Core Team

Thomas Eduard Zeltner

CEO

Thomas Zeltner is in charge of managing the family office and investment boutique. He has had a significant influence on the family’s investment decisions since 2015 and steered the family through the succession phase. He serves Zeltner & Co both as Chairman of the Board and as CEO. He learned about traditional private banking from experienced peers, studied the latest research and best practices and always looks out for disruptive new techniques to find the best way to manage family wealth in the 21st century.

Thomas lives in Zurich and is an avid fan of motorsport – a passion he shared with his father. He enjoys spending time outdoors and keeping fit.

Kim Matthias Wirth, CFA

CIO

Kim Wirth is the co-founder of Zeltner & Co. He is the firm’s CIO and a member of the Board. Having worked in a variety of financial companies, he has amassed considerable expertise in areas such as equity research, asset allocation, and portfolio management. That means he is ideally placed to run a cross-asset-class investment office. His network of contacts includes experts in a wide range of industries. He studied Economics and is a CFA Charterholder.

Kim grew up in the countryside near the small-town Solothurn and now lives in the centre of Zurich. He is the CIO – notime for hobbies.

Nicole Zeltner

head of marketing

Nicole Zeltner is Jürg Zeltner’s daughter and is responsible for marketing, events and client experience at Zeltner & Co. She has previously worked for an insurance broker and has experience in organising a range of events. She is also currently studying business administration.

Nicole currently lives in Zurich and likes to spend her free time enjoying outdoor sports like hiking and skiing.

Kerstin Herbert

executive office manager

Kerstin Herbert is our Executive Office Manager, supporting the Management Team. She is also our Head of Human Resources, supporting our Finance function. She has worked in the Zeltner Family Office since 2015, responsible for all organisational and finance-related tasks. Previously, she worked with Jürg Zeltner for over 10 years in the banking industry. 

Kerstin is from Germany. She loves to travel the world and spend as much time as possible in nature.

Wolfgang Jaksch

Head Business Development

Wolfgang Jaksch is employed as the "Head Business Development” for Zeltner & Co. and is responsible for strategic business development and customer retention. He started his international business career as a Sales Promotion Manager for a Japanese multi-corporate enterprise. Over the last 26 years he has built an international company with its own subsidiaries operating in Asia, North America, and Europe within the field of certified medical devices. Fulfilling high-profile client experiences is one of Wolfgang's favourite skills and he has already hosted 100s of VIPs during major sporting and cultural events, such as F1 Grand Prix`s and global charities.

Wolfgang was born and raised in Bavaria, he has lived in Switzerland since 2006 and he shares a passion for racing.

Nicole Zeltner

head of marketing

Nicole Zeltner is Jürg Zeltner’s daughter and is responsible for marketing, events and client experience at Zeltner & Co. She has previously worked for an insurance broker and has experience in organising a range of events. She is also currently studying business administration.

Nicole currently lives in Bern and likes to spend her free time enjoying outdoor sports like hiking and skiing.

Rafael Gonzalez

junior analyst

Rafael Gonzalez is a Junior Analyst at Zeltner & Co, focusing on equity research and portfolio management. He has previously worked for an auditor. Rafael is currently studying banking and finance at the University of Zurich. He also speaks English, German, French and Spanish while having both coding knowledge and great mathematical skills. 

Rafael is a passionate tennis player.

Experts

Demelza Hays

CRYPTO PORTFOLIO MANAGER

Demelza Hays is the portfolio manager of Zeltner & Co’s cryptocurrency actively managed certificate. As the chief economist at Cointelegraph, she stays up todate with the latest academic and practitioner publications in the field of blockchain technology. Over the past ten years, she has authored over 23 reports ondigital assets and managed two regulated cryptocurrency funds. In the past she has been on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and has been a US Department of State Fulbright Scholar. In 2021, Demelza completed her PhD in Business Economics at the University of Liechtenstein. Inspired by her work in wealth management, her dissertation explored the role of cryptocurrencies within a diversified portfolio.
In her free time, Demelza enjoys hiking and jiu jitsu.  

Nico von Burg

swiss industrial metal advisor

Nico von Burg is a member of the Swiss Industrial Metal Certificate Advisory Board and is responsible for generating investment ideas and implementing our investment decisions in our metals strategy. He is an experienced metals trader with expertise covering base and minor metals, special alloys and their scarp and has amassed a large network of other metal traders, mines and refineries. He founded the Swiss Metal Exchange in 2016 and operates Swiss bonded warehouses with the company  Metal Depot.

Nico is a sports marksman and a former member of the Swiss Armed Special Forces.

Martin Palushaj

Swiss industrial metal advisor

Martin Palushaj is a member of the Swiss Industrial Metal Advisory Board, where he has a significant influence on investment decisions and in-house market outlooks. As an experienced raw materials trader, Martin has considerable expertise in sourcing and logistics. He plays an active role in price negotiations, transportation, insurance and storage techniques. In the past, he has worked as a trader and advisor for several major companies, mainly active in the Middle East.

In his free time, Martin spends lots of time with his family and friends, eating good food and hiking.

Thomas Siegenthaler

PRIVATE LENDING ADVISOR

Thomas Siegenthaler is a member of the Private Lending AMC Advisory Board and supports our clients when there is a need for financing. Thomas is an expert in complex loan structures such as single stock equity, concentrated securities portfolios, private equity, private debt and other liquid and illiquid assets. He originates residential and commercial mortgage loans and liquidity facilities against a pool of assets. Thomas has worked in the banking industry for over 30 years as a credit officer, credit structurer and lending product specialist for various client groups. His experience also includes hedge funds and distressed assets. He is also familiar with asset-backed securities and other asset pool solutions. Most recently, he was Chief Credit Officer at well-known Swiss banks prior to co-founding Cresolutions.

Thomas is passionate about travelling to Africa and is a football fan.

Patrick Spichiger

PRIVATE LENDING ADVISOR

Patrick Spichiger is a member of the Private Lending AMC Advisory Board and our credit structuring expert. In addition, he is a lending or igination and credit risk expert for structured lending and property loans with more than 10 years experience in the financial industry. Having lead lending offerings and credit risk functions in wealth management boutiques, private banks and regional banks, Patrick Spichiger offers an in-depth end-to-end understanding of lending processes and credit business success factors in small and medium-sized financial institutions. Prior to co-founding Cresolutions he led risk management, credit structuring and credit risk at various banks.

After many years on the field as a player, Patrick remained loyal to handball as a coach. He likes skiing and spending time in the mountains.

Cindy Eicher

PRIVATE LENDING ADVISOR

Cindy Eicher is a member of the Private Lending AMC Advisory Board where she is responsible for bringing the credit demand and supply into equilibrium. She has a great network for sourcing deals as well as to find suitable funding sources in the private debt space. Before founding avolve, she was responsible for wealth management teams in well-known global banks, serviced single family offices, large foundations, international organizations and associations with a cross-divisional offering from asset & wealth and corporate & investment banking.

Cindy is an energetic person, who loves to bring people together, enjoys city live as much as outdoors and is interested in art and photography.