Julius Baer May Double Portion of Asian Staff, Assets
Julius Baer May Double Portion of Asia Staff
Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
Julius Baer Group Chief Executive Officer Boris Collardi expects to double its staff in Asia.
Julius Baer Group Chief Executive Officer Boris Collardi expects to double its staff in Asia. Photographer: Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
Julius Baer Group Chairman Raymond Baer
Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
Julius Baer Group Chairman Raymond Baer said political stress in Europe is far from over.
Julius Baer Group Chairman Raymond Baer said political stress in Europe is far from over. Photographer: Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
Julius Baer Group Ltd., the 120- year-old Swiss private bank, expects to double the portion of staff in Asia as it taps an “increasingly important” market for expansion, Chief Executive Officer Boris Collardi said.
“The headcount will be probably far in excess of 15 to 20 percent in the next years to come,” Collardi said at a media briefing in Singapore today. “Asia is becoming increasingly important for us in terms of assets and headcount.”
Julius Baer, whose 400 employees in Asia account for about 10 percent of its staff, expects clients in the region to generate as much as one-quarter of its assets under management within five years. Asia currently makes up about 10 percent of Baer’s 166 billion Swiss francs ($163.4 billion) of total assets.
The bank is planning a Hong Kong booking office by the end of 2010, as well as a representative office in Shanghai and a trust company in Singapore by next year. In Singapore, where the bulk of its Asian staff is based, Baer has looked for office space that could house 700 staff.
Collardi said the bank, which has more than 1.2 billion Swiss francs in excess capital, is eyeing acquisitions to support its growth strategy.
“We have a situation where we have excess capital, we have a track record of doing M&A more in the European context,” he said. “We would love to be able to do something in Asia. The problem is that everybody wants to buy and nobody wants to sell, so if you hear of anything, let us know.”
Julius Baer attracted 3.3 billion Swiss francs of net new money in the first half of the year, and anticipates second-half inflows to at least match that amount. In Asia, it reported double-digit growth in net new cash.
‘Go Deep’
Raymond Baer, the company’s chairman, said political stress in Europe is far from over, though the economic situation appears to be stabilizing.
“It is very clear the emerging world will continue to outpace the established world because those economies grow debt- free, have less regulatory cost burdens, and more favorable demographics,” Baer said. “We will continue to go deep and invest further in what we have started.”
Collardi said private clients are investing in cash, foreign exchange, gold and global companies that deal in emerging markets, while looking to move their money out of hedge funds and private equity.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joyce Koh in Singapore at jkoh38@bloomberg.net
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