GSK & Partners

GSK & Partners

GSK & Partners opened in Geneva in 2021, formed by two private-banking veterans, Steve Klemme (ex-Head of Middle East at Barclays Private Bank) and George Sarkis (former Managing Director at JPMorgan Private Bank for the Middle East). The shop was founded explicitly to sit on the same side of the table as the families it advises — the founders cite the product-push conflict embedded in most private-banking models as the reason they built an independent partnership. The firm draws most of its early client relationships from the Middle East, where Klemme and Sarkis built their careers. Investment strategy spans direct co-investments, special-purpose vehicles (SPVs), and private equity exposures, with a single disclosed sector focus in Marketing & Sales. The firm runs an advisory overlay for Lebanese insurer LIA Assurex, managing investment portfolios under a mandate that bridges Lebanon and Switzerland. Confirmed geographic activity is currently limited to Europe; additional regional mandates are not publicly detailed. The team numbers nine professionals, including CIO Patrick Karawani — another JPMorgan Private Bank alumnus — plus portfolio management, relationship, compliance, and associate functions. Founder Steve Klemme is also tied to the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) through his prior Middle East leadership roles, a peer network that can surface deal flow for family-office principals. Career-disclosed philanthropic ties point to Creighton University and the Lincoln Community Foundation in the United States. GSK & Partners is unusual among Geneva MFOs for launching bottom-up from Middle East private-banking coverage rather than from Swiss domestic wealth management. That origin gives the firm an advisory architecture shaped by the legacy mandates of two regions — Swiss regulatory and booking infrastructure layered onto a Gulf-family relationship network.