The story
The company was founded in 1993 by Matthias Reinhart and Max Bolanz under the name of VZ Versicherungszentrum AG. Their aim was to bring transparency to Switzerland’s insurance and banking industries by providing price and service comparisons. The initial purpose of the company was the brokerage of insurance contracts.
In 1997, together with the company's name change to VZ VermögensZentrum AG, the articles of association were amended. From then on, the focus was shifted from insurance to advisory services in finance and asset management. The service scope has subsequently been increasing on an ongoing basis and further fields of business have been added. Today, the financial service provider advises private individuals in the areas of retirement, tax, investment, mortgages, estate, and insurance. For institutional clients, VZ Group provides assistance with pension fund solutions, corporate succession, and the management of insurance policies.
In 2000, a holding structure was introduced. Today, VZ Group comprises 15 legally independent companies. They include a.o. Hypothekenzentrum AG, VZ Versicherungszentrum AG, VZ Vorsorge AG, and VZ Depository Bank Ltd.
In March 2007, the latter was authorised as a bank and securities dealer by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission. In the same month, VZ Holding Ltd went public.
In 2000, VZ Group expanded into Germany, where the previously separate units VZ VermögensZentrum and VZ Depotbank Deutschland were merged to VZ VermögensZentrum Bank AG. Like its Swiss counterpart, the public limited company holds a banking licence. In addition, VZ Group acquired a majority stake at the London-based financial advisory company Lumin Wealth Ltd. In doing so, VZ Vermögenszentrum entered the market in Great Britain.
From Wikipedia’s article on VZ Holding, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5