BWF identity

Bruno Walter,
Founder and Chairman of the board

After traineeships in London, New York and Zurich, he continued his professional career with Credit Suisse in Lausanne. He went on to take responsibility for the central portfolio management service and then for institutional activities and financial affairs of the Vaud branch establishments before setting up and heading the VIP sector which handles ultra-high net worth individual clients. He also performed many mandates for the Swiss Association of Financial Analysts and Wealth Managers (SFAA), which he chaired from 1988 to 1991. In addition, he represented Switzerland in the European Federation of Financial Analysts Associations (EFFAS) from 1985 to 1995 and was the Chairman of AZEK (Centre for Training Investment Professionals) from 1993 to 2004. Between 2005 and 2014, he has chaired the Discharge Committee of the SFAA (Swiss Financial Analysts Association). He founded the Bruno Walter Finance SA company in Lausanne.

Olivier Walter,
CEO

After taking a school-leaving certificate in business management, he began his professional career in 1987 with Banque Hoffmann in Zurich in the SOFFEX department. He took part in the definition and launch of this "new" electronic listed options trading market. He went on to work as an arbitrage specialist/trader in foreign equities listed on the Zurich stock market and then as a trader/advisor for institutional clients. He continued his professional career in trading as a market maker in Japanese convertible products with LTCB in Zurich. In 1998, he joined Banque Nationale de Paris to promote equity market activities in Switzerland and took responsibility for sales-trading (equities, listed derivatives) for all Switzerland. He is CEO at BWF.

Thomas Lips,
Vice-President

Dr. Lips has over 30 years of experience in the asset management and financial services industry. Dr. Lips is an active board member of Ayaltis, an independent pure fund of hedge funds Manager and General Partner at Nextech Invest in Zurich. Prior to joining BWF in 2017, Dr. Lips was chief executive officer of Centrum Bank AG in Vaduz. He has held positions at Goldman Sachs Bank AG (chief investment officer) and American International Group (AIG) Private Bank Ltd. in Zurich, Switzerland. He was Chairman of the Swiss Training Centre for Investment Professionals (AZEK) and a former board member of the Swiss Financial Analysts Association (SFAA). He started his career in 1981 at the Union Bank of Switzerland (now UBS), where he was responsible for investment advisory and financial analysis activities and chaired the Investment Committee. Dr. Lips holds a PhD in economics from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Philippe Sormani,
Membrt

Philippe Sormani is a partner and co-founder of CIFI and chairs its Board of Directors. He was also co-founder and partner of various companies in IT, finance and training, including CFPI/AZEK. He was co-founder and delegate of the Board of Directors of InterSec in Switzerland, delegate of the Board of the European Institute of Financial Analysis and Wealth Management in Geneva. His work focuses on digitalization for finance, artificial intelligence, real estate investment analysis, performance analysis and benchmarking, quantitative financial analysis, etc. investment decision support systems. It contributes to the promotion of professional ethics and corporate governance through training and qualification. After a degree in physics at ETH Zurich and a PhD thesis in particle physics at the University of Geneva, Philippe Sormani founded Brainsoft Consulting, a company specializing in financial engineering and training in financial techniques. Since then, he has carried out his activities in the framework of various companies that he helped to found and develop.

Manuel Deluermez,
Chief customer officer

After his successful apprenticeship at the Swiss Bank Corporation, Manuel started in the business as trader within the Geneva Stock Exchange on behalf of the Swiss Bank Corporation and Kleinwort Benson bank. Later on, he specialized in advising institutional clients at the private banks Sarasin and Rüd Blass in Zürich. Following the acquisition by Deutsche Bank, he joined Deutsche Bank’s international order execution department. He is in charge of the operational support of the company.