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A different type of animal

We are management consultants focused on information technology, banking and insurance.

Every company faces its own challenges and complex issues: therefore we believe that only tailored, elegant solutions can provide an effective, efficient and lasting impact.

Our principles and business model

Independence

Independent thinking is the condition required for an objective situation analysis, the starting point for effective and sustainable solutions.

Because we have no preconceived ideas, we are able to design unconventional game changing solutions required to confront fierce competition and paradigm shifts.

As entrepreneurs, we are free to say what we think and to put forward our strong beliefs, yet remain humble towards the unknown. A mutual and uninhibited cooperation with our clients is the best protection against risk.

Broad perspective

Today’s environment is characterized by an increasing complexity driven by globalization, regulation, social and cultural changes, technology, and many other interrelated parameters.

Concepts and solutions that are too one-sided, too technical, and/or too intellectual will fail, because spread sheet feasibility does not reflect the reality.

mas advisory’s response is a diversified team of partners, who have a long track record not only in consulting, but also as line managers, entrepreneurs and Board members. For each project we compose a team with the required blend of specialists’ skills and experience that is then well-orchestrated by a managing partner.

In-depth experience

We are committed to top quality consulting, from concept to implementation.

Our clear focus is essential to recognize the patterns that drive your industry and the oncoming paradigm changes with their associated challenges. This kind of foresight is vital to anticipate the oncoming hurdles involved. The other factor is experience.

Experience is the result of being confronted with different challenges in different roles. Experience ensures both effectivity and efficiency in the solution finding process. It gives us the capacity to differentiate fundamental patterns from volatile phenomenon, to recognize pitfalls and opportunities and to learn from other industries.

When experience is not enough, we verify and secure our approaches on the market by conducting a Delphi Study.

Ecosystem of advisors

In order to address modern industrial challenges, we focus on a 360⁰ perspective and on outstanding quality, we have built an ecosystem of trusted and very specialized associated and network partners to complement and support our partners in charge of the projects.

This formula has proven to be an essential factor of our success and an important differentiator. While the partners in charge ensure the strategic coherence of the solution (scope), the specialized associated and network partners secure the depth in the different relevant domains of the mission (verticality).

Along the projects, there is a systematic and iterative challenge between the two dimensions: scope and verticality, with their different points of views, that produces implementable and sustainable solutions.

Effectivity

Our elegant solutions deliver the maximum desired effect with the least effort, using the minimum of resources, fashioning a solution that is as effective as it is efficient.

Effectivity is a central building block of an elegant solution and begins at the very start of the project with a clear definition of the mission and a careful analysis of the drivers and levers of the different perspectives, including those often neglected that may backfire later.

The other building block is pattern recognition. Based on our vast professional experience of behavioral analysis of people and organizations and taking advantage of analogies from other areas, we are able to accurately and rapidly locate the problem areas that have not yet been evident.

Hands-on Co-Execution

“Hands-on” stands for uncomplicated, pragmatic and easy to work with. “Co” stands for the client-consultant partnership, where both parties are tied to the same endeavor. “Execution” stands for the mutual goal both parties strive towards, namely the implementation of the required change.

By nature, the client knows his organization best and the consultant has vast experience in domains that are not integral to the core competences of the company and its management.

This working model has proven to be highly efficient and conductive to the acceptance and feasibility of the new approaches and solutions. Additionally, it allso allows for a smooth know-how transfer between parties and the progressive phasing out of the consultant.

People

Our people are our assets, with their profound knowledge, their intellectual capabilities, their experience, and social competence.

At mas advisory helping our clients to address their challenges and succeeding together in unison is our passion. This motivation as a guiding principle, results in a creative team dynamic, always “walking the extra-mile”.

For each mandate, we select the required specific skills and compose a well-orchestrated team. We carefully blend innovation with experience while being considerate to work within the cultural parameters. Most of our partners have a long track record not only in consulting, but also as line managers, entrepreneurs and Board members.

While all our projects are personally conducted by our partners, additional specific skills are brought into the team by trusted associated partners with a long collaboration track record.

Milestones & Projects

2023 The balancing act

Today the management of a financial institution is a balancing act between digitization, client orientation and cost optimization. This being a very complex equation, we wanted to understand how the different institutes manage this challenge.

Therefore, we conducted an extensive and representative Delphi Study based on which we elaborated recommendations summarized in a White Paper as a vademecum for top management and board members and as a guideline for our consulting work.

We are also extending our consulting work towards Embedded Finance, a trend to follow closely.

2022 Focus on digital transformation

We could, among others, add Swiss Post as a client and look back to the successful integration of a show case digital transformation company into a leading global technology provider (see “Capgemini acquires Knowledge Expert”).

We are also pleased that we were able to add Michel Döringer as a new Partner to further strengthen our banking IT competence.

2021 The market is evolving, and so are we

While continuing to act from a strong strategy base, we are increasingly involved in the implementation of novel strategies for our clients. We keep a strong presence during the co-execution of their transformation and are ready to participate in their capital as a proof of our commitment. In sum: we walk our talk!

2020 Further developing our Investment Advisory services

Aymeric Peignon and Antoine Verdon came on board as Associated Partners. Aymeric served as a M&A consultant for the past 8 years. He has strong experience with entrepreneurs and start-ups, to whom he provides business plan and budget analyses, reviews valuations and structures present and future financing rounds. Antoine developed and led one of the first venture capital vehicles in Switzerland, focusing exclusively on financial technology, which led him to work as an advisor to the management and boards of several Swiss banks on topics related to fintech and blockchain.

2019 Diginex [EQOS]

For Diginex [EQOS], the first full digital asset ecosystem listed on Nasdaq, mas advisory helped to define and to model the core digital asset business processes, assisted the setup of an appropriate framework to comply with Swiss regulations and established an operational risk management framework. We also contributed to the compliance management approach and as a result, supported Diginex’ s promise of delivering innovative products, architectures, and infrastructures to foster the mainstream adoption of the digital asset class. The group was listed on Nasdaq in September 2020 under the ticker “EQOS”.

2018 DXC Technology

DXC was formed by the merger of HP Enterprises and CSC Corporation and consequently became one of the world’s largest IT services companies. They continued the project launched in 2015 by HPE with mas advisory. With our strategic and operational support, the Swiss Banking Practice of DXC was able to strengthen its position on the market by outcompeting the market leaders in a lighthouse IT platform tender of a large bank.

2017 TX Group (Tamedia)

mas advisory supported the General Management of the Tamedia Group (TX-Group) in the development of a new Information Technology Frame-Strategy, which was a key element of the successfully led digital transformation of the Group.

2017 Expersoft Systems

mas was mandated by Expersoft Systems, a leader in Software for independent asset managers (IAM), to develop a strategy and an offering to address the large number of small sized IAMs. We developed the concept for a one-stop-shop for IAMs based on the industrial assembly principle and implemented the full-service provider AM-One covering the IT platform, back-office and compliance services in co-execution with the client. AM-One became a success in Europe and Asia increasing Expersoft’ s footprint on the market.

2017 Launch of the succession plan

The founding partners have launched a mid-term succession plan to hand over mas’ business to the next generation of Partners, bringing on board Boris A. Jeannet and Guillaume Beauverd as shareholders and partners. With Guillaume, mas’ position in Geneva is strengthened.

2016 Lykke, a pioneer in Crypto Finance

Always at the edge of paradigm changes in financial services technology, mas advisory’s Partner Heinrich Zetlmayer took a mandate at Lykke Corporation, a pioneer in blockchain technologies and blockchain-based trading. This was the beginning of mas advisory’s activities in the area of Crypto Finance. In 2018 he founded Blockchain Valley Ventures as a spin-off from Lykke.

2015 Integration of Cyber Security

At the onset, mas advisory recognized the strategic dimension of Cyber Security as a threat to digital business models, and therefore integrated this new dimension into our strategy work. We brought on board highly specialized Associated Partners to sensitize organizations on this new challenge in the context of digitalization and to put in place the adequate defense mechanisms beyond the classic IT perspective.

2015 HP Enterprises’ positioning

HP Enterprises mandated mas advisory to further develop its Swiss banking practice to become a front runner in the next paradigm in banking technology, characterized by a rapid ramp-up of an ecosystem built by flexible start-ups. This was the beginning of a fruitful collaboration over many years.

2014 Tamedia’s development of digital business

mas advisory supported Tamedia with the implementation of the first paywall solution on the Swiss Media Market. This was an important building block of Tamedia’s transformation to a leading digital player of the Swiss Media industry.

2010 Tamedia – Edipresse merger

In the context of the merger of Tamedia and Edipresse, the IT of the leading media group in Switzerland had to be reshaped. Herwig Gangl took over this challenge as the recently appointed Partner and leader of the media practice and successfully led this major transformation program. Besides the technical challenge, he had to cope with the cultural dimension of merging the IT of the Zurich based Tamedia and Lausanne based Edipresse.

2010 Private Bank BSI’s BPO reset

The traditional Private Bank BSI had built a BPO business that was stagnating. mas advisory was mandated to find a way out of this deadlock. B-Source was sold to Avaloq, allowing Avaloq to become a leading banking BPO provider in Switzerland. This move was part of Avaloq’s growth strategy.

 

 

2010 Continuously growing our Associated Partners base

Since the creation of mas advisory, we have continuously added associate partners, our highly experienced professionals who support our partners with very specific complementary skills. They usually have a long track record of successful collaboration with our partners, benefitting in trust, effectivity and efficiency.

2009 Launch of Investment advisory services

Heinrich Zetlmayer joined mas advisory to build the investment advisory practice, supporting investors in improving the performance of their holdings. In another lighthouse project, mas was mandated to further develop the business model of an e-sports start-up (Turtle Entertainment) based in Cologne. After 5 years of work in co-execution mode, the company in which mas advisory had also invested in, was sold to MTG/ESL, the world’s leader in e-sports after having grown revenues by more than 10-fold.

2004 Shaping Banking IT

Over the next 10 years mas advisory, together with its blue-chip clients, shaped the paradigm shifts in banking service providing in Switzerland towards standard platforms and BPO. The focus of the different projects varied from strategy and governance to service development and go-to-market.

2004 Swisscom’s start in Banking IT

In a first lighthouse project mas advisory helped Swisscom to shape their recently acquired Banking IT Services business. This was the starting point of a very successful development of Swisscom to become the leading banking IT services provider in Switzerland.

2003 mas advisory was established

mas advisory was founded in Zurich by François Jeannet and Dominique Freymond as a management consulting firm that supports top management and boards at the crossroads of crucial strategic decisions. mas advisory focused on the intersection of banking and information technology.

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