Our Advisory line of service performed extremely well in the reporting year. We increased our net fee revenues by 7%, from CHF 161 million to CHF 173 million (gross: CHF 230 million, +9%). The healthcare industry and digital technologies were the main drivers for this impressive growth. Consulting mandates for financial services providers, trade, industry and the public sector also made a substantial contribution to the good result.

There are more and more requests for advice on planning and implementation in connection with business model transformations and international mergers and acquisitions, along with the corresponding investments. The change of generation in medium-sized companies is stimulating demand for advice on succession planning. In the financial services sector, the need for advice on implementing regulatory changes is gradually declining. Strategic, organisational and technological challenges are arising instead. The pharma industry is currently undergoing structural changes which are triggering further growth in consulting. We therefore plan to expand our consulting and transaction activities in the 2018/19 financial year in an effort to support our customers from the strategy stage through to implementation.

Focusing on digitisation

The topics of innovation, digitisation, cybersecurity and data analytics are essential to all industries. Our priorities include digitisation and new technologies, where we can offer clients sector-specific know-how. We are also adapting our consulting model to changing requirements by introducing more flexible working methods, more elastic resource allocation, near and off-shore components or virtual advisory services. Furthermore, we intend to make better use of our synergy potential across Europe by means of joint investments in centers of excellence.

Between opportunities and regulation

The major challenge for the Advisory service line is to integrate digital trends and implement innovative tools and methods, even in areas in which the legal framework conditions are not yet in place. As we enter the 4.0 era, we must question existing services, permit the use of new business and working models, embrace innovative processes, speed up decision-making and opt for open-source technology. We are striving to achieve a healthy balance of stability and agility in this field. 

Demand for mobility

As our clients adopt new business models, we must take full responsibility for solutions throughout their life cycle – from the design and development stage through to operation and maintenance. Nowadays, digital challenges are no longer merely about technology, but rather belong on the agendas of strategic and operational management boards. Our clients must respond more quickly to market changes. We in turn need to become more agile: requests are sent at increasingly shorter notice and deadlines may be moved in the course of projects. Consequently, new services must be developed and a new approach taken to the risk assessment of mandates, whilst making skilled use of modern communication models.