“My dad, he was a Formula 1 World Champion. And so growing up into that, and especially trying to follow that same path and going into racing myself, it was really demanding at first,” admits Nico, who also scooped the title in 2016. Now his life is at a different pace – however, instead of sitting back after motorsport retirement, Nico has his eyes locked firmly on the decades ahead, be it the future of wealth or the future of sustainability.

Since winning the 2016 F1 World Championship with Mercedes, 38-year-old Nico’s life has taken many turns. Now a leading sustainability entrepreneur and investor, he has ventured into the exciting realm of electric mobility via his investments in Formula E and several promising startups. He also created the GreenTech Festival – showcasing cutting-edge innovations – and launched Rosberg X Racing for off-road series Extreme E.

The Rosbergs’ motorsport legacy

Despite his keen focus on the future, Nico has an appreciation for his past – especially his family background, which gave him a unique start to his racing career. “So many people were watching me, straight away from the get-go as a ten-year-old, and were judging me – and saying: ‘Is he as good as his dad?’” He adds: “It was lot of pressure on me, a lot of expectation from everybody around. At the same time, it was an advantage – it gave me some opportunities that others might not have gotten, but it was also a lot of pressure.

“I think, in the end, it made me more resilient and really helped me to become a world champion myself, which is quite incredible.”

Inheriting family expectations

For those who find themselves at a similar crossroads – coming from a successful family legacy and facing a choice to pursue the same path or carve their own way– Nico’s words can provide clarity. “If you are the child of a big family dynasty or a big family business, and you’re looking into the future – I would like to recommend that you listen to your feelings and what your heart is telling you as to which direction to take in life.

“I’ve seen so many examples of children who’ve gone the path of the expectation of the family, which is to join the family business – but perhaps they don’t end up happy in that direction. I really can’t emphasise enough how important it is to choose a path that makes you happy.”

For Nico, the importance of a good team was not only relevant throughout his Formula 1 racing career, but also in his business ventures: “Then if you do follow the family business, be open to taking advice from the people who are experienced and who’ve already been in that space.”

Helping the next generation to rise

Having been raised in Monaco by his Finnish father and German mother, Nico is no stranger to the idea of global mobility. The benefit of this international perspective is two-fold – Nico can see the importance of sustainable mobility with its unique challenges, and can also appreciate the complexity of managing wealth and a common objective across a global, multi-generational family.

“My daughters are six and eight,” says Nico. For him, being a role model for the rising generation involves setting a good example – and developing a shared family purpose. This effort to create value beyond wealth for the long-term is based on actions and not only words. And, interest in the wellbeing of others has been a decades-long motif for the Rosbergs. Nico’s mother Sina, he reveals, had always put a strong emphasis on being kind – and these personal values are now shared by Nico and his daughters.

Combining a sense of purpose and entrepreneurship in his children, he explains a recent conversation he had with his girls. “I said: ‘Hey, let’s make some bracelets and let’s go out and sell them. And then with the proceeds, you can use half of them for your toy shop, to buy whatever you want, but half of them we’re going to give to charity’. I really want to make sure to ingrain in them this importance of contributing. A basic human need is to contribute.

“So for our next generation, for our kids, if they contribute in their lives, it will make their own lives happier. And that’s why also I’m really, really focused on trying to support my kids down that path.”

What is Nico’s wealth management ethos?

Protecting his children’s quality of life is about more than instilling a sense of purpose and philanthropy. It also takes fiscal know-how – and Nico sees a very clear long-term direction for his own portfolio. There are parallels between his financial mindset and his motivation during his past racing career – as he puts it: “Innovation is the key to value creation.”

He adds: “We see this excess of value creation in tech in the last decades and decades. That’s where my strength was in racing. I was always trying to innovate, trying to improve my car, trying to find that next little step. And I’ve taken that passion now into business, where I really enjoy following the greatest innovation that’s happening there.

“Especially in the start-up world: when it comes to my wealth, we’ve done a very, very clear strategy, which we’ve put in place. We know exactly what returns we’re targeting. We know how we’re going to allocate this wealth. We’ve gone into public equities because in the long run, that’s an asset class that is going to deliver you that 8-9% return, which is a really healthy return and great risk-return profile.”

He also understands the importance of a clear investment horizon with long-standing plans: “Of course, it’s volatile in the short term. But if you have a five-to-ten-year horizon – which all of us young people, even middle-aged people, should have – then that’s a great place to be in.”

He adds: “And then there’s the venture capital asset class, which is part of the private market, where you can try to outperform those public equities if you do it well, and if you get the right access and the right diversification.”

And in harmony with the very lessons he teaches his children about wealth, Nico applies the same standards to his investments: “We’ve set up Rosberg Philanthropies, where we deploy some of that wealth that we’re generating to do good, to have impact.”

Sustainable returns in a cleaner world

Finally, it’s no surprise that Nico – with a keen eye for e-mobility and innovation – believes in investing sustainably. In line with the expert views of Julius Baer’s Next Generation team, Nico agrees that there needn’t be a compromise on returns. “Sustainable investing is a big topic,” he outlines. “I think it’s so valuable if we can combine those returns with impact and with investing in the right way, and we see opportunities growing there more and more.

“For my portfolio, for example, even though the energy asset class has been the best performing asset class in the last couple of years at some points, we don’t invest in oil companies. We also don’t invest in cigarette companies – we’ve put a block on those kind of things.”

So what does the future look like for Nico and his business endeavours? “In the start-up world, the most exciting investments are the ones that are most impactful, because it’s just so great to be involved in those. And there’s no compromise there in terms of returns,” he concludes.