The European University at St. Petersburg (EUSP) is pleased to welcome Ivan Pictet, Senior Partner of Pictet & Cie (1982–2010), as part of its distinguished lecture series. Founded in 1805 when Geneva was under Napoleon’s rule, the Pictet Group today is one of the leading independent asset and wealth managers in Europe with close to 500 BILLION Swiss Franc (CHF) assets under management.
Mr. Pictet will discuss Switzerland’s system of direct democracy defined by multiple referendums and frequent rotation of government. He offers an analysis of whether the Swiss model can apply to other countries. Pictet will also speak on the role of illustrious families, especially Genevans, in Swiss history, and their common connections with Russia, as many in his own ancestry served Russian Tsars. For example, one of Pictet’s ancestors, François-Pierre Pictet, facilitated the correspondence of Catherine the Great with Voltaire and d'Alembert.
Title of the Lecture: “Is the Swiss Model Applicable to Other Countries?”
Moderator: Oleg Kharkhordin, EUSP Professor, Director of the Center “Res Publica”
Date: March 4, 2019
Time : 18:00
Venue : EUSP Golden Hall (6/1А Gagarinskaya Street, 191187 St. Petersburg)
For more information, call (812) 386 76 31
Profile
Ivan Pictet joined Pictet & Cie in 1972 after earning an MBA from the School of Business Administration at the University of St. Gallen and starting his career at Morgan Stanley in New York. From 2005 to 2010 he served as Pictet & Cie’s Senior Managing Partner, overseeing the regional development of Eastern Europe and the CIS.
Outside the banking sector, Ivan Pictet has served as President of the Investment Committee of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, President of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and President of the Geneva Financial Center Foundation (Fondation Genève Place Financière). He was a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum and is the Honorary Trustee and former Chairman of the Mentor Foundation, a leading international non-government organization working to prevent substance abuse. He served on the International Advisory Board of the Blackstone Group International Limited. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Lukoil.
Mr. Pictet is also an avid philanthropist and art collector. He is the Founder of Pictet Charitable Foundation and the Prix Pictet. The Foundation supports charitable organizations and public-interest projects in Switzerland and abroad. The Prix Pictet aims to harness the power of photography to draw global attention to issues of sustainability. Founded in 2008, the Prix Pictet has become the world’s leading award for photography and sustainability. Together with his family, he has established the Pictet Art Collection, which contains over 780 Swiss artworks dating from 1805 (to emphasize the year the bank was founded) to the present day. Ivan Pictet also established Pictet Chairs in Finance and Development at the Graduate Institute Geneva. The Centre for Finance and Development (CFD) serves as a leading international and interdisciplinary exchange platform in finance and development-related topics.
François-Pierre Pictet Secretary of Catherine the Great
A member of a well-known family in Geneva, François-Pierre Pictet corresponded with Voltaire for many years. In 1762, Pictet went to Russia, and as a protegé of Grigory Orlov he was appointed French secretary to Catherine the Great, responsible for drafting her letters in French. It was Pictet who informed Voltaire about the coup d’état that overthrew Peter III, allowing Catherine to become the Empress of Russia. In his letter to Voltaire dated August 1762, Pictet describes Catherine the Great as a true philosopher and represents her ascension to the throne as the will of the nation. Voltaire published the letter ( Lettre écrite de Pétersbourg au sujet de la dernière révolution) anonymously in the Journal Encyclopédique helping burnish her image in Europe as an enlightened ruler impelled by Republican values. Pictet is remembered for his instrumental role in bringing about the famous correspondence between the Empress and the Philosopher that lasted for 15 years.
Illustration: UN Geneva, flickr.com