Swiss private banking group Julius Baer Group Ltd. (JBAXY.PK,JBARF.PK) Tuesday said its assets under management at the end of April fell marginally from the end of 2014, amid a strong Swiss franc. Net inflows, on an annualized basis, were at the low end of the medium-term target range.
Assets under management or AuM totaled 289 billion francs, down 2 billion francs or 1 percent from the end of 2014.
Julius Baer said AuM benefited from the positive contributions from continued net new money, market performance and the transfer of 4.3 billion francs from Leumi Private Bank AG in March. But these positive factors were offset by a 19 billion francs negative currency impact due to the significant strengthening of the franc against almost all currencies so far this year.
Impacted by the currency translation effect and the ongoing regularization of legacy assets in France and Italy, net inflows, on an annualized basis, were at the low end of the 4-6 percent medium-term target range.
Meanwhile, gross margin benefited from robust client activity in the first four months and advanced to moderately above 100 basis points. The boost in client engagement was driven by higher market volatility.
Julius Baer's cost/income ratio improved to a level just below the 65-70 percent medium-term target range.
Further, the Swiss private bank said it remains strongly capitalized. At the end of April, the Group's BIS total capital ratio stood at 22.4 percent and the BIS tier 1 ratio at 21.1 percent, well above the targeted floors of 15 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
The company is slated to report detailed financial results for the first half of 2015 on July 20.
The stock advanced 0.4 percent in Zurich on Monday to close at 50 francs.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News