Back at school, did your teacher ever told you or showed you:

• How to manage your wealth?
• How to create and preserve wealth with financial planning?
• How to efficiently implement Wealth Planning?
• How to start early with your Private Wealth Management?
• How to set yourself up for a rich and interesting life that leaves all options open?

It’s a regrettable fact that schools do not teach us anything about managing wealth.

We do not learn:

• How to manage our wealth
• How to diversify, to structure, to secure and build wealth
• How to avoid debt
• How to minimise our liabilities
• How to learn the Principles of Wealth Management Services
• How to start early with Private Wealth Management and Planning
• How to transfer wealth into companies located in offshore jurisdictions, where they are safe from predatory eyes of the third parties. Your wealth should be located in a place, where they can grow quietly and steadily for generations to come

Rather than teaching how to correctly complete a tax return and how to optimize your tax, we are taught how to calculate the surface of a triangle or a circle. How many times in your life did you have to do this mathematical exercise? This may help you to calculate the capacity of your fuel tank but will never tell you how to pay less tax on your hard-earned money.

“I wish school would have taught me how to secure legally earned wealth against liability risks and how to grow wealth in a tax-optimized way.”

The following 5 levels of the pyramid of wealth and prosperity will explain important facts about money and wealth, everyone should be aware of.

This 5-level pyramid of prosperity is not just about money, it is more about Prosperity and Well-being in general. Prosperity also means physical and mental health, love and luck. This pyramid has nothing to do with the pyramid developed by the psychologist Abraham Maslow. It is concerned with wealth, wealth building, wealth planning and prosperity in the broadest sense.

“You will quickly find out which level you are positioned on.”

You will see how you can plan an exciting and healthy life for yourself. Wealth Planning means visualising thoughts by putting them down on paper. Successful Private Wealth Management presupposes visualising the plan on the paper.

• How can a rich and fulfilling life be planned in advance?
• What exactly is plannable for an independent and free life?
• What action can be planned to escape the pressures of our busy daily lives?
• What has to be done to keep our minds free and our bodies in top condition?
• How can we plan ahead to reach the comfortable position of being able to sit back and watch our wealth keep on growing and growing further?

“How can we sleep well and rest assured that our hard-earned wealth grows safely?”

The first level at the base of the pyramid is also the biggest one. Most of humanity is on this level. Most people have some kind of debt. Those who are indebted feel miserable, both physically and mentally. They are frequently suffering from depression.

20% of Europe’s population is in medical treatment and take psychotropic drugs.

That number is even far higher in the USA. Many people on this level are also overweight. People with debts feel miserable and are in poor health. Many suffer from depression and left in the lurch, deceived and left behind. Others feel they are victims of some big-scale fraud perpetrated on them. They are lonely. They have no friends and no social life. They tend to be indifferent and passive.

Studies show that (dependent on the country):

between 20% and 50% of the adult population is lonely, sick, depressive and suffers from anxiety.

Many of them neglect themselves and eat poorly. They often neglect their own appearance. Even uninvolved third parties notice the miserable situation they are in, simply by watching their appearances, such as dirty fingernails, worn-out shoes, poor grooming and other visible signs.

The bigger the mountain of debt, the more difficult it is to get rid of it. Passivity, lethargy, self-pity and indifference dominate their daily lives. These become self-fulfilling prophecies. Humans are creatures of habit. Those who fall into the trap of these bad habits run the risk of becoming stuck on the first level of the pyramid, i.e. forever indebted.

But in our age, it is possible to climb up to all 5 levels of the pyramid. That was unthinkable only 200 years ago. But it takes a conscious decision to move up. All successful endeavours are preceded by someone making a decision to be successful. You have to want it, plan it and seek advice.

“Successful people always seek advice. You have to make a solid decision to get to work and start climbing.“

The decision that has to be made is: “From this point forward, success will be mine”. Your Wealth Planning ideas, your Private Wealth Management rules, your Success has to be planned and laid down on paper. Once success is planned and put down on paper, the growth is visualised automatically.

“Those who do not confine the possibility of success to their mind but express and visualise it on paper will entice their subconscious mind to start working on turning that success into reality, even in their sleep.”

Human brains work with images and that’s why they say: “A picture paints a thousand words.”

The subconscious mind works out the solutions automatically, even when you are sleeping. But those who do not make a commitment to succeed and never make a decision to be successful will never plan and visualise success either. The subconscious mind is not given an opportunity to even look for solutions.

Warren Buffet claims that:

“The longer we remain on the first level, the more difficult it is to climb the pyramid.“

He also rightly claims that humans are creatures of habit who, at some stage in their lives, simply settle down for what they have. It is surely not easy to escape the debt trap, but it is definitely possible. However, it does take a conscious decision to become wealthy.

Prosperity has to be dreamed, we have to plan it and transfer those images of our brain to paper in order to visualise the success we want. It must be visualised in all its details how it would look if it had already been achieved.

The human brain has enormous capabilities and it works with images. It works day and night, even when we are sleeping. The subconscious mind will immediately start looking for solutions that allow us to achieve prosperity. It comes up with unconventional and ground-breaking ideas that come close to the work of a genius.

“The results delivered by our subconscious mind are quick to come to fruition. Those fruits are the ideas that pop up unexpectedly. Ideas that you’ve never had but you’ve been dreaming of it.“

At this point, it is crucial to put the ideas on paper and immediately get to work on turning them into reality. There must be no procrastination in their implementation. Everything does not have to be implemented perfectly during this phase. It is important to implement the ideas without wasting any time. They can then be brought to perfection in a second round. Those who just wait for perfection to come without taking action run the risk of simply forgetting about the good ideas, or that someone else will turn it into their reality.

Procrastination only ends out in losing. Time is money. It takes hard work to dig yourself out of debt. This first level of debt, which I call the below-zero level, ends once all your debts are paid out and settled. This is when your wealth balance is zero.

This second level, the Level of Scarcity, comprises the members of the middle class. They have to make ends meet with an annual income of up to USD 75,000. Dr Daniel Kahnemann and Dr Angus Deaton, both scholars at the Princeton University and Nobel laureates, conducted an empirical investigation into the end of the 2nd level and the beginning of the 3rd level and agreed on an annual income of USD 75,000.

According to them, well-being and happiness strongly correlate to income, but only up to an annual income of USD 75,000, meaning the upper threshold of the 2nd level, also called the scarcity level.

The income at this level is enough to cover living expenses, but it barely lasts till the end of the month. Towards the end of each month, people who are at this level have to make decisions as to which invoices to pay and which ones to leave out. For them, Private Wealth Management and Wealth Planning is limited to optimising their liabilities by effectively arranging the payment of invoices. Which invoice will I pay right now, which one next week and which ones will never get paid?

Those who find themselves on this level will have to do everything possible to quickly change his situation. They must make a conscious decision to become successful. Success will be rooted in the decision to become successful now.

Private Wealth Management, Wealth Planning and Success

It all starts by setting priorities and finding that “sweet spot” where we can bring our individual special talent to the best possible fruition. What’s my talent? What am I really good at? How can I excel the biggest benefits from my talent and passion? What are my prominent skills?

Those who have reached this level are enjoying what is called “financial health”. At this level of financial and physical health, they do not have to worry about when to pay their bills. They are rather enjoying paying them because then they will be off their mind and not causing them further problems.

“People at this level are not necessarily millionaires, but they surely wake up without having to worry if and when they can pay their bills.“

This third level should be reached so that you can enjoy a dignified life. If you are currently on the first or second level, you should make a real effort and do everything in your power to advance to the next level.

Warren Buffet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett)

He believes that those remaining on the first two levels for too long run the risk of becoming complacent and truant in their efforts to climb up the ladder. They are at risk of procrastinating all their good resources from one day to the next, rather than tackling the things in front of them immediately. Those wasting their valuable time on level one and two are at risk of missing the opportunity to advance to the third stage, and one day it will be too late and they will miss the boat.

People who are on level three wake up in the morning and their day starts without any struggles to keep up with their financial obligations. They can enjoy the day and feel well, both mentally and physically. They enjoy their well-being and live in harmony with their spirits. As we all know, these two go hand in hand.

If the mind is burdened with financial troubles, it frequently has a negative effect on our bodies. The Romans already knew that some 2 millennia ago when they found out about the close link between a healthy mind and a healthy body:

Latine: Sit mens sana in corpore sano – Satire X

English: Healthy Mind is situated in a healthy body

Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis

The Roman poet was known as “Juvenal” (late first and early second century AD)

Once the third level is reached, optimism spreads its wings.

“Those who struggle through their days wondering how to pay the next bill can barely muster any motivation, for example, to participate in a tax course.”

But those who realise that the only way is up are also motivated to learn about:

• saving taxes
• where are the countries offering the most tax benefits
• buying a second passport
• how to open a bank account in Switzerland
• how to transfer assets in legal entities, minimizing the liability risks
• how to analyse if a bank is solid
• how to structure an international business
• how to diversify the investments
• how to legalize untaxed black money
• how to prepare an important transaction
• how to relocate to Italy and pay a flat tax of EUR 100’000
• how to negotiate a tax ruling
• how to open a Swiss bank account in 1 day

This is where Wealth Planning and Private Wealth Management come into play.

They develop a positive attitude and look forward to educating themselves in money matters. They start developing their Financial Intelligence.

“Education becomes a life-long mission”

Assets are consolidated in separate legal entities with the aim of minimising liabilities and to diversify risks that cannot be eliminated. The strategy of opening numerous bank accounts with numerous banks in different countries emerges as an important issue. It takes motivation to acquire even the most basic expert knowledge in accountancy, international taxation or international law. Part of the learning curve is how to select the right advisers and how to negotiate with banks and insurances.

Go for more useful information and watch our help-videos.

At this level, it is particularly important to protect your hard-earned wealth. This can be done by shifting most of your assets to tax-friendly environment like Switzerland. It is also important to learn how and where assets are placed so they can be protected against litigation-hungry and contentious competitors, rapacious tax authorities in high-tax countries who would just love to confiscate them, or other authorities, politicians or simply begrudge those who are better off. Asset protection becomes more and more important.

In our world of unstable financial systems with erratic governments, unpredictable politicians, rapacious tax authorities the act of making a wise choice when it comes to the banks taking care of our wealth can make all the difference in whether the hard-earned wealth is safely tucked away, out of reach for unauthorised third-parties, or it is all lost at the blink of an eye.

Those on Level 4 are feeling really well and happy. They are the so-called “High Net-Worth Individuals” with at least USD 1 Million, investable assets on their bank account.

3.4.1 Categories of Clients for Private Wealth Management
The following categories are mostly used within the Swiss Wealth Planning and Private Wealth Management Institutions.

The most traditional segments categorized within the Swiss Private Banking Industry are as follows:

3.4.2 How does HNWI influence others?
They win new friends and are starting to realise that they can influence others. They accept their responsibility and lead by example. The social environment changes constantly. They influence others and make new acquaintances all the time. The men and women who have made it to this level not only feel good, they feel great and are energized by their wealth.

On this 4th Level, they are enjoying the recognition of others for their achievements. They have an impact on society and are socially responsible. Their names start getting to be known. They are recognized in wider circles and are often invited to social events.

The word of those who have made it to this level counts and is respected, they dominate their social environment. Once this level has been reached, pleasure goes beyond looking forward towards the next holidays. They are always on holidays. Travelling for them is a way of life and is integrated into their daily routines. At the same time, they become increasingly important as role models for those below them.

Influencing others has grown exponentially and is now spreading globally. Ultra-High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWI) are those with assets of well over USD 100 million. While those on the 4th Level are the big players locally, the super-wealthy on the 5th Level are bringing changes to the entire globe.

They become global players within an international network, influencing others on the international stage. Bill Gates is a great example. His charitable foundations, for example, change the world for good. His influence knows no boundaries. This naturally entails a growing responsibility once has to live up to in this position of enormous power.

Wealth Planning is a discipline which entails constant organization and support to plan your wealth. It’s a continuous process based on a written plan with the goal of wealth protection, preservation and growth. The ultimate goal here is to transfer the wealth to the next generation in a tax-efficient way.

Wealth planning is based on:

• international tax planning
• global wealth protection
• estate and business succession planning
• immigration and citizenship planning

HNWI and their international family members are becoming more mobile and global. The involvement and the impact of multiple jurisdictions, tax systems and continuously changing cross-border regulations are making the art of global wealth management and planning more sophisticated and more complex – than ever before. To achieve extraordinary and immediate results, you need experts with practical and portable know-how and decades of experience in the field of private wealth management, wealth planning and wealth protection. It has become a multi-discipline science.

Family Offices are frequently engaged in Switzerland by wealthy international families:

• the best country for professional wealth management and family offices is Switzerland
• the best jurisdiction for global private wealth management is Switzerland

If you need impartial advice on how to find the best family office, covering your needs and expectations, write an email or call Mr. Enzo Caputo now.

• If you want to discuss your wealth planning ideas
• If you are looking for a Second Opinion on your wealth planning and private wealth management ideas
• If you have already drafted your wealth planning and need an expert to discuss its content

do not hesitate to contact an experienced international tax and asset protection lawyer with decades of practical experience, accumulated within the Swiss wealth management industry. He is in a position to smell and anticipate the developments of a constantly changing tax, legal and regulatory environment, taking immediate action and protecting your wealth efficiently.

I am an international private banking lawyer having 30 years of professional experience with Wealth Planning and Private Client Wealth Management. I have been the CEO of the Swiss Association of Asset Managers. I am a private wealth advisor. I have an extensive practical and portable know-how collected as an insider in the last decades – you can take advantage of. Do not hesitate to call me.

Private Wealth Management is a discipline of financial and investment advice for growing, protecting and transferring wealth to the next generation. A single family office is taking care of the global wealth for an UHNWI. Independent asset managers, law firms, asset management companies, financial advisers and multi-family offices are managing the private wealth of UHNWI. Depository banks are the mere custodians of the assets and have nothing to do with the wealth management side of the portfolio.

It’s very important to diversify your substantial wealth over several banks and several jurisdictions. This will reduce your counterparty risk. Diversification is very important when managing large sums of money. As they say, you can never put all your eggs in one basket.

“Never put all your eggs in one basket means efficient risk diversification and risk mitigation, therefore placing your assets over multiple banks and jurisdictions”

Example No. 1
USD 80 Million are diversified and managed over 8 banks in 4 different jurisdictions. One of the core activities of a multi-family office is to organise a consolidated reporting for the client. That means, that all 8 relationships with the 8 different banks are managed by one multi-family office which reports and summarizes their asset values quarterly.

The report compares the performance based on a chosen benchmark. The terms and conditions of the depository banks are compared and negotiated on a regular basis in order to obtain the best fess and conditions for the client.

Keep in mind:
“Everything is negotiable, including banking fees agreed with the depository banks, especially when substantial amounts are involved.”

Example No. 2
A private wealth management company is managing the private and the commercial real estate properties of a wealthy family. A fundamental legal tool frequently used with real estate management is to create a legal entity, for example, a Swiss company limited by shares (AG). The risk associated per holding of a real estate needs to be segregated and registered within a different entity. The creation of different legal entities mitigates the risks in case of damage or of liabilities which can contaminate the entire structure.

Switzerland has become the undisputed hub for the top wealth management firms and international investors, internet billionaires, new rich families and family offices. The new millionaires are all scrambling to get to Switzerland. International minded and globally mobile families prefer to have their services provided outside of their own country of origin. After Brexit, Switzerland has become the most popular hub for the best private wealth management firms. A young financial advisor can find unique job opportunities in Switzerland to develop his career.

Switzerland is a neutral country since the Napoleonic wars – 200 years ago. The political regime in Switzerland is based on direct democracy. A direct democracy offers a direct influence on the Swiss federal laws and political decisions by the population. Switzerland has a long tradition with direct democracy going back to 1291. No other country in the world offers a similar direct democracy such as that offered in Switzerland.

Switzerland’s economy is incredibly stable and strong, which is reflected in the strength of its currency, the Swiss franc. The government produces a budget-surplus since decades with one of the lowest debt-ratios in the world. This puts Switzerland amongst the last countries with AAA-Credit Rating.

The Swiss Franc (CHF) is considered as the most stable currency in the world. Exactly for this, the Swiss Franc has gained a tremendous value during the last few years. The Swiss government comprises of 8 ministers and an independent governor for the Swiss National Bank. The Swiss are very sceptical towards the European Union. The Swiss have so far rejected to join the Eurozone. This has turned out to be a wise decision, when looking at the Eurozone states today. Recent surveys confirmed that the Swiss population has no interest to be part of the European Union. Therefore, Switzerland remains unique, special and independent of all the financial turmoil that is presently contaminating the European banks.

“More than 30% of the world’s privately controlled assets are managed in Switzerland by Swiss wealth managers. These owners of 30% of the world’s assets can’t be wrong.“

International private wealth managers have realized that close geographical proximity to solid private Swiss banks is the key for success. Recent statistics have also confirmed this trend. A myriad of new rich families recently moved their personal wealth management activities to Zurich, Zug and Geneva establishing wealth management firms.

There is no doubt:

“Swiss private banks are the undisputed leaders in the Private Wealth Management Industry for centuries. Many of the best-capitalised banks in the world are located in Switzerland, most of them in Zurich, Zug or Geneva.“

The best wealth management firms are located in Switzerland. Strongly motivated, experienced and educated young professionals can be hired in Switzerland by private wealth management companies. A private wealth advisor candidate and other professional candidates domiciled abroad can also be persuaded to move to Switzerland. Switzerland is considered one of the best countries to live in because of its very high living standards. Switzerland is becoming more attractive as a mundane place for permanent residence for members of wealthy families.

Switzerland is a low tax country having signed Double Taxation Agreements (DTA) with many countries. Switzerland has a very reputable, reliable and trustworthy legal and tax system and is home to multilingual international tax lawyers, auditors, wealth planning experts, notaries, arbitrators, accountants etc.

International boarding schools offering an international open-minded education and excellent private hospitals and a high-class health care system are making live more attractive for newcomers.

After Switzerland adhered to the “Hague Convention on the Recognition of Trusts” a wealth manager can act as trustee for his client without suffering any negative tax consequences.

All these elements make Switzerland the most favourite place for professional private wealth management in the world. These advantages have attracted many family offices and wealth professionals from all over the world to Switzerland, the undisputed hub of private wealth management.

If your home country turns out to be unsecure and unstable that you had ever imagined, you can be sure that Switzerland will offer you a safe haven for your wealth. This will be the key decision for protecting your wealth.

During the last 2 or 3 years, many family offices have transferred their offices from London to Zurich or Geneva, Switzerland. Many others have been formed from scratch in low tax jurisdictions such as Zug.

New rich families discovered Switzerland as a hub for their global wealth management. It’s not a secret that international family offices prefer to work with Swiss private banks. They appreciate the sophisticated level of service, the multilingual relationship managers working with Swiss private banks, the well-educated staff, the professional skills and the regulatory framework. Switzerland’s economic, financial and political stability is crucial for international investors.

How to choose the best private bank?
Many investors find it difficult to choose the best private bank for their business. Amongst the 120 private banking institutions in Switzerland there is only a handful tailor-made for your specific business needs. This is where Caputo & Partners with our insider business knowhow can help you to find the most appropriate bank for your needs.

First of all, you need a senior private banker you can trust. The most stable and solid bank has no value for you if you have to deal with a young inexperienced banker. A junior banker allocated to you will gain his experience at you’re your expense. By increasing the transactions on your account he will increase his bonus with the generated commissions.

Experienced and successful private bankers are always busy. Caputo & Partners will introduce you to a senior banker you can trust. You need a banker who is able to satisfy your needs and expectations. Caputo & Partners introduced many clients to several banks and several private bankers for decades. We know the best private banks and the best senior private bankers. They like to work with us. They like to work with somebody they can trust. Before we introduce our clients, we check the economic background on the client’s activities and we do our homework first (Know Your Client, KYC-Due Diligence).

Service quality is not the only important factor. Nowadays, security, reliability and financial stability are crucial for the decision making process. Especially, the Tier 1 capital ratio is at least as important.

The Tier 1 capital ratio is the best indicator and the key figure for the bank’s financial strength. The higher the Tier 1 capital ratio, the more stable and secure the bank is. Due to the financial crisis of 2008, banks are required to maintain a minimal Tier 1 capital ratio of 9% in Switzerland. This ratio is far less amongst other European and US banks which lends them to be more volatile against the next crisis. Therefore, there is no saver place than Switzerland for your wealth.

“Switzerland has the best-capitalized banks in the world. Caputo & Partners can offer access to a very exclusive club of these private banks. Some of which offer a Tier 1 capital ratio of up to 25%.“

These private banks are offering private banking services only. These banks are not involved with high-risk investment banking activities, mortgages or capital lending activities with high-risk exposures like Goldman Sachs’ of this world.

“These Swiss private banks are the most stable and secure banks in the world.“

Not only qualified investors and Swiss multi-family offices prefer doing business with these exclusive club of prime Swiss banks but also international and independent asset management companies. Hedge-funds and other companies have chosen this exclusive club of prime best-capitalized Swiss private banks as their custodian banks of first choice.

We are living in a financially and politically unstable world. Banks can go bankrupt. Your assets at home can be confiscated based on a fabricated corruption scenario. Even the entire financial infrastructure can collapse overnight.

The world is becoming more transparent. Privacy is diminishing continuously all over the world. Many families in South America, for example, are living at risk to be a victim of extortion, robbery and kidnapping, once it becomes public knowledge that the family is rich.

The Swiss banking secrecy and data protection laws are still severe and very efficient. Therefore, very effective for your personal privacy. Many people are convinced that Swiss banking secrecy laws are not working anymore. That is not true. Banking secrecy laws are not working anymore for the protection of activities in connection with tax evasion. Swiss banking secrecy laws and Swiss data protection laws are still valid and very efficient. They still protect the privacy of private banking clients.

“In an unsecure world with unpredictable governments and corrupt politicians, your choice of a public bank in your country or an exclusive private bank in Switzerland makes the difference between protecting your life savings for your children – or losing everything you have overnight.”

• If you want to protect your life savings in Switzerland with the most secure private bank
• If you need a top private banker who can constantly grow your wealth (with proven track-record)
• If you are looking for a secure and solid Swiss private bank exclusively focussed on private banking services (no derivatives, no mortgages and no other risky business)
• If you have already Swiss bank account and you need an expert to discuss the performance of your portfolio

Do not hesitate to pick up the phone and call Caputo & Partners.
We are Insiders of the Swiss private banking industry and in a position to introduce you to the exclusive Swiss private banks, in order to satisfy your needs and expectations with strategic wealth management.

I am an international banking lawyer having 30 years of professional experience with Private Wealth Management and Swiss private banks. I am an extensive practical and portable know-how collected as an insider in the last decades – you can take advantage of.