabaud’s private assets offerings provide sufficient differentiation to attract and retain clients depends on deal quality, performance outcomes and service delivery. Many competitors have developed similar capabilities, making execution rather than concept the determining success factor.

For clients, participating in club deals alongside the bank’s founding family offers something that packaged fund products cannot replicate: shared risk with decision-makers whose personal wealth and family legacy depend on investment outcomes. This alignment matters particularly for entrepreneurs who evaluate trustworthiness through observing whether advisors practice what they recommend.

The private assets expansion reflects broader industry recognition that wealth management encompasses more than portfolio management—extending to specialized capabilities, unique access and differentiated solutions unavailable through mass-market competitors. For family-owned banks like Mirabaud, co-investment represents natural extension of relationship-based business models built on trust, transparency and long-term partnership.