Swiss financial services giant Julius Baer’s net new money for the first six months of the year reached 5.7 billion Swiss francs (USD 7.04 billion), beating expectations after a slow start while warning that de-risking efforts would continue to weigh on growth.
Annualised net new money growth in the first half of 2026 was 2.2%. However, progress on the profit front has continued to be affected by the implementation of the venture’s revised risk and compliance framework. Julius Baer even warned about the impact of the de-risking likely persisting into 2027.
“De-risking takes time,” CEO Stefan Bollinger said, adding the process targets different client types in high-risk countries or certain sensitive industries. However, he declined to quantify the phenomenon’s impact for next year.
While the Swiss bank’s net new money growth target has been set at 4%-5% by 2028, net profit for the first half of 2026 rose 128% to 673 million francs from 2025, when profits were hurt by loan loss provisions.
“Julius Baer’s cost-income ratio will likely be below 67% for the second half of the year,” CFO Evie Kostakis told analysts.
“The bank foresees an increase in costs in the second half due to investments in the Swiss core banking platform, an efficiency programme and the hiring of new relationship managers,” the top official added further.
Julius Baer, while not answering analysts’ queries about resuming share buybacks, which hinge on an ongoing assessment by the Swiss regulator, gave some progress update following the completion of management changes.
“This moves in the right direction. We have now the second line in place, and so we’re feeling very good about our setup,” Bollinger told reporters.
Julius Baer will see the joining of Peter Burrill as its new chief financial officer in August, completing a top management overhaul that followed after the bank suffered heavy losses from risky lending.
Burrill will be joining from Standard Chartered after spending nine years in different senior finance roles. His most recent designation was the interim group CFO and a member of the group management team. Before that, he was group head of the British multinational giant’s central finance and deputy CFO, overseeing a broad transformation of the banking biggie’s finance function, spanning across its infrastructure, operating model, and international organisation.
Burrill’s appointment has been the most crucial one, as he will be facing a daunting task of charting Julius Baer’s long-term recovery path. The financial institute ended up inviting an enforcement assessment by Swiss financial market regulator FINMA over losses to collapsed Austrian property group Signa.
Signa’s downfall led to Julius Baer reporting a 25% decline in its 2025 net profit to 764 million Swiss francs (USD 981.3 million). The Swiss wealth manager also underwent net credit losses of 213 million Swiss francs, following large writedowns related to Signa’s bankruptcy.