Swiss Private Banks: Which Ones Thrived, Which Ones Faltered?
4. Julius Baer
«Bears» are back – that’s one way to summarize the 2024 annual results of the publicly listed institution.
After the turbulence and confusion surrounding the write-down scandal related to René Benko, the bank presented an impressive annual result on February 3, with profit rising by 11 percent to 1.050 billion francs.
Julius Baer also showed a very dynamic side with net new money totaling 14.2 billion francs.
Despite strong figures, the stock markets did not grant the new CEO Stefan Bollinger a vote of confidence. In fact, following the publication of the annual results, the share price dropped by 13 percent—although it has since recovered half of that loss.
Evidently, market expectations were even higher; Julius Baer actually trailed the profits recorded in 2021 and 2022.
Furthermore, the announced cost-cutting program and reorganization did not win over all market participants. Although Bollinger has aggressively reduced the executive board from 15 to 5 members, many of the demoted executives remain with the bank and now report directly to the new CEO from outside the management team.
With Bollinger’s appointment as CEO, the bank achieved a surprising coup last year. The 2024 results now appear to provide a solid foundation for decisively driving business growth.
