On two weeks ago in Basel, despite the rainy weather, the Swiss Marketplace Lending Conference brought together leading voices from finance, investment, and academia to discuss the state and outlook of marketplace lending in Switzerland.
After a welcome by Dennis Eicker and Lukas Vogt, the afternoon started with the presentation of the Swiss Marketplace Lending Report 2025 by Prof. Dr. Simon Amrein, providing a data-driven look at the current trends.
The keynote by Felicitas Kemeny from SECO addressed the broader Swiss economic situation and an outlook, with a particular focus on the implications of the current US tariffs. The key take away, the Swiss economy is very resilient and only a small fraction of companies is affected by the tariffs.
A second highlight was the panel on “Lending as an Asset Class”, moderated by Rafael Karamanian, featuring perspectives from Samuel Leuenberger (UBS Asset Management), Christoph Bianchet (CIO SUVA), and Matthias Wyder (CEO Swiss Credit Partners). Their debate underscored both the opportunities and challenges of institutional engagement in marketplace lending. The key take away is clearly that while Marketplace Lending offers highly interesting investment opportunities, the volume needs to grow to attract large institutional investors.
The Deep Dive session explored the three different Marketplace Lending business models in Switzerland: crowdlending, mortgage brokerage, and (near) public and mid- and large-sized corporation financing.
The day closed with remarks from Matteo Bernardoni, before participants moved to the apéro, where conversations flowed and new connections were made. In this niche market, the informal exchanges are especially important to further evolve this ecosystem.
