How to optimise your financial performance, in a changing world.

In September 1963, Bob Dylan wrote the song “The Times They are A Changing” with the reminder “…Then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone, For the times they are a-changing…”. Nearly 55 years later, fundamental changes in our society occur almost endlessly; whilst previous generations may have felt the same, the pace of change seems to accelerate with no respite. Staying afloat financially may be a challenge in itself at times, however with the right guidance, adopting a course, which takes you cruising in the direction of a beautiful horizon, may be achievable nonetheless.

The spectrum of opportunities available to us today is ever broader, the variety of choices we may make in our lifetime is ever greater, the number of decisions we take on a daily basis is ever higher. Just think of the range of people you know, those you have met once or more often, those with whom you are connected around the globe… then compare it to the number of people your grandparents had access to, all those years ago. In this world of change, I believe it is now more important than ever before to build a personal network of experts able to accompany you through the challenges you will almost inevitably face, on a personal and professional level, during your lifetime.

At Piguet Galland, our roots date back to 1856 (the era of the end of the Crimean war and the casting of the bell for Big Ben), so adapting to change is part of our DNA; today we make that experience available to all our clients, through our corporate culture, which favours innovation and entrepreneurship. We create a climate to not only foster a secure investment environment, but also to facilitate business growth in Switzerland and internationally.  Our teams are conscious of the potentially evolving needs of each client; we support them, anticipating their requirements as far as possible, to ensure that their finances are structured to facilitate their life projects. 

At Piguet Galland, we have clients who are entrepreneurs, investors, and international professionals; we help them to build bridges, facilitating the development of the networks each person needs to succeed in this challenging world.  As businesses evolve, we are very aware that professionals may experience a change of career path, a phase of transition, expatriation, or a shift from a corporate to an entrepreneurial activity. 

According to research in the UK, 45% of self-employed people are now over the age of 50; a statistic reflecting a fundamental modification both in work-styles and in employment patterns. The number of businesses registered in the UK has grown very rapidly from 3.5 million in 2000 to 5.5 million today (with a survival rate of 50-60% after 3 years). Stability of the work environment is of concern to the OECD; data compiled by their analysts, regarding the changing face of employment, shows that 40% of professionally active women actually work part time (compared to 28% of men). 

Amidst these evolutions in the working world, entrepreneurs have an increasingly central role to play; major corporations seek innovative solutions, so creating opportunities for small businesses as partners and suppliers. Entrepreneurs are more and more visibly present in the business world, in fact more than 98% of business tenants in the City of London (which one might consider as a particularly exclusive district) are now small and medium businesses.

At Piguet Galland, we regularly organise events, by invitation only, to facilitate the evolving work-styles of busy professionals, entrepreneurs and investors (such as our event in partnership with Raizers on February 7th). If you would like to participate or discuss on a personal level, please contact me; I’ll be happy to share further insights with you, because “The Times They are A Changing” for us all…