A year after UNFCU Financial Services LLC opened a branch in Geneva, Switzerland, the investment firm is celebrating several anniversary milestones.
Last month, UNFCU Financial, which is a subsidiary of $3 billion United Nations Federal Credit Union in New York, marked the anniversary of its Switzerland branch opening. Nearly 5,000 members have used the branch's services. Assets under management were $1.6 million as of Oct. 31, a significant increase over $375,174, the figure on record at the end of June, according to the credit union.
"This underscores the confidence our members have placed in us, and I have listened closely and worked to help each individual achieve his or her goals," said Lukas Ammann, who heads the Geneva operation and is a chartered financial accountant.
UNFCU Financial Services LLC, New York succursale de Gen?ve was established in partnership with its custodian Banque Cantonale de Gen?ve to extend UNFCU s investment services to offices outside New York. The Geneva branch offers a mutual fund platform, and its open architecture allows the new entity to provide an array of investment strategies in Swiss francs, euros and U.S. dollars.
A universal bank since 1816, the BCGE offers banking services to private businesses and institutional customers in Geneva and its surrounding area. Some of its services include banking facilities, private banking, asset management to welfare and pension systems, mortgages, corporate and local authority lending. It runs a trading room and offers financial engineering, corporate finance and global commodity finance services. The BCGE group also has branches in Zurich and a subsidiary in France. In November, the BCGE announced the opening of an office in Hong Kong.
"Members are looking for trusted, objective and unbiased advice now more than ever in these turbulent financial times, said Stephen Ryerson, president of UNFCU Financial. "We wanted to expand our operations in Europe to address the need for in-person financial planning and multicurrency investment options expressed by our members and are accomplishing this in Geneva."
More than 100 United Nations staffers attended the Nov. 10 anniversary celebration at the agency's campus Palais des Nations in Geneva joining Ammann, Ryerson and Markus Bruderer, manager of investment advisory services for the event.
A similar celebration took place in Vienna, Austria, for UNFCU Financial Advisors GmbH, which has more than $1.3 million in assets as of Oct. 31 and is solely managed by Ramin Monajemi, financial adviser, according to the CUSO.
United Nations FCU continues to have a voice in financial issues worldwide. The credit union's President/CEO Michael Connery recently held a panel discussion titled "Making Cities Productive and Equitable Through Financial Education" with representatives from UN-HABITAT, the U.S. Treasury Department, Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy and NeighborWorks America. The event, which was moderated by Carlos Calderon, president/CEO of OAS Staff Federal Credit Union, was part of World Habitat Day activities which took place in Washington and was co-hosted by UN-HABITAT and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
–msamaad@cutimes.com

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United Nations FCU Marks Anniversary of Swiss Branch Opening

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