Apollo Global Management has opened a new office in Zurich as part of its ongoing expansion into the European private wealth market, with plans to build a local team of up to 50 professionals over the next three to five years, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The move underscores the firm’s growing focus on high-net-worth and private banking channels, as traditional institutional capital allocation begins to plateau. A number of Apollo staff have already relocated to Zurich from across Europe, including London, with further local hiring planned, according to people familiar with the matter.
The development also comes amid recent changes to the UK’s tax regime for non-domiciled residents – prompting some wealth professionals and firms to reevaluate their geographic footprint. Several relocations are reportedly linked to this shift.
Zurich, one of the world’s leading private wealth hubs, offers proximity to large insurers, family offices, and private banks – key target markets as alternative asset managers continue to expand retail-facing distribution efforts. The new office will be led by Veronique Fournier, Apollo’s Head of Global Wealth for EMEA.
Apollo already maintains a presence in Zurich through its insurance solutions business, which markets the firm’s credit and alternatives strategies to insurers and reinsurers. It also owns US-based Athene and is a backer of European insurer Athora, leveraging those platforms to generate steady capital inflows into private credit and other strategies.
The Zurich expansion is part of Apollo’s broader plan to scale its assets under management to nearly $1.5tn by 2029. The firm’s global wealth unit attracted record capital in 2024.
Apollo joins a growing list of alternative asset managers establishing a foothold in Switzerland. KKR, Oaktree Capital Management, and HarbourVest Partners have all launched operations in the country in recent years to gain closer access to the region’s growing pool of private wealth capital.
