Latest news with #JuliusBaerGroup
Business Times
4 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
21-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Julius Baer faces US$156 million loan loss charge
[ZURICH] Julius Baer Group said it's booking another large loss from property developments it helped finance, just as the Swiss wealth manager is emerging from a crisis triggered by its exposure to Rene Benko's Signa real estate empire. The Zurich-based bank disclosed late Tuesday (May 20) that it's taking a loan-loss charge of US$156 million related to its private debt business and selected positions in its mortgage operation. As part of a review of its credit portfolio, Baer is discussing writing down a loan related to a real estate project in the German city of Hanover that's on the cusp of default and is also facing a loss from another development, Bloomberg reported earlier on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report prompted the company to release an interim management statement ahead of schedule. That report showed assets under management of 467 billion Swiss francs (S$731.7 billion), a 6 per cent decrease from the end of 2024, according to a statement, as the strong Swiss franc had a currency impact of 28 billion francs. The bank posted net new money of 4.2 billion francs for the same period, coming from clients in Asia and Western Europe, it said. The bank also said it was on track to achieve the additional 110 million francs in cost savings it announced in February, and that this was expected to start benefiting profitability later this year. 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 'We expect investors to react negatively to disappointing net new money,' Citigroup analyst Nicholas Herman wrote in a note to clients, adding that the loan loss is also 'disappointing on several levels.' 'This follows a series of mis-steps prior to the arrival of CEO Stefan Bollinger,' he said, citing the Signa loss, the attempt to acquire Swiss rival EFG, flows and interest margins. Chief risk officer Oliver Bartholet will retire, the bank added, in another departure from the executive board since loans to defunct property tycoon Rene Benko helped cut 2023 profit in half. Bartholet will hand over his responsibilities on July 1 to Ivan Ivanic, who joined Julius Baer in February as chief credit officer. The executive board, which was slashed to five from 15 following the arrival of newly appointed chief executive officer Stefan Bollinger, will be expanded to include a chief compliance officer, with an announcement 'in due course.' Bollinger and chairman Noel Quinn, HSBC Holdings' former CEO, are seeking to clean up the balance sheet and set the firm back on a growth path. The two are expected to present a strategy update in June as they look to shore up investor confidence. Baer, Switzerland's second-largest listed wealth manager, wrote off US$700 million in loans and shut down its private-debt business after Benko's conglomerate unravelled in late 2023. The wealth manager said it has made progress on the wind-down of its private-debt loan book, with the remaining notional exposure now well below 0.2 billion Swiss francs, a more than 50 per cent reduction since the end of 2024, it said. The remaining book stands at 0.4 per cent of the total loan book, according to the statement. Last week, it emerged that Julius Baer has been ordered to hand over 4.4 million Swiss francs because of alleged failings in money-laundering controls. The previously undisclosed 'enforcement proceeding' is separate from an existing Finma probe into the Benko fallout. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Julius Baer to pay 4.4 million Swiss francs after Swiss money laundering probe
[ZURICH] Julius Baer Group has been ordered to hand over 4.4 million Swiss francs (S$6.8 million) including profits that may have been earned unlawfully, after the Swiss regulator Finma found serious failings related to money laundering. The Zurich-based bank had been under investigation over transactions that had occurred between 2009 and 2019 and linked to operations in Monaco and Singapore, according to a person familiar with the matter. The previously undisclosed 'enforcement proceeding' is separate to an existing Finma probe into losses linked to the Signa real estate empire, in which Baer was forced to write off US$700 million in loans. The bank's new leadership team of chief executive officer Stefan Bollinger and chairman Noel Quinn are attempting to move the firm beyond that damaging scandal and position it for growth. Julius Baer is cutting jobs and has told investors that there is no share buyback programme planned for this year. The Financial Times reported the money-laundering proceeding earlier. Finma declined to comment on the matter. The regulator can confiscate profits it deems to have been obtained through illegal businesses, but it cannot hand down punitive fines. BLOOMBERG
South China Morning Post
01-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Former HSBC CEO Quinn to join Julius Baer as chairman in May
Former HSBC CEO Noel Quinn will join Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group as its next chairman in May, pending shareholder approval, according to a company statement on Friday. Advertisement The board of directors at Julius Baer will nominate Quinn for election as its new non-executive chairman at the annual general meeting on April 10, replacing Romeo Lacher, who is not seeking re-election. Quinn, a British banking veteran who turned 63 in January, will assume his new role on May 1 due to prior commitments, according to Julius Baer. The appointment marks his first move since stepping down as HSBC CEO in September, passing the leadership to Georges Elhedery . Quinn spent 37 years at HSBC, including the last five years as its global CEO. 'It is a real privilege to be nominated to take on the chair role of the largest pure-play wealth manager and one with such a great heritage,' Quinn said in the statement. 'Having spent over 37 years in the international financial services sector, I am looking forward to working with the board and management team to capitalise on the many exciting opportunities ahead of us.' Swiss bank Julius Baer is based in Zurich. Photo: AFP Zurich-based Julius Baer, which traces its roots back to 1890, managed 480 billion Swiss francs (US$531 billion) worth of assets as of the end of October, according to its financial report. The firm operates in 60 markets worldwide, including key locations in Asia such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo.
