Julius Baer is setting up an innovation hub in Singapore. Why is the Swiss bank opting to do this in Asia and not closer to home in Zurich?
Zurich-headquartered private bank Julius Baer is setting up an innovation lab in Singapore in a bid to be at the forefront of digital services and new technologies, a spokesperson told finews.asia.
The lab recently moved into a «co-creation space» at Julius Baer’s Singapore office in Marina One. As of December, the bank appointed Jonathan Chan as head of the new lab and he has since led a multi-discipline team with innovation and entrepreneurial backgrounds.
«Second Home Market»
Often proclaimed as its «second home market», Asia accounts for a quarter of Julius Baer’s business which allows for sufficient critical mass to develop solutions with scale and test them immediately.
And with ongoing exchanges with Singapore, Switzerland will not be left out as a beneficiary as newly developed innovations in the former can be quickly introduced and launched in the latter as well as the bank as a whole.
Separately, Julius Baer has also been a partner of the F10 Fintech Accelerator in Zurich since 2016. Collaborations with fintech firms have been rolled out as part of the partnership and activities have gained momentum, according to the bank, especially since F10 also opened an office in Singapore.
