Julius Baer Seeks to Cut Bonuses of Bankers With Risky Books
The amount that advisers will see their pay docked varies depending on factors such as the type of transaction and the type of market involved, the people said, asking not to be named discussing remuneration. The change is pending regulatory approval, one of the people said.
The move comes as the bank's new Chief Executive Officer Stefan Bollinger and Chairman Noel Quinn seek to reset the Swiss bank and put it on a path for growth after a string of missteps, including running up a $700 million exposure to Rene Benko's real estate empire.
At an investor event in London last month, Bollinger said the bank was reviewing the compensation model with the aim to better align relationship managers' incentives with the interests of the bank and its shareholders.
'We want to incentivize the RMs to focus predominantly on long-term sustainable growth and therefore we will be very focused on the quality of net new money,' he said.
A Julius Baer spokesperson said the changes, which are pending board approval, would 'preserve the essence of our framework, as we pay for performance and want to attract the best talent.'
Wealth managers have different compensation models but often incentivize bankers through bonus payments that are tied to new assets they bring in.
In June, Baer unveiled fresh targets and reintroduced a goal for net new money, which Bollinger stressed was underpinned by strengthened risk management. 'Risk management is my DNA, and I will be laser-focused on this,' Bollinger said.
In its interim earnings update in May, the bank announced that Ivan Ivanic was taking over as Chief Risk Officer from Oliver Bartholet, who was retiring. It also said the executive board would be strengthened by a new compliance officer role, to be announced in due course.
(Adds need for board approval in 6th paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
27 minutes ago
- Mint
Iran Meets UK, France and Germany for Nuclear Talks
(Bloomberg) -- Iranian and European officials held nuclear talks in Istanbul on Friday as tensions simmer over Tehran's nuclear program after it was targeted by a US military strike last month. Diplomats from the Islamic Republic met with counterparts from the UK, France and Germany — the so-called E3 bloc of top European economies — at around 10:30 a.m. local time to try and ease a standoff over Iran's atomic activities. The talks come about a month after the US bombed three key nuclear sites in Iran, triggering a break in international inspections of its atomic activities and raising questions over the whereabouts of its stockpile of enriched uranium. The strike also derailed separate nuclear negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the Trump administration. The E3 helped broker a 2015 nuclear deal — known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — with Iran that imposed strict limits on Tehran's atomic work in exchange for sanctions relief. Friday's talks are important because they could delay any effort by the Europeans to 'snap back' broad United Nations sanctions that were lifted as part of that accord. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot last week announced the possibility of reimposing the sanctions by the end of August if Iran fails to reach a deal limiting its nuclear program. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that the E3 has lost any right to invoke the JCPOA's snapback mechanism, which expires in October, because it failed to meet its own obligations under the agreement after US President Donald Trump withdrew from it seven years ago. On Wednesday, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister said Tehran has 'not ruled out' withdrawing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons if the UN were to reimpose sanctions. 'That's still on the table,' Kazem Gharibabadi, who's attending the Istanbul talks, told reporters. 'I'm quite confident that if the snapback is triggered, Iran will not show more restraint in this regard,' he said. --With assistance from Patrick Sykes. (Updates lead to reflect talks have started.) More stories like this are available on
Mint
27 minutes ago
- Mint
Vietnamese Stocks Reach Record High on Inflows, Trade Optimism
(Bloomberg) -- Vietnamese shares rose to a record high, aided by the return of foreign fund inflows amid optimism about a trade deal with the US. The benchmark VN Index rose 0.7% to 1,531.13 at the close, surpassing its last high in January 2022. Vietnam Prosperity JSC Bank and Vinhomes JSC were among the top contributors to the gains. Foreign investors have bought about $413.7 million of Vietnamese stocks on a net basis so far this month, according to data complied by Bloomberg. The Southeast Asian nation's equities have extended a rally since early July, when President Donald Trump said he had reached a trade deal with Vietnam with a 20% tariff, which is lower than the 46% duty first announced in April. While Vietnamese negotiators said they are still working out details of an agreement, there are expectations for global investors to further expand their exposure to the country's shares. 'The strong rally is on the back of robust GDP growth and reduced uncertainties over US tariffs,' said Ruchir Desai, a fund manager at Asia Frontier Capital in Hong Kong. 'If economic momentum continues in the second half and if there is no major impact on overall export growth especially to the US, then the rally can sustain.' Vietnam is keeping its target of at least 8% gross domestic product growth this year, and will continue to strive for economic expansion of 10% or above in 2026-2030, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said earlier this month. The economy expanded by 7.5% in the six months through June. (Updates with closing level) More stories like this are available on
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Sundar Pichai's Net Worth Hits $1.1 Billion After Alphabets Market Surge
Alphabet Inc.'s continued rally on the stock market has delivered a windfall not only for investors but also for its CEO, Sundar Pichai, who has now crossed the $1 billion net worth milestone. The 53-year-old, originally from Tamil Nadu, has seen his fortune rise to $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This financial leap is driven largely by the surge in Alphabet's stock, which has soared over 120% since early 2023, adding over $1 trillion to the company's market capitalisation, reported Bloomberg. Unlike tech titans such as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg or Nvidia's Jensen Huang, who built their wealth through founding equity, Mr Pichai's ascent is distinct. He joined Google, now Alphabet's main subsidiary, in 2004, long after its 1998 founding. His early work on Chrome and Android laid the groundwork for his elevation to CEO in 2015. It was the same year Google restructured under the Alphabet umbrella. He was named the Alphabet CEO in 2019. Earlier this month, Mr Pichai became the company's longest-serving chief executive, completing nearly a decade at the helm. In Tamil Nadu, Mr Pichai's family lived in a two-room flat. They didn't have a car and only had a telephone when he was 12. In 1993, when he secured a scholarship to Stanford University, his parents spent over $1,000, more than his father's annual income, to buy a plane ticket to the US. 'One of the first things I did as CEO was to pivot the company to be focused on AI,' Mr Pichai told Bloomberg in an October 2024 interview. Alphabet has increased its investment in artificial intelligence under his leadership. An important turning point in the company's AI development was the $400-million acquisition of London-based DeepMind in 2014. Since then, Pichai has overseen a sharp rise in investment, with Alphabet spending close to $50 billion last year alone on AI infrastructure. The company released its second-quarter results in July 2025 that surpassed analyst projections. Alphabet shares climbed by 4.1% following the earnings announcement. It also disclosed a 16% rise in research and development spending. 'Our AI infrastructure investments are crucial to meeting the growth in demand for cloud customers,' Mr Pichai said on a July 23 call with analysts following the results release. Mr Pichai holds only 0.02% of Alphabet's stock, presently worth about $440 million. The rest of his wealth is primarily in cash, having offloaded over $650 million worth of stock in the past decade. Bloomberg estimates that his holdings would now be worth over $2.5 billion had he held on to all his shares.
