Son of a banker (his father managed Banque du Gothard in Lugano), Gianni Romano left Switzerland in the late 90s to open a management company in Monaco: Financial Strategy. He is its Chairman and for 12 years he was an Advisor on the AMAF Board.
When did you move to Monaco and why?
In 1981, I first worked at and then was director of Surfid SA, which became Financial Strategy S.A., in Lugano. We opened Financial Strategy in Monaco in 1998 with a view to acquiring new customers, as the Monegasque financial centre seemed more international to me. We wanted to offer our future customers tailored wealth management solutions.
How are you structured?
At present we number fifteen people, each with an international profile, divided into three sections: legal, back office, and management, plus one analyst. Our human, technical and logistics resources enable us to offer financial services to a private customer base.
Historically our customers were mainly Italian, but now they are Monegasque residents of many different nationalities.
What do they seek from you?
Availability, a personal relationship, and performance of course. But performance over time, over the long term. Our philosophy is to never take risks with other people’s money. We have a prudent investment profile to safeguard capital.
The choice of investments is made through standardised procedures involving all of the company’s resources. Each manager takes part in the joint definition of asset allocation.
The result is visible on a 5 year horizon. We are very discreet, and we expand our historical customer base over the years thanks to our customers’ recommendations.
What changes have marked your profession and Monaco since 1998?
The customer profile has changed. In the 80s, performance was not highly monitored. Now, with the father to son generation change, demand is clearer - a desire for security, not speculation, but results nevertheless. The single European currency has changed things too – there is no exchange risk with the same currency.
As for Monaco, residents settle here with a will to live here. They appreciate Monaco’s tranquillity and security.
