Beyond the Banker — Interview with Kim-Andrée Potvin

Kim-Andrée Potvin

From the Canadian ice to Swiss boardrooms, Kim-Andrée Potvin has carved out a path driven by passion, discipline… and a healthy dose of enthusiasm. Portrait of a radiant CEO.

Interview by Sherif Mamdouh - COTE Magazine

When I arrive for our interview, Kim-Andrée Potvin has been waiting for fifteen minutes. Caught in Geneva’s never-ending construction works, I’m running late. Yet she greets me with a warm smile and says: “I waited to order coffee — we’ll start together.” The tone is set. With Kim, courtesy isn’t a veneer. It’s a way of life.

Born in Canada into a family where passion is everything, she grew up in the shadow of a professional hockey player father and a globetrotting great-grandfather. From her parents, she inherited high standards and a love of effort; from her ancestor, an insatiable thirst for discovery. “He traveled the world in the early 20th century. For a Quebecer to travel so much back then — that was visionary. He made me want to see beyond.” At four, she laced up her first skates. It was love at first glide. For fourteen years, she practiced figure skating — a discipline that taught her rigor, resilience, and a love of movement. “I’m a certified coach in Canada” she shares proudly.

A shy child, she grew into a confident young woman, fully aware that life is too short for regrets. “You have one life” she says with a smile. This motto led her from Montreal to Paris, and through over fifty countries, always guided by the belief that “there’s no such thing as chance when you have dreams and the courage to take risks and never give up.” A philosophy blending pragmatism with a knack for being in the right place at the right time.

A McGill graduate, she racked up internships, experiences, and encounters. She wrote for the university’s financial newspaper, interviewed CEOs, and built her path step by step. At 22, with an MBA in hand, she landed her first job in France after a bold round-trip from Montreal to Paris — just for a 45-minute interview. With no guarantees, she boarded the plane. On-site, the interview turned into a ten-hour marathon. The next day, she flew back to Canada — with a signed contract.

She started as a consultant, then rose through the ranks at BNP Paribas. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing at first. “I was the engine, but I forgot to hook up the wagons,” she laughs. She learned to slow down, listen, and ask questions. “That’s what helped me become a better manager.” She eventually led 600 people and drove major transformations. But at 40, she pivoted. Tired of large corporations, constant relocation, and slow decision-making, she craved impact. Fast. Human. Lasting. 

That’s how she joined a first small Swiss private bank, and then Banque Bonhôte in Neuchâtel. It wasn’t a retreat — it was a refocus. “Here, the headquarters are human-sized. We act fast. We know each other. We move forward together, which allows us to serve our clients in a unique way.”

Her driving force? Enthusiasm. She talks about it with genuine fervor. “It’s the most beautiful emotion — positive and contagious.” She loves to discover what makes her team members’ eyes sparkle. “Enthusiasm comes from the Greek entheos — divine inspiration. It’s not something you control. It’s something you feel deeply.” A force she also nurtures outside the office. Twice a year, she travels with biologists to observe endemic animals in their natural habitat. “Nature restores me. It calms me.” She’s seen Arctic polar bears, Ugandan gorillas, and Indian tigers.India, in fact, left a lasting impression. Her first trip there nearly ended as soon as it began. “The first 48 hours, I almost left. Too hot, too spicy, too intense. The country resisted me. Or maybe I resisted it. But I didn’t want to give up.” She stayed. And discovered a luminous, deeply human place that became one of her soul’s homes. “Experiences like that reveal others — and yourself.”

Deeply committed, she volunteers her skills, has sat on several conservation and education boards, and dreams of launching a global mentoring foundation. “Passing things on is essential. I’ve received so much. I want to give back.” 

For her, impact investing is not a trend — it’s a concrete lever to rebalance the world. “Finance can redirect flows toward what truly matters.” Asked about the sector’s current loss of momentum, she doesn’t flinch. “It’s normal. Every transformation faces a skeptical phase. But that only strengthens my belief that we must keep going. After a phase of natural selection, there will be more clarity, comparability, and traceability.” Her favorite quote? A line from Abraham Lincoln: It’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years. And what a life it is.

And to illustrate the kind of person Kim-Andrée Potvin truly is, one final anecdote speaks volumes: at the end of our interview, she suggested we meet again. Not to talk more about her — but to get to know me. To restore the balance of a new connection. That says it all.