For all the bailouts and bank collapses, last year was not a disaster for every financial institution. “Last year was our second best ever in terms of profi tability,” says Ivan Pictet, the 65-year-old managing partner of Geneva-based Pictet & Cie.

As a private, unlimited liability partnership, the bank declines to provide much detail on its fi nancial performance. However, as panic gripped wealthy investors in the latter half of last year, Pictet emerged as one of the winners, attracting Sfr17bn (€11.2bn) of new money from the wealthy, boosting assets under management to €211bn ($283bn).