For Geneva, Madoff Is a "Cold Shower"

“Madoff has been like a cold shower" for Geneva's wealth managers, says Sebastian Dovey, a London private banker quoted in this Bloomberg story.

Madoff’s alleged fraud hit Geneva particularly hard, after at least eight firms placed money with him. Many of their investments were made through so-called funds of funds, pioneered by the city’s bankers to pool client money and invest in multiple hedge funds run by outside managers.

Nestled between the Alps and Jura mountains at the tip of western Europe’s largest lake, Geneva has 140 private banks and 600 independent asset managers. The financial industry employs 34,400 people in a city of fewer than 200,000….

All told Geneva's money managers had about $8.6 billion invested with Madoff.