Alpian’s Journey From Start-Up to the Future of Swiss Banking

Changing the landscape of Swiss banking was never going to be simple, but that’s not deterred Marion Fogli, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Victor Cianni, Chief Investment Officer, and Amandine Soudeille, Associate Portfolio Manager. Launched in 2022, Alpian is a digital-first private banking service designed to cater to the needs of an ever-growing client base. Licensed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), Alpian’s range of services includes everyday banking, investment offerings, and wealth management.

While Alpian’s journey of innovation and growth is undeniably impressive, it’s their dedication to the overall customer experience that sits at the heart of what they do, Fogli notes. “Traditionally, the market had always been dominated by two types of banks. The first was your classic retail bank, useful for receiving your salary or saving a little, but ultimately never going above and beyond. The second was the private banks, known for delivering exceptional service but only for the immensely wealthy. While it’s true they help make your money go further, the barrier for entry is so high, and the management fees are so costly, that it’s practically impossible for most people as an option.

That’s how Alpian was born. We saw a demand and a real need for something that combined the best of both worlds and bridged the gap. We wanted to create something that democratised the banking and investment experience, where people wouldn’t be forced to choose between everyday banking services or access to bespoke wealth management advice.

That’s what we’re really proud of, being able to blend the premium and the personal. Our clients benefit from tailored investment strategies, while at the same time, they can set up a call and speak to an advisor via our in-app features—at every step of the way we balance technology with a truly human touch. This all adds an extra layer of accessibility, which is made stronger by the fact that our management fees are transparent and affordable. Our client-centric mindset informs everything we do, which is what makes us so unique in the market.”

Alpian is a client of Morningstar, leveraging the power of Morningstar Direct—a comprehensive platform that helps asset and wealth managers build their assets and manage their portfolios by supporting market research, product creation, positioning, marketing, and distribution strategies—alongside open and transparent market and fund data to maintain its competitive edge.

The early stages of a new company are never easy. But, as Cianni notes, carefully selecting the right partner makes a world of difference. “When you first start out, every resource is precious—time, funding, everything. You don’t have the luxury of making mistakes.

For us, the Morningstar products were a game-changer. Our immediate need was to find a partner who could provide reliable and transparent data. Our foundation is built on open architecture, so our goal is to always provide our clients with the best data so they can make informed decisions. We then needed a platform where we could monitor our investment universe, set benchmarks, and essentially just keep optimising. While we could have sought out a different provider for every individual need, we found that Morningstar’s holistic approach suited us best.

In the early days of a business, errors can be fatal, but with Morningstar’s suite of products, we were able to avoid detrimental mistakes, like delays or unclear pricing plans. Morningstar offered a streamlined solution that we were able to easily integrate when building and connecting our infrastructure, which can be a major barrier for new businesses.”

As Soudeille notes, “above all, we were most impressed by Morningstar’s customer support. They were so willing and enthusiastic to help us on our journey. While the products themselves are great, the fact that we could reach out to the team at any time for training or guidance was a big factor that led us to select them as our provider.”

As Chief Investment Officer, Cianni knows the importance of demonstrating a return on your investment. “For us, the value Morningstar has provided has been clear from the beginning. We needed to equip our clients with high-quality data, and Morningstar has been integral in this—it’s something that spans our entire operation, so we really do see the value on a day-to-day basis.”

This is something Soudeille can attest to. “We see immense value in the level of client support we receive. For example, in my role I use Morningstar Direct daily, crunching the numbers and performing data analysis. Whenever a question pops up or I feel I could benefit from some additional training, Morningstar is on hand to support me. There’s a level of responsiveness and friendliness that Morningstar brings, which helps us a company to adapt in real-time—as an innovative business, this is something we appreciate.”

When it came to selecting a provider, the conditions had to be just right. As Cianni notes, “Morningstar’s commitment to delivering high-quality data was hugely important to us.

There was a definite sense of transparency when it came to the data and the methodology that underpins it, and this resonated with our team. Thinking in terms of specifics, our Portfolio Manager was impressed at how easy it was to get definitions for the different types of data. We weren’t just finding random bits of data and making interpretations— Morningstar’s approach meant we had access to contextualised data, which is such a powerful asset. For Alpian, our strategy is heavily informed by data, so the combination of rigour and transparency has been essential.

We have access to a few Morningstar products, so if I had to pick a standout feature, it would be the combination of high-quality data in Morningstar Direct and bespoke customer support. I think this quite nicely mirrors what we value so much here at Alpian—blending a premium service with a personalised touch.”

As Alpian looks to the future, growth is a priority, though never at the expense of their customer-centric focus. It is, as Cianni reflects, “a hugely exciting time for Alpian. When I think about it, we’ve only scratched the surface in terms of the data we have access to—there’s so much untapped potential here, and with Morningstar’s support we can dive deeper. What this means for us at the end of the day is that we can deliver an even better service for our clients.

That’s something that has defined our relationship—we’ve never felt limited by Morningstar. There’s a sense of ease that we have so much data at our fingertips, but if we ever get stuck trying to find something, we know we can just reach out to someone.

What we’ve found is that Morningstar makes the process simple, but the data and platforms remain so sophisticated. Sometimes you might worry that simplifying something means you’re sacrificing quality, which would have a negative impact on the clients we serve, but for us, Morningstar are very transparent about the robustness of their methodology, so we’re very well aligned.”

It’s this sense of alignment that has allowed Morningstar and Alpian to go from strength to strength. As Fogli notes, “it’s great when something like this happens organically. Quite frankly, a company could have the best products in the world, but if our mission and values aren’t in sync then it’s just not going to work.

As an organisation, we hold ourselves to an incredibly high standard, so we would never enter a partnership if we didn’t believe 100% in our partner. Again, it comes back to our core client-centric mission of combining the premium with the personal, and that’s why we’ve been so proud to collaborate with Morningstar.

We’re looking forward to the journey ahead. When I take a moment to stop and reflect on our accomplishments, it’s a testament to all the hard work of our team. From an idea at the incubation phase to having a product out in the market to then getting our FINMA license, we’ve come so far. It’s especially rewarding considering we’re doing something different—we don’t fit into a box or conform to a pre-existing idea of what a bank should be.

In the time that we’ve launched, the results speak for themselves. In 2023 alone we saw a six-fold increase in our client base and a seven-fold increase in total assets, so the market is responding positively to what we’ve built. We have a lot of ambition in terms of growth over the next two years, but our mission will always remain the same—to serve our clients, whether that’s through expanding our offering or introducing new features.”

Headquartered in Geneva, Alpian is a digital-first, FINMA-licensed Swiss bank that provides a range of financial services, including retail and private banking. Currently, Alpian offers two types of mandates, “Guided by Alpian”, an Advisory Mandate that starts at CHF 10,000 minimum investment, and “Managed by Alpian”, a Discretionary Mandate that starts at CHF 30,000.

Alpian has not received any cash or non-cash compensation from Morningstar, directly or indirectly, in exchange for this customer story.