The bank said that after a weaker start in January, net inflows "improved significantly" in the following three months. After a difficult year for credit losses in 2023, Julius Baer said there were no credit losses in the first four months of 2024.

Julius Baer has reported that its assets under management rose 10 per cent year-on-year to SFr471 million ($516 million) in the first four months of 2024.

The increase was caused by a “significant positive currency impact and by strong stock markets, only partly offset by a decline in bond market valuations,” the Zurich-listed private bank said in a statement.

After a weaker start in January, net inflows improved significantly in the following three months, the bank said.

The bank’s Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio – its “shock absorber” measure – was 15.3 per cent at the end of April. 

After a negative start in January, net new money recovered to a 3 per cent annualised pace over the subsequent three months, resulting in total net inflows of SFr1 billion by the end of April. 

Julius Baer said that although relationship managers who joined Julius Baer last year contributed positively to net inflows, the overall result was impacted by ongoing client deleveraging.

The bank’s AuM included SFr4.8 billion from Italian asset manager Kairos, the sale of which was completed after 30 April 2024. Kairos was deconsolidated as per 2 May 2024.

Mainly due to a recovery in the activity-driven revenue components, the gross margin for the first four months of 2024 rose to close to 89 basis points, up from the 82 bps underlying gross margin in H2 2023. 

There were no net credit losses in the first four months of 2024, Julius Baer said. In early February, the Swiss bank announced a hit to its full-year 2023 financial results from credit losses of SFr606 million. The losses stemmed from loans to a European conglomerate, as previously disclosed in late November 2023.