i.
Permanence
We acquire with the assumption that we will never sell. Capital is allocated against decades, not quarters, and a house is judged on the durability of what it builds rather than on the velocity of its returns.
Assaf Industries
A private holding company, founded in Geneva in 1971 and held by a single family trust ever since. We own eleven houses outright and intend to own them indefinitely.
- Assaf Trades
- Assaf Finance
- Assaf Estates
- Assaf Law
- Assaf Consulting
- Assaf Planning
- Assaf Media
- Technorigin
- LuxuraViva
- Assaf Auctions
- Assaf Auto
11
14
7,120
4.8CHF bn
Chapter I
The Mandate
Assaf Industries is not an investment fund and does not behave like one. There is no exit horizon, no fundraising cycle and no obligation to a third party's calendar. Each house is expected to earn its own capital, keep its own name and answer for its own conduct — and to still be here in fifty years.
ii.
Autonomy
Each house retains its board, its brand and its operating independence. The group sets capital, conduct and standard; it does not set price lists, hiring plans or the daily judgement of people closer to the work.
iii.
Discretion
We publish what the law requires and what our partners are owed, and little beyond it. Clients of our legal, capital and estates houses are entitled to conduct their affairs without becoming case studies.
We do not buy businesses in order to sell them.
Chapter II
The Group
The eleven houses appear below in order of incorporation, as they are entered in the Group register. Select an entry to read its charter, then follow the link through to the house itself.
Chapter III
Chronicle
Fifty‑five years, recorded as they occurred. The Group has changed hands once — from founder to trust — and has never taken outside equity.
1971
Foundation in Geneva
The Founder incorporates a single trading office on Rue du Rhône with a staff of four, dealing for its own account and for nobody else's.
1979
Merchant banking arm formed
Assaf Finance is founded in Zurich to bank the trading book, and within a decade is lending, investing and managing capital well beyond it.
1988
Counsel brought in house
After a disputed charter‑party in Rotterdam, the Group's external advisers are retained permanently and constituted as Assaf Law.
1996
The trust is settled
Ownership passes irrevocably to the Assaf Family Trust, with a charter that forbids the sale of any wholly‑owned house without unanimous Trustee consent.
2006
The house structure is adopted
The Group formally abandons divisional management. Each business becomes a self‑governing house with its own board, reporting to the Group on capital and conduct alone.
2011
Technorigin founded in Singapore
The Group's first house built rather than bought, established to carry its own settlement, chartering and risk systems — and now licensed to eighty‑four institutions that compete with us.
2019
LuxuraViva begins
What starts as a camera in a passenger seat becomes the Group's luxury media house: owned channels and a production studio built around cars, roads and the life around them.
2021
Assaf Auctions opens in Geneva
A saleroom of our own, founded on a short calendar and a rule that nothing is catalogued which a specialist has not examined in person.
2023
Assaf Auto opens in Dubai
A showroom, workshop and export office for performance and luxury cars, founded on the rule that the inspection report is published before the price.
2026
Eleven houses, one standard
The Group closes its fifty‑fifth year with 7,120 people across fourteen jurisdictions and no external shareholder of record.
Chapter IV
Governance
The Supervisory Board sits four times a year in Geneva under the chairmanship of Anthony Assaf, and comprises three Trustees, the Chairman and four independent members who hold no interest in any house. Its work is carried out through four standing committees.
Committee A
Capital & Allocation
Approves every commitment above CHF 25 million, all inter‑house lending, and the annual retained‑earnings position of each house. It may decline a proposal without giving reasons; it may not compel one.
Committee B
Audit & Risk
Oversees consolidated reporting, counterparty exposure and the Group's sanctions and provenance screening. Reports to the Trustees directly, without passing through the Chairman's office.
Committee C
Conduct & Ethics
Holds the Group's conflict register across the legal, capital and advisory houses, and rules on any engagement that places one house opposite another. Its rulings bind all eleven.
Committee D
Succession & Stewardship
Maintains a named successor for every house principal and for the Chairman. No appointment within the Group is made without its endorsement, including appointments of family members.
Chapter V
Presence
Fourteen jurisdictions, each opened to serve a house rather than to plant a flag. The year given is that of the first permanent office.
Europe
- Geneva1971 · Seat
- Zurich1979
- London1984
- Luxembourg1997
- Paris2016
- Milan2016
Middle East
- Beirut1974
- Dubai1999
- Riyadh2013
Asia Pacific
- Singapore2011
- Hong Kong2014
Americas & Africa
- New York1993
- São Paulo2008
- Nairobi2018
Chapter VI
Enquiries
Correspondence is read by the office named, not by a shared inbox. We reply to every enquiry, and we do so in writing.
Route 1
Office of the Group Secretary
General correspondence, register and constitutional matters, and requests addressed to the Supervisory Board or the Chairman's office.
+41 22 318 40 00 secretary@assafindustries.chRoute 2
Capital & Partnerships
Proposals for acquisition, joint venture or long‑term partnership with a named house. Please write with the house identified; unaddressed proposals are not circulated.
+41 44 227 90 00 capital@assafindustries.chRoute 3
Media & Press
Accreditation, verified Group figures and attributable comment. We do not confirm client relationships, transactions in progress, or personal matters of principals.
+44 20 7099 1871 press@assafindustries.chOur offices receive by appointment only. Rue du Rhône 62, 1204 Geneva.