Marzio Grassi: "In Credit Suisse Ticino, value for transparency"

It is very hot. I arrive at the offices on Via Vegezzi in Lugano on time, go up to the fifth floor. In the waiting room all the workstations are divided by a Plexiglas, I sit down. Grassi arrives smiling, relaxed, asks for an espresso. He has a calm and friendly tone ...

"I was born in Vacallo in 1966, married to Barbara, whom I met at the age of 15 during the first Youth and Sport course in Bellinzona, yes ... I am a mom and I feel connected to Mendrisiotto, even if I live in this moment in Bellinzona. Mine was a quiet family and I was a child, a boy, who liked to study and consequently I did well in school ».

In short, a model boy ...

“No, no, I too had my rebellious side, I was critical in discussions and since at my house you could always talk about everything, our evenings were lively. I think it's normal given the generational gap and the fact that children hardly have the same ideas as adults, and we parents know this well ».

And then there was sport, an important slice of his youth spent in the renowned Vacallo ...

(Laughs). «I have always been involved in sport, first athletics with country relays, then basketball. But talking about basketball today is easy ... in my time it was a bit different also because when my teammates and I - there were four of us - we launched into basketball, Vacallo did not yet have a youth movement, so the first youth movement was born right with us. I remember that period with great happiness, we were all very united, when we moved around for the games we were supported by dozens of people including family and friends, on the contrary the opponents had their empty benches. There was so much enthusiasm that at one point the youth movement had 150 boys ”.

And have you never dreamed of becoming a sportsman?

“No, but not even to work in a bank. I had - and still have - a passion for engines, mopeds, anything that contains an engine ».

So did he also make up the mopeds?

(Loud laughter). "Let's say I disassembled and repaired them."

So he thought about engineering ...

«Honestly, I wanted to be a car or motorcycle mechanic, but then my father said to me:“ Yes, yes, start trading and then do what you want ”. He wanted me to take a diploma first, also because in those years it was not so easy to “switch”, we were more channeled and less flexible than today's young people ».

So - a little reluctantly - business studies?

"Exact. I went to Commercio di Chiasso, it was the 80s, when the banks were always looking for people and practically the last year, the best students, already in February they found themselves a job offer. Consequently, those who left the Commerce had a job and our parents knew this well (smiles) ».

I guess that going well at school there was no lack of offers ...

«I had received three, I rejected one because it came from the bank where my father worked, I also discarded the second and chose the Credit Suisse one in Chiasso where I started at 18. Just like today, new employees had the opportunity to work in different sectors. I started in Trade Finance, where everything was very complicated for us graduates. At that age, nobody knew exactly what was done in the bank. I had only heard from my grandfather: “Go to the bank, there is money!”, Because he saw the cashiers counting the money, but I didn't have a real idea of ​​what we were doing. This is why the start was challenging. As a second step I did the Investigation sector, in a nutshell when a payment went wrong you had to go back to the error; then I did six months of accounting, in the evening I found myself typing the banking operations (about thirty compared to the myriad of today) and of course the income and expenses had to equalize if you wanted to go home ».

Three sectors, three experiences, which, however, had not yet completely convinced her ...

«I observed, I learned and in the end they gave me the possibility to start in the commercial sector because I wanted to work with companies. Then, after about a year and a half, I left abroad, in Zurich (amused), first going to Germany to learn German. I was away for five years between work and the military ».

The impression is that he has never sat down, always ready for news, to do something, to take a new path ...

“It will be my character, but when I was 25, and I was in Zurich, I wanted to continue my studies. Being interested in companies, I did not want a diploma as a federal employee or federal accountant, I wanted to have a university experience that would allow me, if I wanted, to go and run a company as well. Without doing so on purpose, I call my colleagues from Chiasso and discover that at that moment a consultant with a client portfolio had resigned and they were looking for someone to take care of customers and who, at the same time, began what is now SUPSI, a para-university training . It didn't seem real to me, plus mine had to be an experimental role since no one in the company had done it before ».

You are very fond of Credit Suisse, a thirty-year career with a short break at Raffaisen before returning to the top ...

“I was called and I was happy to have been called, because it was the last step I was missing. I had been with Raiffeisen for a year and a half (one year at the management) everything was fine but within me the fact remained that I was missing the last step of Credit Suisse, but then the conditions were not there, so I had accepted the offer from Raiffeisen. But then I found myself in Paradeplatz… with an offer that was what, deep down, I wanted ».

So did you immediately accept?

"No, no. I remember that I went home to my wife and I said: "Now what do I do?". And then I also spoke to a friend of mine, who is also my coach, and he replied: "After all, you have already decided, why are you asking me?". Indeed it was, but I needed someone else to tell me. '

You have lived a life in the bank, you have gone from unbridled hiring to continuous cuts ...

"It is a constant evolution, we know the trend, but let's not forget that where there is a risk there is an opportunity, we have seen it even now with Covid. Before the pandemic, talking about home offices seemed unthinkable, then we were forced to do so and we found previously unimaginable opportunities. We realized that many times we drive kilometers, we are around in traffic, for a discussion that with a five-minute Skype meeting we can solve with much more ease and efficiency. We have seen that with this lockdown activities have developed that were not there before, I am thinking of the numerous offers for home delivery of meals, or even e-commerce, I myself found myself buying online. The same is true for jobs, perhaps there are no longer certain activities, but others are born linked to change and evolution ”.

But for whom are you afraid of being fired?

"I have not encountered a real fear of losing my job in anyone ...".

Maybe they are afraid to say it ...

«I think I am quite an open person, I accept any criticism or discussion, in fact I speak a lot not only with the managers, but with all the collaborators. Basically where is the problem? Each of us must maintain their employability. If you think about joining a bank, do not take a refresher course, do nothing and stay there for thirty years ... then surely sooner or later you will have a problem. But if you take care of your employability, take courses, learn languages ​​... you are a value for the bank and above all you are a value for yourself because if you no longer want to stay in the bank you will have other possibilities outside, perhaps in another bank or company ".

So we shouldn't be afraid of losing our jobs, but of not being compatible with the market ...

«A person has a value of his own that must not be linked solely to the banking world. If one takes care of his value and knows what his value is, he must not be afraid of losing his job ».

In your opinion, the political world should do something more, I am thinking of tax plans to bring more companies or more wealthy families ...

“I think that we, as banks, have to do our best work and the politician should do the same in the interest of the country. Then that everything can be improved and that mistakes have been made is part of the game and it is true that the population is aging and we have had more deaths than births for two years. This is the trend and there is little to do, of course we expect a turning point from the political world, something that can restore momentum to the local economy, we all need it ».

She has an eleven-year-old daughter, a value that she wants to pass on to her ...

“Honesty and sincerity in the relationship with others and with the family are fundamental for me. I told her she can do anything but she must always say it, without telling lies. For me, transparency is a very important value ».

But this is also true in working life, can't being sincere play against it?

"Maybe at some point it seems to us that telling the whole truth is counterproductive, but in the end it always pays off, also because to talk to people you have to be transparent and always yourself".

Is that why he is no longer in politics (joking)?

«I must say that during my five years I have been very well, I met a lot of people, but it was a crazy waste of time compared to the result I got. I am a person who is sometimes shy, sometimes cordial, but I always say what I think and I take the consequences ».

How do you see your future, your dreams ...

«Family apart… I'll be back with the engines. I love old Alfa Romeos, maybe because it was my first car, I was 18 and I drained all my belongings to buy it. Now I have a friend who has an important collection and sometimes we went for a walk. So my dream would be to buy one. But I'm not finished ... my dad just gave me his old moped, he bought it when I bought mine when I was 14, so I decided to repair it and who knows maybe you'll find me in a small workshop among vintage mopeds " .

Cultivate your dreams, your passions and never forget them.