MLB(S) Sponsors a Winner
As part of the Bank’s initiative to develop it’s onshore business, Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse) S.A.
embarked on a number of marketing activities in Switzerland during 2006. One of these involved the sponsorship of one of eight high
performance catamarans competing in a nine race sailing regatta series spanning a period of five months and involving the participation
of high profile sailors including Loick Peyron, Alain Gautier and Russell Coutts.
The race series, named the Julius Baer Challenge reflecting the importance of the event in the highly active private banking market,
recently completed it’s third operative year which has improved in terms of organization, public interest and also level of competition
with each season. Races range from the famous Bol d’Or in which a few hundred
boats including the eight D35s sail around the whole of the lake Léman, often having participants crossing the finishing line close to
24 hours after the start, to short and more technical races specifically designed for the D35s.
On a rainy Sunday at the beginning of October, Okalys, sponsored by Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse) S.A. and Merrill Lynch Capital
Markets AG(as well as two other sponsors), brought the trophy home for a second consecutive year, much to the delight of the whole crew, including part-time Okalys skipper, Loick Peyron. The crew of six also
includes Kristoffer Jonsson, Head of Business Strategy at Merrill Lynch in Geneva, as sail trimmer. “We were all thrilled at winning
the trophy for a second year running especially in light of the heightened level of competition this year. Several boats and in particular
Foncia and Alinghi provide for very tight racing but thanks to good team work on the water and a well prepared boat we managed to stay ahead”,
he said.
Merrill Lynch is committed to support Okalys once again in 2007 and looks forward to sharing the good times to come.
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