The Swiss private bank has announced that it is launching an institute to probe and research the kind of subjects that carry investment implications for the long run.

Pictet, the Swiss private bank, is setting up the Pictet Research Institute to research topics with long-term investment implications.

Based in Geneva, the institute will engage in topics ranging from macro- and geopolitics to portfolio implementation solutions.

The institute, which will have its own dedicated staff of PhD-level researchers, will also collaborate with select academics and think tanks, as well as drawing on the Pictet Group’s internal experts, the bank said in a statement yesterday. 

Maria Vassalou, formerly from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, will head the institute, and report to Sébastien Eisinger, managing partner at Pictet.

At Goldmans, Vassalou was co-chief investment officer of multi-asset solutions. She holds a PhD in financial economics from the London Business School.

“The rapidly changing economic and market environment requires us to further strengthen our capabilities in analysing existing and developing global themes and trends,” Eisinger said.