Greater transparency and better risk management: Julius Baer announces an update of its new strategy

cov . How can Julius Baer eliminate its legacy issues, and what are the immediate challenges? The private bank's new leadership aims to provide clarity on Tuesday. Stefan Bollinger has been the new CEO since last January. In May, Noel Quinn was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors. Now, in a first appearance in London, they are presenting the new strategic agenda, their priorities, and the financial targets for the next three-year period starting in 2026.

Julius Baer recently ran into trouble due to business dealings with René Benko. Due to poorly secured loans to the Austrian real estate speculator , the bank had to write off approximately CHF 606 million at the beginning of 2024.

As the private bank states in a press release, Julius Baer has implemented several measures over the past 20 weeks to increase transparency and accountability, strengthen client focus, and ensure more efficient management processes. According to new CEO Stefan Bollinger, "significant progress has been made on several levels" to strengthen the trust of all stakeholders. The former Goldman Sachs banker says Julius Baer now has "a clear strategic agenda and priorities to seize future opportunities."

According to the statement, the group has changed its leadership and management structures. For example, the executive board has been downsized and new departments have been created. Work has also been done on risk management. According to the bank's press release, risk organization and the review of loan portfolios have been tightened. The bank has withdrawn from its onshore business in Brazil and entered the Italian market.

The agenda includes: "Returning to profitable growth, increasing operational efficiency and cost discipline, strengthening disciplined risk and compliance management, leveraging technology, and fostering a culture of performance and ownership."

To realize its growth ambitions, the Group aims to sharpen segments, improve its product offering, and expand its leading position in key markets. Julius Baer is focused on restoring positive operating leverage. To this end, the Group will implement additional efficiency improvement measures totaling CHF 130 million by 2028, in addition to its growth ambitions, with the expected cost of approximately 50 percent.

Julius Baer has set itself the goal of strengthening risk and compliance management processes and accountability throughout the organization. This requires adjusting the risk profile in line with the scope of the core Wealth Management business, strengthening the first line of defense, and fostering a culture of disciplined risk accountability.

More to follow.