Etienne d’Arenberg cites two highlights in 2016: Brexit and Mirabaud’s new London branch, which opened weeks after the UK voted to leave the EU. ‘In fact, they had nothing to do with each other,’ he says, laughing. ‘The point is we could have waited to open the branch but we wanted to show confidence in the UK market.’
D’Arenberg has been with the bank for 18 years, each day of which has been a joy ‘because you are talking to people, not to numbers. We develop relationships’. He explains that the trick is to keep it simple: ‘It shows firstly that you have understood and gives the person in front of you a chance of understanding.