The chief executive of Julius Baer said he was confident in the Swiss private bank’s ability to manage costs and keep margins tight in the wake of its purchase of the non-US wealth management arm of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

“At Julius Baer we have a proven record on managing costs,” he says. “I am very confident on the cost-cutting side, and on the revenue side I know once people get into the Julius Baer mode, they will go out there and talk to clients,” Boris Collardi told the Financial Times in an interview.

As reported by WealthBriefing, some staff at Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s non-US wealth business could lose their jobs once Julius Baer’s purchase of this unit is complete, although any changes depend on exactly how many assets come over. The M&A deal will boost Julius Baer’s assets under management by up to 40 per cent to SFr251 billion (around $256 billion).

The Merrill unit’s revenues, Collardi was reported as saying, were depressed by Bank of America’s transparent intention to get rid of it. With that uncertainty now lifted, and the opportunity to cross-sell products such as mortgages which Baer offers but Merrill did not, the unit’s bankers should be able to generate higher revenues, he said.

The cost side of the equation will be improved by merging offices, joint-purchasing and also through job cuts. “We have a very lean set-up,” he said. “Our management model is simple.”

Collardi said he was not concerned about margins in Asia; he argued they will improve more quickly than elsewhere once market conditions improve. He also pointed out that the Merrill deal will help Baer’s profitability by cutting the share of its costs incurred in Swiss francs from 80 to about 55 per cent.