The Basel office will be headed up by Jack Kerswell, formerly of deVere Group and a seasoned area manager with over 27 years’ experience working in the advice industry in both the UK and mainland Europe. He was previously area manager for deVere & Partners Switzerland.
He will be joined by James Stratford, who was a senior wealth manager in Switzerland for deVere.
They join fellow deVere alum Mike Coady, who was appointed chief commercial officer of GWM Group in December 2016.
New territories and beyond
The group said the driver for opening a second Swiss office, in addition to Geneva, was strong client demand in Europe for cross-border financial advice.
Gavin Pluck, GWM managing director, said: “Whilst we already have a well-established presence in southern Switzerland, the opening of our new Basel office provides a strong foothold that will allow us to expand into new territories in northern Switzerland, and beyond.”
The latest acquisition follows the October 2017 launch its Guardian’s first US office in Miami, Florida.
Kerswell said: “Having lived the expat lifestyle for the past seven years, I’m all too familiar with the hurdles international workers have to overcome. Combining my experience with the support that exists from GWM’s compliance, marketing, IT and client services divisions, it has allowed us to make significant early progress.”
