Pictet Technologies: Why we chose Luxembourg

Pictet Technologies operates a unique and agile software company in Luxembourg that works for the Pictet Group. The leading independent wealth and asset management firm, headquartered in Switzerland, already has a well-established subsidiary in Luxembourg, which employs over 500 people. LFF spoke with Vincent Eggen, Managing Director, Pictet Technologies, to find out why Luxembourg was a natural choice for developing Pictet’s digital platform and providing innovative solutions for its clients.

What is Pictet Technologies?

Pictet Technologies was set up in Luxembourg in 2016. We’re the software factory of the Pictet Group. Our mission is to develop the software engineering activity for the Group’s IT Division. We’re an accelerator, supporting innovation initiatives and the development of what will become the digital banking solutions of the future.

It’s a somewhat unique set-up, and a smart one too; and it’s also exceptionally well implemented. All the IT infrastructure, tools and environments we’re using are at the top level of what you can find anywhere in the industry.

What is the role of Pictet Technologies within the Pictet Group?

We help to develop the Pictet Group’s software: its digital platform, web applications, all the portfolio management systems, compliance, reporting, and advisory tools. We work for the whole Group including Pictet Wealth Management and Pictet Asset Management.

We work closely with our colleagues in the IT Division in Geneva and use video conference systems to enhance how we work together.

In which areas does your expertise lie, and how does this complement the Group’s work?

We’re close to Switzerland, under an hour’s flight away from our colleagues in Geneva and Zurich. We speak French and English and are very internationally-minded in Luxembourg. We’re also close to the second largest Pictet office outside Switzerland, namely Luxembourg, which specialises in fund management and private banking.

Every banking environment today needs to be able to adapt quickly. Our mission is to help the development teams in every business line to adopt a more modern style of software engineering, i.e. moving away from traditional processes towards the “agile approach”, which is a rapid and flexible response to change. Our industry has learnt a lot in the past decades about how to be more efficient in software engineering, we’re implementing those new ways of working together.

How do you see your activities evolving?

Things have evolved quickly since we successfully finished our first project for the Pictet Group at the end of 2016. We started two years ago with just a few staff members, and we’ve now grown to 81. This means that our current premises are becoming too small, so we’re expanding to a new floor in our building that will be ready in the coming weeks. We’ll continue our expansion, and the plan is to have a total headcount of 125.

Our “software factory” feels very much at home in the modern Belval site, once the site of Luxembourg’s biggest ironworks. It’s now one of the most ambitious urban development projects in Europe and reflects our innovative, yet grounded philosophy. We’re next to the Technoport, a technology-oriented business incubator, and the University of Luxembourg. It’s a fantastic location, extremely active. It’s great for engineers, and they love it and find it very efficient.

Has it been easy to expand your office space and recruit new talent?

It has been quick and easy for us to increase our space in Belval, where there are lots of available options.

Creating an innovative and happy work culture was one of the most important things for us when we started out. At Pictet Technologies, our management style is similar to other technology startups. Our staff are empowered to have a lot of freedom and autonomy to do things.

We have a great team here that we have recruited both locally and also from Asia, Latin America and beyond. We’re very international, just like Luxembourg itself, with 16 different nationalities. We have junior people, and senior people as well, so it’s a really nice blend of energy and great minds working together.

We recently received an award as the best workplace in Luxembourg for a medium-size business from Great Place to Work, so that certainly helps with recruitment. But most important is the Pictet brand, which stands for quality and innovation. That’s why it’s not been difficult for us to find the best talents.

How does the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) ecosystem in Luxembourg support you?

For entrepreneurs like me and a Group like Pictet, proximity to the authorities is helpful. It’s easy to get in touch with decision-makers and get feedback in very constructive exchanges, which would be more difficult in other countries.

There are plenty of great things about the ICT ecosystem in Luxembourg. The numerous data centres help IT companies to grow and have the right regulatory framework for them. But I’d also say that it’s great because Luxembourg is small. Once you are into the IT ecosystem, everyone knows everyone, so as a developer it’s easy to get access to knowledge and share experience.

And looking ahead to the future…?

These are exciting times, and we’re contributing to something that’s new, innovative and very important for the Pictet Group in this new digital world. We’re defining together how the business will be done in the future. That’s an exciting task for my team and for me.

LEO Mag September 2018, Luxembourg for Finance, Gilly Mathieson.

Photo © Mike Zenari