Zurch, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Bank Julius Baer joins the growing ranks of Swiss banks moving out of the US client managed wealth business. The bank announced that it has begun a gradual shift away from American customers, but the move is not hurting the bank’s overall wealth under management: the bank reports that in the first 10 months of 2009 total client assets increased to CHF234 billion and assets under management rose to some CHF 150 billion, up 17%, compared to a year earlier.
Spokesperson Martin Somogyi told GenevaLunch that details about the US client business are not available now, although the bank may provide them when it releases 2009 full year results in February 2010. He clarified that US citizens resident in Switzerland “who are tax compliant” are not part of this group and will remain bank clients.
Credit Suisse headquarters in Zurich's Paradeplatz, Copyright © 1997 - 2009 CREDIT SUISSE GROUP AG
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Credit Suisse group has released figures that show that it earned CHF2.35 billion in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 61 percent over the second quarter. The bank says its “low-risk” business model is vindicated by the surprisingly strong numbers. This is reflected in part by the net inflows of private client assets, which reached CHF13.1b, a growth of 5.4 percent on an annual basis. Revenues from Private Banking at CHF 723m were lower than in the second quarter, due in part to lower interest income.
Global wealth has declined 11.7 percent from $104.7 trillion to $92.4 trillion, the first decline since 2001, as measured by financial institutions’ holdings of assets for their clients (assets under management, or AuM). The figures are published in a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report out 15 September. BCG sees the value of assets beginning to recover in 2010, but sas they will take three years to reach their 2007 levels.
The global economic downturn in 2008 hit equity holdings particularly hard, especially in North America, where AuM plummeted 21.8 percent to $29.3 trillion. Only 38 percent of assets are held in equities, down from 50 percent before the crisis. The number of millionaires in North America dropped 22 percent to 3.9 million, still the world’s biggest millionaire population. Europe’s assets declined only 5.8 percent and stood at $32.7t, slightly ahead of North America in AuM. Wealth in Latin America increased 3 percent over the period, the only region that registered growth.
Households with assets of less than $100,000 grew by 2 percent during the period, but all other groups’ assets declined.
