The Swiss real estate market is growing steadily at three per cent per year - and is currently being reinvented through digitalisation and new models. In the "Forbes Top Voices: Real Estate" section of the FORBES SWISS magazine, personalities are presented who are not only shaping this change, but are also driving it forward decisively. Anastasius Tschopp, CEO of Swiss Prime Site Solutions, has built the company into one of the country's leading asset managers within a few years. His career path was unconventional - from bricklayer to building materials retailer to executive board member. This down-to-earth approach is the basis of his leadership philosophy: team spirit, trust and ambition are the key elements. With over CHF 13 billion in assets under management, Tschopp is pursuing a clear growth strategy and is showing that even a supposedly saturated market has enormous potential - if you have the courage to rethink culture and structures.
Over the past few years, Anastasius Tschopp and his team have turned Swiss Prime Site Solutions into one of the biggest real estate asset managers in Switzerland. But Tschopp is positive that the company still has plenty of room for growth.
Anastasius Tschopp is sitting on the 34th floor of the Prime Tower. The tower is fully glazed, and beyond its windows there’s a great view of Zurich. From this height, the city looks like it’s made of Lego. Tschopp has just returned from the US, where he completed an executive course at the prestigious Stanford University. «It was a whole EMBA [Executive MBA] – condensed into six weeks», he says of the experience. Fourteen-hour days with case studies, discussions and new perspectives, all alongside fellow executives from all over the world. And the take-home? Tschopp sums it up succinctly: «Change the culture, change the people, change the world.»
Tschopp has been leading Swiss Prime Site Solutions AG since 2018. Today, the Swiss Prime Site subsidiary is the largest independent asset manager in the Swiss real estate industry, with 130 employees and over CHF 13 billion in assets under management (AuM). But politicians don’t always make life easy for the company: «It’s not as if we have a free hand. Regulations and policy frameworks pose challenges for us. Sometimes I get the impression that people don’t understand how important our products are for pension funds – we’re forced to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach», says Tschopp.
But that doesn’t stop the CEO from thinking big: Tschopp wants to grow AuM to over CHF 16 billion. «There’s still a lot more potential in our products and customers», he says. He’s referring, for example, to the Akara Diversity PK mixed fund and the Swiss Prime Site Solutions Investment Fund Commercial (SPSS IFC). There is also the Swiss Prime Investment Foundation, Fundamenta Group Investment Foundation and Fundamenta Real Estate AG. The majority of customers are institutional investors, pension funds and insurance companies. They manage assets worth billions, but have strict investment regulations.
«Many investors have held off over the last two years», Tschopp says. «There was uncertainty about future movements in real estate prices. But we were convinced we wouldn’t see major corrections in the areas in which we are active, particularly residential real estate in Switzerland – and if they did occur, it would only be short term. Today it’s clear that Switzerland is fundamentally very stable. Investors are returning, and demand has picked up enormously.»
The growth in recent years hasn’t just been organic. Tschopp has overseen three mergers: the integration of Inmoveris (within the Group) in 2020, the acquisition of fund management company Akara in 2021 and, most recently, the acquisition of Fundamenta in 2024. He explains that «this brought us not just volume, but expertise, too. Fundamenta, in particular, has given us the opportunity to expand the German market as well.»
For the CEO, the culture in the company is what matters. «Since Swiss Prime Site Solutions was founded, we have enjoyed an open, trusting, respectful, team-oriented and individual culture. Every employee has their own personality and can make a contribution», Tschopp says.
«Change the culture, change the people, change the world»
However, his philosophy wasn’t shaped in the boardroom. In fact, his unusual CV is the reason why he takes a different approach than is customary in the real estate industry: «I started out as a tiler, on my knees, with adhesive on my hands.» Tschopp then sold building materials and worked for Zurich Airport and a major bank before moving to Swiss Prime Site in 2014. «From bricks and mortar to the portfolio – that’s my path» is how Tschopp summarises his career.
When he joined SPS Solutions in 2018, the company had three employees. Today, it has grown into an asset manager with a volume in the tens of billions. «This growth was only possible with an exceptional team», says Tschopp. The stable Swiss real estate market has helped, remaining robust in recent years despite international crises. «We’ve always said that« »Switzerland is positioned differently.« »It is fundamentally strong and cannot be compared with other countries.« »This has been proven.»
But while Tschopp values openness and respect in a company’s culture, another quality is also important to him: ambition. After all, planned growth can only be achieved if the team pulls together. To quote Tschopp, «We are ambitious and want to take products further for our customers and generate better cash flow returns.»
For this to succeed, firstly the market must function, and secondly the company itself must be stable. Here, he borrows a metaphor from football: «I’ve played with the best players, but we weren’t a real team and we didn’t win. Then I was in teams that – on paper – were worse than most in the league, but we worked with each other and stuck together and ended up becoming the champions.»
Along with the opportunities, there are challenges: regulations, digitalisation, artificial intelligence and the key issue of sustainability. But here, too, Tschopp is optimistic: «Sustainability and returns are not mutually exclusive.»
At the end of the conversation, Tschopp once again lets his gaze travel over Zurich and into the distance – because his recipe for success is a long-term perspective. «We don’t live on one year of good performance from our products, but on five or ten. We must never take our eyes off that goal.»
Text: Forbes editorial team
Images: Lukas Lienhart
