Zurich-based Julius Baer saw its net profit increase 18 percent in the first half. Assets under management also increased as more relationship managers were hired.

Julius Baer reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of 532 million Swiss francs ($614.1 million) for the first half of the year, an 18 percent increase from a year ago while operating income was up 9 percent with higher interest rates offsetting a decline in commission and fee income, according to mid-year results released Monday.

«A complex environment has not hindered us from achieving a strong start to the current strategy cycle – on the contrary, it has even allowed for a tactical acceleration of our push for scale in our key markets,» said CEO Philipp Rickenbacher.

Increased Assets under Management

Favorable stock and bond markets helped boost assets under management by 17 billion francs to 441 billion, an increase of 4 percent. The result was tempered somewhat by negative currency impacts as the franc appreciated against the dollar and euro.

Net new money was 7.1 billion francs during the first half, accelerating in the last two months of the second quarter, according to the report. The result was a welcome one compared to a year ago when the bank reported outflows of 1.1 billion francs. Clients continued to deleverage in a reflection of current market conditions.

Excluding that impact, net new money amounted to 9.2 billion francs.

Earlier this year, Julius Baer chairman Romeo Lacher said that by 2030 the firm could «absolutely» reach one trillion Swiss francs in client assets. Rickenbacher also spoke on the topic earlier this month, saying that the bank «deliberately never formulated that as a target with a fixed time frame» but noted that it was «in growth mode and such ambitions are not unrealistic».

More Relationship Managers

The increase in AUM was no doubt helped by the hiring of an additional 57 full-time relationship managers this year, bringing the total to 1,305.

Personnel expenses were up 5 percent to 881 million francs due to a rise in performance-related remuneration and an increase in the monthly average of employees.

Improved Capital Ratio

Julius Baers BIS CET1 capital ratio improved to 15.5 percent from 14 percent at the end of last year, and the BIS total capital ratio stood at to 24.7 percent compared to 21.7 percent at the end of 2022.

As the leverage exposure fell 4 percent to 102 billion francs, with the tier 1 leverage ratio improving to 5.1 percent from 4.3 percent.