Mirabaud Group’s asset management division has retained its Avant Gardist status in the 2026 Responsible Investment Brand Index (RIBI), placing the Geneva-based firm among a select group of managers worldwide to have earned the index’s highest classification for responsible investment brand consistency.
Now in its eighth annual edition, the RIBI evaluates hundreds of asset managers across two distinct dimensions. The first measures actual commitment to responsible investment, drawing on data from the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment transparency reports. The second assesses how clearly and consistently that commitment appears in a firm’s brand — its stated purpose, values architecture, and external communications. Managers that score above average across both axes earn Avant Gardiststatus, the top tier in a four-level classification system. Fewer than one in four firms assessed achieved that designation in 2026, making the cohort a selective benchmark within a large global universe.
Mirabaud Asset Management, part of Mirabaud Group, also improved its standing within two sub-rankings. The firm advanced one place in the Switzerland country ranking, reaching second position, and moved up one spot globally among boutique managers — a segment defined by the index as firms managing assets below a threshold that distinguishes them from the industry’s largest platforms. Both improvements came year over year, building on prior RIBI editions in which Mirabaud had already earned Avant Gardist classification.
The index was created in 2018 and relies entirely on publicly available information, which distinguishes it from self-certified ESG rankings. RIBI’s authors, Jean-François Hirschel and Markus Kramer, have argued that this methodology exposes a persistent gap in the industry: many firms demonstrate strong internal commitment to responsible investment but fail to express that commitment through their brand in a way that clients and other stakeholders can recognize. The 2026 report noted that the firms advancing in the rankings tend to share a clarity of institutional identity rather than simply an ESG product shelf.
That distinction connects directly to Mirabaud Group‘s positioning. Founded in Geneva in 1819 and led today by managing partners Camille Vial, Nicolas Mirabaud, and Lionel Aeschlimann, the Group has long centered its public identity on four stated values: independence, conviction, responsibility, and passion. Mirabaud Group has held signatory status with the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment since 2010, and the Group’s approach to sustainability is framed as a governance commitment rather than a product feature.
The 2026 RIBI results arrive at a testing moment for the responsible investment sector broadly. The index’s authors noted that fee pressure, growing regulatory complexity around frameworks such as SFDR 2.0, and political friction around sustainability have widened the divide between asset managers whose values are embedded in how they operate and those for whom responsible investment functions primarily as a marketing posture. For Mirabaud, consecutive Avant Gardist placements suggest the firm’s responsible investment identity has taken root at the brand level, not just the portfolio level.
Mirabaud Group operates across wealth management and asset management, with offices in Switzerland, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas.
