Swiss bank Julius Baer plans Europe expansion
Swiss private bank Julius Baer plans to expand its footprint in Europe where it says it is attracting as much new business as in high-growth Asia.
The head of Baer’s European business, Yves Robert-Charrue, told Reuters the bank plans to expand in Britain, Germany and Spain by hiring, opening new branches and potentially by merger and acquisition activity if it sees opportunities. It will also continue investing in technology at its European offshore booking centre in Luxembourg.
“I’m in a little bit of a competition with my colleague running Asia to see who’s stronger in the long term,” Robert-Charrue said during a recent interview at the bank’s headquarters in Zurich.
“I would not exclude an acquisition to leapfrog the growth we think we can achieve, if the conditions are right. There’s potential for further hiring in big strategic markets,” he said.
Baer is Switzerland’s third largest listed bank with Sf401bn (R5.34-trillion) in assets under management at the end of April 2018, and said in May that its net money inflows had increased by more than an annualised 5% in the first four months of 2018.
European and Asian customers account for about a quarter each of the group’s assets under management.
While for the wealth management industry as a whole, growth in Europe has lagged Asia, Robert-Charrue said that was not the case for Baer, which has been able to use its position as a new entrant to some European markets with a relatively small market share to grow. In Germany, Baer plans to open a branch in Hanover and another at an undisclosed site, giving the group 11 offices in Europe’s biggest economy.
“The German business, the operational business of our onshore franchise, has been profitable for many years. Other markets are profitable in terms of legal entities,” Robert-Charrue said. “Top-line margins are strong, which maybe not everyone would expect in Europe. We can deliver very strong return on assets in Europe, and to me that proves a point.”
In 2017, Baer decided to open three new offices in Britain — going against the trend of the financial industry, which is shifting some operations from London ahead of Britain’s exit from the EU.
Baer, which primarily books domestic business in Britain and runs its European cross-border operations out of Luxembourg, will continue looking for opportunities, saying its bid to seize a greater chunk of business from wealthy Britons spooked by Brexit uncertainty is showing early signs of success.