EFG reaps the fruits from hiring new bankers with gains in net new assets producing a strong operating performance overall. Despite this, a strong franc keeps the level of AuM tamped down.

EFG International indicated in its full-year 2023 results presentation that net profit increased by 50 percent to 303 million Swiss francs ($344 million) last year. According to the bank, this was due to a «strong and consistent» operating performance that came off the back of a «resilient and well diversified» business.

Overall performance was driven by net interest margins and recovering net commission margins. EFG reported that net new assets rose 4.4 percent, helped by new client-facing staff it hired in 2023 following the collapse of Credit Suisse almost a year ago. It hired 141 new client relationship officers, of which 104 joined in 2023 and have already «contributed significantly» to results.

AUM Falls

The level of assets under management, however, didn't fare quite as well, given they were depressed by the strength of the franc against other currencies, with that impact outweighing the benefit from new assets and market performance. As a result, they were down 0.6 percent at 142.2 billion francs.

Increased Dividend

The bank indicated that it would propose a dividend of 0.55 francs a share to shareholders, representing an increase of 22 percent. Other key metrics included return on equity at 18.2 percent last year, above the bank's target range of 15-18 percent. 

It also indicated it remained on track to achieve cost savings of 60 million francs by 2025.

Strong Ratios

Its CET1 capital ratio was 17.0 percent, the total capital ratio 21.0, and its liquidity coverage ratio 230 percent at the end of 2023. «Our record profit and our strong operational performance demonstrate that we are delivering on our strategy more rapidly than originally envisaged, which puts us a year ahead of plan,» EFG CEO Giorgio Pradelli maintained in an ad hoc announcement.

Still, the bank was aware of short-term challenges in the operating environment. Despite that, it remained «confident» about the outlook of the business and «ability to achieve scale, generate consistent financial performance and deliver attractive returns for our shareholders».

Board Appointment

In a separate ad hoc announcement sent on the same day as the 2023 results, the bank indicated that it had nominated Prasanna Gopalakrishnan to the board of directors after having received relevant regulatory approvals.

She will succeed Bernd-A. von Maltan who has decided not to stand for re-election this year after serving on the board for 11 years. According to EFG, Gopalakrishnan will help to «drive» the wealth manager's digitalization process, overall digital strategy, and cybersecurity framework.

Digital Expertise

She currently serves as group chief technology officer at Sky Group, a position she will continue to hold after the likely assumption of a seat on EFG's board following a vote by shareholders on March 22.

Previous to that she was chief information officer in Bank of America's consumer digital banking business. She has also held senior roles at Boston Private, Harvard University, Fidelity, and Thomson Reuters.