The Switzerland-based private bank reported a broadly stronger set of figures for the first six months of this year.

Union Bancaire Privée, the Geneva-based bank which operates in regions including Asia, has reported a 1.7 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit for the first half of this year, at SFr117.2 million ($119.2 million).

Assets under management rose by SFr7.6 billion to stand at SFr134.4 billion at the end of June this year, it said in a statement last Friday. The AuM  growth was driven by net inflows from private clients, along with the SFr2.127 billion contributed by Banque Carnegie in Luxembourg, acquired at the start of the year.

“Good market conditions and solid asset management performance comfortably offset the negative impact resulting from declines in the dollar and euro and from profit-taking by institutional clients in early 2019,” the bank said.

Operating revenues fell slightly (-1.3 per cent), from SFr540.0 million in the first half of 2018 to SFr533.2 million in the first half of 2019. The decline reflects the continuing slowdown in trading activity among private and institutional clients in market conditions that are difficult to assess, the bank continued.

Operating costs rose from SFr341.0 million at the end of June 2018 to SFr363.9 million at the end of June 2019 due to costs relating to the integration of Banque Carnegie in Luxembourg and the acquisition of ACPI in London, which was finalised at the end of 2018. The bank said it also made “significant investments in its Asian business”, as well as in the digital arena over the same period.

The bank’s Tier 1 ratio – a typical measure of a lender’s capital buffer – stood at 26.1 per cent at the end of June, and it had a short-term liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) of 301.3 per cent. (The LCR is the proportion of highly liquid assets held by financial institutions, to ensure their ability to meet short-term obligations.)

“The successful integration of the two recently acquired entities, and of our new teams in Asia, is starting to pay off. The strong returns delivered by our investment solutions and the ongoing growth in assets under management mean that we can look ahead to the second half of 2019 with confidence. This represents a promising backdrop for our ongoing commitment to investing for the future”, UBP’s chief executive Guy de Picciotto said.

Among recent developments, Union Bancaire Privée announced that it is partnering with Rothschild & Co. The family-owned firms are providing a strategy for both private and institutional clients to diversify their portfolios in the private equity market.