Timely arrival at Migros Bank of Lugano to meet Alberto Crugnola and I am surprised to see how many people there are in the lobby of the Ticino branch. Shortly after, the assistant for Ticino private clients arrives, a well-known face, but it is only in the lift that I realize that he is the former hockey player Lorenz Kienzle. Time to say goodbye and I find myself in Alberto Crugnola's bright office, who immediately offers me a coffee.
Since there were so many people at the counters I imagine Banca Migros is successful here in Ticino. Have you changed your strategy lately?
«What has changed… (he reflects), initially we were known as the mortgage bank and that was actually the case, even if we had important skills in terms of investments. We then worked very hard to promote ourselves on several fronts, including in Ticino, but the decisive turning point came with CEO Manuel Kunzelmann in 2020 when he studied a strategic plan that we will complete in 2025. I'll try to be brief: we, as a Bank Migros, we want the customer to choose how to reach us; we have people who still come to the branch, others who do everything online, our goal is to be a trusted partner in every situation of their life and in every area, not only mortgages, but also insurance, social security, up to energy redevelopment, with our expertise and that of our partners».
Still remain a national bank…
«Absolutely, we are a national bank, even if we have several foreign customers».
More than twenty years have passed since your arrival at Migros Bank, even if it doesn't seem…
«They flew, on the other hand it is like this… when you like something, time doesn't matter. I arrived at Migros Bank in 2002 after a varied journey. At the time I was in Raiffeisen in Sementina, we started off with 15 million turnover and we had grown explosively, then we stabilized and I felt somewhat in a comfort zone and since I like motivation, having always open challenges, I decided to change. But it wasn't always easy, because at a certain point my trade apprentice diploma and my experience weren't enough. In 2013, in order to resume responsibility for the Retail sector for the Ticino region, I launched myself and decided to do an MBA master's degree, first of all I wanted to do it for myself and then to confirm my skills to the bank. And I did it (satisfied). In 2017 there was a major internal reorganization that led me to manage all private customers and in 2021 I also took on responsibility for the Services Support Credit region, Facility Management - we have three properties we own - and security ».
I suppose you don't have time to get bored (we laugh), but tell me about the Master, because I guess it wasn't easy going back to school at 46…
«You're right, also because it was a complex choice, I had a family, responsibilities, the will to dedicate time to my wife Cinzia and my two children as well. This is why I called a real family reunion, at the time Gabriele was 10 years old and Sofia 13, my wife worked as a teacher in the Papio College middle school and so I asked them to express their opinion. All three supported me, I have my wife to thank for the weekends I could spend on the books. They have been three very intense and demanding years, but I would do it again without the slightest hesitation».
From what I can imagine you must have been a model student…
«Actually (he smiles), the first results arrived immediately, also because I don't have a university diploma so I had to work hard and deal with kids much younger than me, but this never weighed on me, on the contrary... with some of them I created a beautiful relationship, both study and personal, after all I could have been their dad ».
Tell me a little about yourself, why did you choose to go to work in a bank?
"It was a coincidence, I'm honest. I was born in Mendrisio and I spent the first five years of my life in Balerna, because my father, originally from Giubiasco, worked as a railwayman and had found a job in Mendrisiotto. Then we moved, again for work needs, to Camorino and honestly I'm from Bellinzona by blood. I did middle school in Giubiasco, high school in Bellinzona, then an apprenticeship in a bank – still in Bellinzona – and after a three-year language stay in Lucerne, I returned to Ticino».
So the bank was really a second choice
«Absolutely yes (laughs). I was born in 1965 and my idea was to be a sports instructor, but I realized that there was a bit of a crisis in that sector and my dad didn't have large financial resources, we are three brothers, and so I said: "Do you mean that now I'm studying to become a physical activity teacher and then I'm out of work?". I couldn't afford it and I didn't want to see my dad's efforts in vain. I thought of an alternative and the two choices were either a butcher or a bank, but I had no idea what it was like to work in a bank. At that point I took part in competitions, then there were entrance exams because so many young people aspired to an apprenticeship in the banking sector. I received a proposal from Corner in Lugano and UBS in Bellinzona, for logistical reasons I chose to stay close to home».
Have you ever regretted?
"No, absolutely no. I like this job, I've always liked it, it's always given me a lot of stimuli and I've never stopped. Especially now that I dedicate myself to a few customers and I have the time to take care of my staff, to make them grow, to pass on my skills to ensure constant growth for the bank».
Excuse me, but where did you find the time to meet your wife Cinzia?
«At Carnival (smiles)».
Given the period, I would have asked you about Carnival anyway...
“I remember that night like it was today. I had gone out with some friends and had met a woman, dressed as an old woman, who was often near me. At one point I saw her go by without a mask and I said to myself: "It's her (the woman of my life)". We hit it off right away, but she ended up there. At that time I was in Lucerne, but I often returned to Ticino. One weekend I was playing tennis and driving home with some friends, I see her from her window: she was cutting the hedge with her father. I immediately stopped the car, got out and asked her if she would like to come and see me play football the next day. She came, but I broke my ligaments during that match and… fate chose for us… she took me to the hospital. We've been together ever since."
You have two children…
«Sofia is now 24 and is a kindergarten teacher, she is very happy, while Gabriele is studying in Basel, he would like to devote himself to pharmaceutical research. I'm satisfied, I couldn't ask for more, also because I've always told my kids that you have to get up happy in the morning to go to work, and I really think they've learned this lesson».
Waking up in the morning happy…
"That's always been my motto. Some time ago my superior asked me – since I am of retirement age – if I was thinking of giving up work and I replied that the day when I no longer enjoy myself, he will be the first to know, so as to be able to organize in the best possible way mod my succession. I think that moment is still far away ».
You played football in the first league, then in the second, are you always sporty?
«Now I'm a Sunday sportsman, I play tennis and I'm vice president of the Gordola club. But it's an outlet valve and also an opportunity to see friends and have a chat».
But now let's move on to your real hobby, maybe not everyone knows that they could meet you behind a guitar playing rock music
(Happy). «I started when I was 17, I loved Kiss, they literally drove me crazy. At Ginnasio we were two friends who were crazy about Kiss, we were considered black sheep until we discovered that there were two other fans. We met and we divided the names, I'm Gene Simmons and still today some friends call me Gene. Initially I learned to play the bass, I had found one for a hundred francs and my dad had bought it for me, then Luca Albertoni (director of the Chamber of Commerce) taught me to play the guitar. But my real career (laughs) begins when we discover that Mauro Rossi (Culture Manager at Corriere del Ticino) was writing songs and was looking for someone to play them for him. With some musician friends we introduced ourselves at the beginning and after only three months we recorded an album with other groups from Ticino. After this youthful period I stopped playing, until I had the opportunity to do it again with my former boss at SBS Piergiuseppe Vescovi, I played dance music with him and we went to important evenings».
Do you still play?
«You won't believe it but last year a friend called me who was looking for a guitarist. Initially I said no, then I went to have two rehearsals with them and immediately the music enraptured me again. We are preparing new songs together, of various genres, and in May we will begin to come out, it will be listening music. Four old men and a young singer (laughs)».
You are a hockey fan and I imagine also football, I am thinking above all of the bankruptcy of Chiasso, you say that Ticino should concentrate on having fewer teams…
«If we talk about hockey, the two teams are needed, because if there weren't Ambri, Lugano would be missing something, and vice versa... however, I think that, financially, they can manage a good team. In terms of football, I'm a fan of all the Ticino girls, and seeing what happened at Chiasso makes me very sorry. I think that a flagship team, Lugano, could have been created and at the same time dedicated more attention to young players».
You were a politician who made a difference, what do you think of the record number of candidates for these cantonal elections and why didn't you continue your political career…
«I was four years in the Town Hall in Gudo and six years I was mayor then one morning, Gabriele was five years old, I found myself in his room, it was Wednesday and I hadn't seen him since Sunday. He tells me: “I don't see you anymore”. Without thinking about it, I resigned. As far as the presence of many candidates is concerned... I'll just say one thing: the important thing is the quality of the people, they must be seriously interested in politics, they must feel it as a true passion. When I was mayor, I'm liberal, we always had an absolute majority in the city council, but not everyone was really interested, many were there because it was a family legacy or they felt obliged. One fine day I called colleagues from the PPD and the Socialist Party, we were three sections then. I clearly said that my list didn't convince me and consequently they too told me they were in the same situation. We therefore decided to sit down, make a list where we knew that the people listed were really interested in politics – regardless of party – and then we opened the door to all candidates. It was the most beautiful and motivating political period, everyone was always present in the city council, it should always be like this ».
Family, work, sport, music, politics... you've always lived everything with an incredible passion, a desire for an exemplary life
“Yes, I'm passionate about life, that's correct. I told my family that when I die on the tombstone they must write: he loved life, family and rock. And they better do it (laughs). Let's remember that life is beautiful, that every day gives us something, even in the hardest and most painful moments. What I tell young people is that you need to visualize a goal in front of you, have dreams and do everything to make them come true".
I find myself in the traffic of Lugano, I smile, because when you are lucky enough to meet examples of life like this, you can't help but nod, remembering that every choice must be made out of passion, only in this way will we get up happy in the morning.
