The Gazette of the Bicentenary Bonhôte - July 2014

The Gazette

of the Bicentenary banque bonhôte & cie sa www.bonhote.ch/200years

1815-2015

1815 – FIRST PRIVATE BANK IN NEUCHÂTEL SEES THE DAY BANQUE BONHÔTE CAN TRACE ITS HISTORY BACK TO THE TRADING BUSINESS DEVELOPED BY LOUIS AUGUSTE PETITMAÎTRE (17971874) STARTING IN 1815.

At the age of 18, Louis Auguste Petitmaître — a native of La Neuveville — entered the world of business alongside his uncle Jean Biolley, a renowned and well-connected merchant and wholesaler. When a successor was sought for the business

in 1824, Louis Auguste Petitmaître naturally put himself forward. From then onwards he built up a major commercial operation by diversifying into various lines of business. A year later, he was no longer a mere merchant but also a manager of business for others, attending to transactions in the areas of property, wine and bankruptcy settlements. It was probably in this period that he became a businessman in the true sense of the word… (continued on page 3)

200 YEARS SHAPING THE FUTURE This slogan will be the common theme for the various events organised to mark our 200th anniversary.

Details are provided at the website www.bonhote.ch/200years and in our six-issue Gazette, which will be sent to you on a regular basis.

The Gazette will also tell the story

of our bank in six instalments as well as reporting on happenings specific to our anniversary — such as a competition for up-and-coming designers. Lastly, we will be taking a peek into the future to see what the private bank of tomorrow might look like.

Edition 1/July 2014

EDITORIAL Jean Berthoud CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dear clients, Dear friends, Welcome to this first issue of the Gazette, which is devoted to the 200th anniversary of our institution which will take place in 2015.

What a privilege to be commemorating this anniversary in your company and with you in mind. It stands for the longevity of our institution, which has been setting its sights firmly on the future for the past two centuries.

“200 years shaping the future” is our slogan for this year. It represents the values we embody.

I hope that you will enjoy reading this newsletter, and I look forward to venturing into our third century with you!

www.bonhote.ch/200years

The Gazette of the Bicentenary of Banque Bonhôte & Cie SA

Edition 1/July 2014

PRIVATE BANKING IN NEUCHÂTEL the right place at the right time.

Our business model is designed to deliver steady, reliable growth among private investors. Bonhôte is a genuine alternative to the majors, regardless of whether you are a business owner, industrialist, a senior manager or the heir to an estate.

From left and right: Marinette Jeandupeux, Philippe Chatelain, Karen Soulange, Robin Richard, Béatrice Fernandez, Tânia Ribeiro, Benoît Cuche, Alexandre Vincent.

OUR PIVOTAL PRIVATE BANKING STAFF PROVIDE SUPPORT IN CLIENTS’ INVESTMENT DECISIONS.

Our experienced team, led

by Robin Richard, is fully committed to serving the needs of our clients and advising them through the key stages of life. It is tasked with designing solutions that are adapted to the specific requirements of each

individual client. The team has broad-ranging expertise in the management of wealth and, it is free to act in the market as it sees fit, because it is independent through and through. We have no concerns about the future.

Essential to stability is the make-up of our client base, which is predominantly Swiss.

Because we can adapt swiftly to new standards set by regulatory authorities, we will always be in

“Broad-ranging expertise in the management of wealth and free to act in the market as it sees fit, because it is independent through and through” What is our secret? We are a bank with a personal side, we have A-to-Z control over business operations and our teams are fully dedicated to each and every client’s personal satisfaction.

DELVING INTO THE RECORDS DO YOU HAVE ANY HISTORICAL PAPERS or pictures RELATING TO the Banque Bonhôte & Cie sa?

The current home of Banque Bonhôte & Cie SA (watercolour – from Banque Bonhôte’s private collection).

Frédéric-William Moritz (1783-1855) – Le square devant le Collège latin (1843)

The 200th anniversary has given us the opportunity to delve into our archives to retrace the bank’s story over the last two hundred years. It has been fascinating to piece together the past, and we would like to thank historian Patrice Allanfranchini for his invaluable assistance in this project.

If you happen to have historical documents or pictures relating to our bank, or to the persons who have made their mark on our history, we would be delighted to hear from you.

www.bonhote.ch/200years

The Gazette of the Bicentenary of Banque Bonhôte & Cie SA

Edition 1/July 2014

HISTORY OF THE BANK IN SIX parTS PART 1: 1815 - 1858 LOUIS AUGUSTE PETITMAÎTRE

View of the Petitmaître workshops (orange building) and, in the middle, L’Industriel Camillo de Vito (19th century), Porto de Neuchâtel (1828), private collection

(continued from page 1) ... because he also held auctions and was the Neuchâtel agent for certain renowned manufactories.

In 1830 he was granted the status of a burgher of the City of Neuchâtel, which gave him the right to become a guildsman.

Three years later, he became a member of the merchants guild. It was around this time that Philippe Suchard launched the L’Industriel, a steamboat that was twice as fast as its predecessors, serving the lakes of Neuchâtel, Bienne and Morat.

ADVERTISING To mark our 200th anniversary, a new advertising campaign will be launched, celebrating leaders who have in some way shaped the future. Each of our six Gazettes will offer an exclusive preview of the campaign’s visuals. The first one, shown opposite, refers to 1815, which was the year in which the major Swiss cantons shaped the future of their country by signing the Federal Treaty.

It is assumed that Louis Auguste Petitmaître was a shareholder in this venture. His business address, Faubourg du Lac 7 (the orange building shown in the above painting), was situated in a prime position on the nautical freight network of the time. As such, he was able to benefit from the daily service between Geneva and Lake Constance. The shipping network grew further under the auspices of the Solothurn steamboat company, which established daily connections between Nidau, Neuchâtel and Yverdon in order to facilitate the

transport of goods between towns that did not yet have a railway station. Louis Auguste Petitmaître continued to diversify his business and his son, Louis Edouard, was ushered into the family firm. In 1858 Louis Edouard was accepted into the merchants guild as a banker. Thus, it can be safely assumed that the many lines of business that they oversaw now included banking. Louis Edouard Petitmaître succeeded his father in 1872 and went on to transform the family trading company into a renowned, respected private bank.

In 1815, when the Federal Treaty was signed, the Banque Bonhôte & Cie SA was just founded.

OUR STORY IN SIX PARTS 1815 - 1858

www.bonhote.ch/200years

Gouache engraving by Henri Courvoisier-Voisin (private collection)

www.bonhote.ch/200years

The Gazette of the Bicentenary of Banque Bonhôte & Cie SA

Edition 1/July 2014

THE BANK OF THE FUTURE

WHAT WILL THE PRIVATE BANK OF TOMORROW LOOK LIKE? We will be closely observing the way in which technology develops over the next decade. Having revolutionised the worlds of photography, recorded music, books and travel reservations,

digital technology is set to play an increasingly important role in the banking industry. Up-andcoming technologies include voice recognition, smart scanners and touch screens, while at the same time communities in the investment world are becoming more and more active on social networks. The

BONHÔTE AS SEEN BY... later acquired in 1978 by the Swiss National Bank, which restored the building, leaving the listed exterior unchanged, and refitted the interior so that cash services could be offered. This was the SNB’s Neuchâtel branch for 20 years until it was closed down in 1998.

JEAN STUDER PRESIDENT OF THE BANK COUNCIL, SWISS NATIONAL BANK

Banque Bonhôte & Cie SA — which specialises in investment and wealth management — was founded in Neuchâtel in 1815 and will therefore be celebrating its 200th birthday next year. Throughout its history, it has been able to retain a personal side, which constitutes both its appeal and its particularity. The head office on Quai Ostervald is also brimming with history. It was built between 1836 and 1839, first of all as a private property. The building was bought by La Neuchâteloise, an insurance company, in 1925 and was

“Throughout its history, Bonhôte has been able to retain a personal side, which constitutes both its appeal and its particularity” The building has been Bonhôte’s head office for the past 16 years. As we head into this bicentenary, my wish is that the atmosphere of this charming town house will inspire its illustrious resident to continue pursuing business for the next 200 years, if not longer, in the same spirit of discipline and innovation — hallmarks of the canton itself — that has been key to its success to date.

wealth-management industry will be affected by these changes to the same degree as retail banking because the wealthy population bracket has the highest internet and smartphone usage. We will be keeping a close eye on developments to ensure that our clients continue receiving high-end services.

LATEST NEWS Developments at the BonhôteImmobilier investment fund have been encouraging. The project to build an administrative centre in Mont-sur-Lausanne is nearing completion, and the development of 64 apartments close to the railway station in Délemont began in the spring. Bonhôte-Immobilier currently has more than 70 buildings to its name, with a combined value exceeding CHF 780 million — making it one of the leading property investment funds in the country.

Mont-sur-Lausanne development

QUAI OSTERVALD 2, 2001 NEUCHÂTEL, T. + 41 (0) 32 722 10 00, F. + 41 (0) 32 721 43 42, INFO@BONHOTE.Ch, WWW.BONHOTE.Ch