SWITZERLAND - The Swiss consultancy Complementa has been sold to State Street and Michael Brandenberger has stepped down as chief executive.

As of yesterday, State Street is the 100% owner of Complementa - including its German and Liechtenstein operations, as well as its asset management software subsidiary Allocare.

Jörg Ambrosius, chief executive of State Street Holding and new president of the supervisory board at Complementa said: "State Street and Complementa have had close ties for almost 20 years and when State Street decided to grow its business in Switzerland we approached Complementa to see if a partnership would be beneficial on both sides."

He confirmed to IPE that Michael Brandenberger "decided to step down as CEO of Complementa" and would be taking on a "strategic role within the global State Street Investment Analytics business".
 
Andreas Joost, former member of the directorate at Complementa, was yesterday named the company's chief executive.
 
Ambrosius stressed that "nobody from State Street will be placed on the management board" at Complementa, which will keep its name and brand.

"Maybe in the future we might add the tag-line 'a State Street company' but that is all," he admitted.
 
Both Michael Brandenberger, as well as his father Benjamin Brandenberger - the founder of Complementa - will remain on the supervisory board.

Benjamin Brandendberger said in a statement: "Thanks to the transaction Complementa will become part of a globally active analytics company."
 
According to Ambrosius there was a "major demand for the solutions set up by Complementa" for making asset management more transparent. "This is Swiss precision and unique," he concluded.

He confirmed that State Street did not have any concerns regarding the investigation on the alleged corruption scandal at the public pension fund BVK for which Complementa has acted as consultant.

Last year, there was a management buy-out of parts of Complementa's operations in Germany from which Meyer Cie Alllokationsberatung emerged.

Topics