Latest news with #Baer
Business Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Julius Baer's new goals fail to impress in setback for CEO
[ZURICH] Julius Baer Group unveiled fresh targets aimed at cutting costs and setting the Swiss wealth manager on the road to better profitability, though investors saw little reason to cheer. Shares in the Zurich-based lender fell after the open on Tuesday (Jun 3), following chief executive officer Stefan Bollinger's announcement of an extra 130 million Swiss francs (S$205 million) in cost cuts through 2028. The bank set a weaker efficiency target, and gave little detail on growth measures. Bollinger and new chairman Noel Quinn are seeking to put the bank on a path for growth after a string of missteps including the 2023 losses linked to the Signa real estate collapse. Yet both of Bollinger's strategy announcements since taking over in January have left investors looking for more. Baer shares were down 1.5 per cent at 9.47 am in Zurich. The firm scrapped medium-term targets for profitability, and instead introduced a goal for net new money, a key metric for wealth managers. The bank aims to improve the measure by 4 to 5 per cent over the next three years. 'Baer has reported an underwhelming strategy update as net new money and cost income ratio targets fail to excite relative to expectations,' analysts including Tom Hallett at KBW wrote in a note. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up On growth, the bank said it intends to 'sharpen segmentation and coverage, enhance its product offering, strengthen top positions in core geographies, and increase productivity.' Buybacks frozen In May the bank booked another large loss from property developments it helped finance. The 130 million Swiss francs loan-loss charge related to its private debt business and selected positions in its mortgage operation. In the same month Julius Baer disclosed that regulators had ordered it to hand over 4.4 million Swiss francs because of alleged failings in money-laundering controls related to transactions that had occurred between 2009 and 2019. Baer confirmed that a share buyback programme is on hold until it has clarity over the outcome of an investigation into the Benko losses by the regulator Finma has concluded. Anke Reingen, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said that the target updates 'make sense' but that investors would need to see 'evidence of a better outcome and buybacks to resume to see earnings growth and upgrades coming through.' BLOOMBERG
Business Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Julius Baer focuses on costs as CEO sets ‘realistic' goals
JULIUS Baer is stepping up its efforts on cost cutting while setting 'realistic' performance targets, as chief executive officer Stefan Bollinger seeks to move past a string of legacy issues. The Zurich-based wealth manager will seek 130 million Swiss francs (S$205 million) in cost reductions to 2028, according to a statement ahead of an investor day on Tuesday (Jun 3), while introducing a less ambitious efficiency goal. Bollinger and new chairman Noel Quinn are seeking to put the bank on a path for growth after 2023 losses linked to the Benko real estate collapse. Yet the bank is struggling to put the previous era behind it, amid restructuring and a continued drip feed of bad news. The firm scrapped medium-term targets for profitability, and instead introduced a goal for net new money, a key metric for wealth managers. The bank aims to improve the measure by 4 to 5 per cent over the next three years. In May the bank booked another large loss from property developments it helped finance. The 130 million Swiss francs loan-loss charge related to its private debt business and selected positions in its mortgage operation. 'Baer has reported an underwhelming strategy update as net new money and cost income ratio targets fail to excite relative to expectations,' analysts including Thomas Hallett at KBW wrote in a note. In the same month Julius Baer disclosed that regulators had ordered it to hand over 4.4 million Swiss francs because of alleged failings in money-laundering controls related to transactions that had occurred between 2009 and 2019. Baer confirmed that a share buyback programme is on hold until it has clarity over the outcome of an investigation into the Benko losses by the regulator Finma has concluded. Anke Reingen, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said that the target updates 'make sense' but that investors would need to see 'evidence of a better outcome and buybacks to resume to see earnings growth and upgrades coming through.' BLOOMBERG
The Sun
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Germany slams Trump's 'fatal' Harvard foreign student ban
BERLIN: Germany on Friday blasted the US government's 'fatal' decision to revoke Harvard University's right to enrol foreign students and urged the Trump administration to reconsider. Germany's Research Minister Dorothee Baer told the Bayern 2 radio station that she hoped 'the US government will reverse this decision,' adding: 'It's not a positive signal, neither for the young generation nor the free world.' On Thursday US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote to Harvard informing it that its certification under the main system allowing foreign students into the United States had been revoked. US President Donald Trump is furious at Harvard -- which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners -- for rejecting his demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and 'woke' liberal ideology. Harvard has called the administration's move 'unlawful'. Arriving in Brussels for a meeting of her EU colleagues, Baer said: 'We are already noticing a shift not only from American students who want to come to us but also from other countries, including China and India, who choose Europe because they simply see their freedom guaranteed differently here.' 'I never thought... that it would come to this, that the hotspot of academic freedom would someday be questioned,' Baer went on. 'Yet I do not give up hope that ... the 'land of the free' will someday again live up to its name.'
The Sun
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Germany urges rethink of ‘fatal' US foreigner ban for Harvard
BERLIN: Germany on Friday blasted the US government's 'fatal' decision to revoke Harvard University's right to enrol foreign students and urged the Trump administration to reconsider. Germany's Research Minister Dorothee Baer told the Bayern 2 radio station that she hoped 'the US government will reverse this decision,' adding: 'It's not a positive signal, neither for the young generation nor the free world.' On Thursday US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote to Harvard informing it that its certification under the main system allowing foreign students into the United States had been revoked. US President Donald Trump is furious at Harvard -- which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners -- for rejecting his demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and 'woke' liberal ideology. Harvard has called the administration's move 'unlawful'. Arriving in Brussels for a meeting of her EU colleagues, Baer said: 'We are already noticing a shift not only from American students who want to come to us but also from other countries, including China and India, who choose Europe because they simply see their freedom guaranteed differently here.' 'I never thought... that it would come to this, that the hotspot of academic freedom would someday be questioned,' Baer went on. 'Yet I do not give up hope that ... the 'land of the free' will someday again live up to its name.'
Local Germany
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
Germany blasts US government's decision to block foreign admissions to Harvard University
Germany on Friday blasted the US government's "fatal" decision to revoke Harvard University's right to enrol foreign students and urged the Trump administration to reconsider. Germany's Research Minister Dorothee Baer told the Bayern 2 radio station that she hoped "the US government will reverse this decision," adding: "It's not a positive signal, neither for the young generation nor the free world." On Thursday US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote to Harvard informing it that its certification under the main system allowing foreign students into the United States had been revoked. US President Donald Trump is furious at Harvard -- which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners -- for rejecting his demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and "woke" liberal ideology. Harvard has called the administration's move "unlawful". Arriving in Brussels for a meeting of her EU colleagues, Baer said: "We are already noticing a shift not only from American students who want to come to us but also from other countries, including China and India, who choose Europe because they simply see their freedom guaranteed differently here." Advertisement "I never thought... that it would come to this, that the hotspot of academic freedom would someday be questioned," Baer went on. "Yet I do not give up hope that ... the 'land of the free' will someday again live up to its name." EXPLAINED: How Germany is preparing for a looming US 'brain drain'
