"A team that is always doing their best"

Hi Alain, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?

Alain: Hi, I'm Alain. 👋 I studied business management at the University of St. Gallen and started my career as a consultant with KPMG. Currently, I am Product Manager at Sunrise in Zurich. I spend my free time, mostly with my family and friends. Apart from that, I love high-speed activities – from skiing in the winter riding motorcycles in the summer. 

How do you feel about investing and the financial industry?

Alain: One big problem with the financial industry is its reputation. In my opinion, it got quite damaged during the financial crisis. Some banks did not handle the crisis appropriately and when their bonus systems got exposed many people lost trust in them. 

How did you get to know Selma?

Alain: Actually, I got to know Selma through my girlfriend. She works in the area of digital finance. The Selma team contacted her to ask for some feedback during their early stages. She passed her excitement to me. I liked the concept immediately.

Later I got to know the management team at one of Selma's after work events. I started to invest with Selma in a pretty early stage.  

What would you say makes Selma different?

Alain: Selma is a great example of the new disruptive and transparent development of this industry. I have to say that since I’ve known the team for a bit now, even if I suffered losses on my investments during a financial crisis, I would not be mad at Selma. 

I know that the team is always giving their best for their clients. There are no weird bonus systems or shady investment decisions happening in the background. So yes, I would say Selma's honest approach makes it stand out.

What should Selma improve?

Alain: I am a big fan of Selma's chatbot. It made the setup process pretty simple and fun, and it asked all the relevant questions a private banker should ask.

After the setup, however, the Selma bot stopped talking to me. The only person who communicates with me now is Patrik (CEO of Selma).

Patrik is a fine guy, but I’d like to interact more also with the Selma bot. 😃

Bonus question - what is your investment tip? 🌟

Alain: I experimented with day trading and Forex, but now I mostly invest for the long run. My tip number one is: save and invest on a regular basis, make it a habit. Tip number two: create separate (virtual) accounts for the fun stuff such as vacations and treats and use tip number one to stack up some cash there. You’ll be surprised how that next flight to NYC will be basically “for free”. 😀