Portrait

We founded VZ in 1993 with the aim of making the financial industry more transparent and giving consumers access to attractive benefits. Today, VZ Group is Switzerland’s leading independent financial service provider. There are three key elements to our work:

1. Services that are geared to the benefit of our clients
2. Consulting without conflict of interest
3. Individual support by highly qualified experts.

We ensure that our clients prepare properly for retirement, make the right decisions at the time of retirement and are financially secure throughout the third phase of their lives.  This is how we contribute to overcoming one of the great societal challenges of our time.

VZ's goal is not to achieve short-term profits, but to generate healthy growth in the long term. We offer attractive and secure jobs and we create many new positions every year. Our success is made possible by our employees. Their accomplishments are extraordinary, and they shape our corporate culture.

Our clients appreciate the fact that they receive comprehensive advice and individual support from us. Their satisfaction is the measure for our success. Many clients recommend us to others because they feel well attended to and have noticeably more money at their disposal thanks to our services.

This satisfaction is reflected in various awards. VZ was recognised as the best Swiss bank by the business magazine BILANZ. Furthermore, VZ is on its way to becoming the best online bank in Switzerland, as confirmed by a study conducted by e.foresight and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Our consultation approach
Our consultation process

Matthias Reinhart and Max Bolanz founded VZ in 1993 in an effort to bring transparency to the Swiss insurance and banking industries. The idea immediately generated a furore of interest; up until then it had been practically impossible to compare the prices and benefits of insurance and financial products.

It immediately became apparent that there was a very tangible demand for independent advice far exceeding objective comparisons of financial products. In the years that followed, VZ consequentially expanded its services. Today the VZ Group encompasses a number of independent companies offering advice to individuals, companies and large organisations on all financial matters.

Until the founding of VZ VermögensZentrum, there was hardly any discussion of overall consulting, financial planning and financial consulting in Switzerland. That has changed radically in the meantime: VZ’s success has shown that independent financial consulting meets a true need.

In Switzerland VZ has for many years been the first port of call for independent financial consulting. Each year several thousand wealthy clients plan their retirement with VZ, have their investments reviewed, improve the financing of their real estate properties, optimise their taxes or plan their estates. We advise corporate clients in particular on questions relating to benefit planning and risk management. 

Over the years, additional business fields sprung up around the core services of financial consulting and portfolio management for private individuals. These ideally complement each other. Experts at VZ Vorsorge Ltd are partners for all the benefit planning and insurance questions brought by our corporate clients. HypothekenZentrum administers and services mortgages, and transfers mortgage risks to institutional investors. Finally, at VZ Depository Bank investors benefit from inexpensive securities transactions and competitive interest rates.

VZ Group has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 2007 and employs a total of 1700 specialists in Switzerland and Germany. 

Group Executive Board
Board of Directors

Group structure

VZ Group encompasses the following legally-independent companies:

We take our responsibility for the environment and society seriously and also consider sustainability aspects in all important decisions. This includes the following areas: 

• Investment based on ESG criteria
• Responsible corporate government
• Social commitment
• Social responsibility as an employer
• Environmental responsibility.

Download the Sustainability Report 2023 (PDF)

VZ Group’s Code of Conduct describes the values, objectives and behaviours that serve as a guideline for all employees within the group.

Qualified and motivated from the beginning

VZ is successful primarily because of its highly-qualified employees. We hire only candidates with excellent training who have already proven themselves considerably and who can think analytically and have above-average capabilities. Multidisciplinary knowledge is so important in the day-to-day work at VZ that we exchange information constantly in internal training courses.

VZ forms talented trainees into Financial Consultants in its own training programme. In addition to theoretical knowledge, the new employees receive intensive on-the-job training. From the very beginning, they work on concrete client cases together with experienced consultants and train in conceptual thinking, problem solving, communication and teamwork. A person who graduates successfully from this training assumes responsibilities on a client consultant team.

VZ is one of the best employers in Switzerland

In a competition held by Handelszeitung, VZ was awarded the "Best employer 2024" label. The evaluation was based on an independent survey conducted among around 15'000 employees from various Swiss employers. In addition to appreciation and trust, teamwork was also mentioned as one of the key success factors in the survey. 

The services of VZ VermögensZentrum are aimed at those with challenging questions about finance. Such questions may concern the topics of retirement, taxes, inheritance or settlements, properties or securities custody accounts. Our clients often include executives, self-employed persons or entrepreneurs. What they value most about our advice is our competence to analyse financial matters comprehensively and in their entirety.

Many people know our VZ financial experts from the TV screen or the newspapers. Others have visited one of our seminars, read a book from our guide series or became aware of us by reading the vz news – our VZ experts' magazine on current financial topics. Most of all, we are pleased that many of our clients come to us upon recommendation of someone we have already advised.