Falcon Private Bank, a Swiss private banking boutique, has appointed Martin Keller as its chief executive officer, taking over from Walter Berchtold, effective on Wedsneday.
The bank’s chairman Christian Wenger has also announced that he will step down. His successor will be appointed in due course.
Geneva-based private bank Lombard Odier has reversed a fall in profits last year to post a 13% year-on-year rise for the first half of 2017. Figures published today show consolidated net profits for the six months to the end of June were 69 million Swiss francs (€60.4 million).
In a statement, the bank, one of Switzerland’s oldest, said that market performance had lifted assets as global protectionist threats and European political risks diminished. Total client assets stood at 242 billion Swiss francs at the end of June, up from 233 billion francs at the end of 2016. The rise in profits so far this year compares with a 13% fall in net profits for the whole of 2016.
Assets under management at Julius Baer grew by 6 percent to 355 billion Swiss francs ($375.18 billion) in the first six months of 2017, the Swiss private bank said on Monday, roughly in line with analysts’ estimates. The private bank said it took in over 10 billion Swiss francs in net new funds from clients, one of the key business of the future.
The average forecast in a Reuters poll of five analysts was for the assets managed by Zurich-based Baer to grow to 358 billion francs. Adjsuted net income unexpectedly rose by 2 percent year on year to 404 million francs, ahead of the poll forecast for 373 million francs.
Pension funds and institutional investors have for some time been allocating to alternative investments, including private equity, to seek additional returns and diversification. This is welcome progress…
What are the scenarios of roboadvisory?
«According to our experience, it will take quite a lot of time before roboadvisory reaches a level of professionalism and competence. We believe that one day there will be a mix: the discretion of those investing in my opinion may be reduced but if customers want tailor-made solutions, the presence of man will always be necessary.
Falcon Private Bank, one of the Swiss banks ensnared in the Malaysian corruption scandal surrounding the troubled 1MDB fund, lost 128 million Swiss francs ($130 million) last year, as it reported in the statement on Thursday.
Last October the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) ordered the closure of its Singapore branch due to anti-money laundering (AML) failings in connection with 1MDB. The bank paid a composition fine of $300,000 for breaches of AML requirements and the regulator told the bank to strengthen its controls.
The economic outlook is bright enough to warrant a pro risk investment stance. Our overweight equities/ underweight duration seems consistent with a firming of global growth and an unwinding of prior deflation fear.
What could derail the recent rally of risky assets ?
Europe Political Risk: A Le Pen victory in France cannot be ruled out even if odds are slim. It would undermine European political cohesion (weak as it is), and would impose a larger risk premium on euro-denominated assets. A Macron victory would signal diminishing political risk in Europe, as the French and German leadership would be committed to supporting the European Union and the single currency. We underweight French sovereign and financial assets in search for clarity.
EFG International is gearing up for a battle with Brazil’s Grupo BTG Pactual SA over the value of BSI Bank, with the Swiss private bank now expecting to cut the purchase price by more than a quarter: it expects a downward adjustment of the estimated BSI purchase price of 277.5 million francs.
The bank cautioned this was "subject to BTG’s expected objection and, if necessary, verification by an independent expert".
The private bank that bought BSI last year reported IFRS net profit of 339.3 million Swiss francs ($336.27 million) in 2016, far ahead of the average estimate of 13.8 million in a Reuters survey of four analysts.
