The private banking group put a stronger set of financial results on the board for 2014 than for a year earlier.

LGT, the Liechtenstein-headquartered private bank that operates in regions such as Asia, said yesterday that assets under management rose 20 per cent year-on-year in 2014 to SFr128.8 billion ($131.6 billion). It said it did not expect the surge in the Swiss franc exchange rate in January to materially affect results this year.

Net asset inflows totalled SFr7.1 billion – up 7 per cent.

Total operating income rose by 13 per cent on the year, standing at more than SFr1 billion; group profit rose 19 per cent to SFr165 million.

To this record result, net interest and similar income contributed with SFr92.5 million (+16 per cent), income from services with SFr701.8 million (+8 per cent) and income from trading activities and other operating income with SFr215.5 million (+30 per cent).

Total operating costs rose by 11 per cent during 2014 to SFr761.0 million. Business and office expenses increased by 5 per cent to SFr165.5 million.

Personnel expenses increased by 12 per cent to SFr595.5 million, which is primarily attributable to staff recruitment in 2013 and 2014 as well as performance-related compensation in accordance with the growth of the business, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

The cost-income ratio decreased by close to 2 percentage points to 75.4 per cent compared to the 2013 financial year.

The tier one capital ratio was 18.4 per cent as at 31 December 2014, compared to 21.3 per cent at year-end 2013.

“LGT got off to a good start to 2015 and is confident that it is well-positioned to make further progress. From today’s perspective, LGT expects that the lifting of the minimum exchange rate for the Swiss franc will not have a material effect in the 2015 results due to currency hedging introduced in the past and applied consistently, and further growth measures,” the bank said.

Last December, a senior figure from Coutts, the private bank whose international business has been put up for possible sale by its UK parent, moved to LGT in Hong Kong. Emily Lee joined LGT in Hong Kong; at Coutts, she was part of the discretionary portfolio team.