The Genevan banking group swung to a full-year loss amid a shift of its business to focus on wealthy clientele and a narrow swathe of asset management activities. It also quietly padded reserves for a rainy day.
Syz Group is paying a price for a wide-ranging strategic transformation that commenced last year: the Genevan firm swung to a 25 million Swiss franc ($25.7 million) net loss for 2019, from a 2.5 million franc profit the prior year, according to its annual report published on Tuesday. Syz had disclosed a profit for its core banking business last month, as finews.com reported.
The company, co-founded by veteran Swiss banker Eric Syz and controlled by him as well as his family, lifted its «reserves for general banking risks» 11-fold to 5.5 million francs, without elaborating. The 2019 net loss is largely due to poor performance at its asset management arm; Syz sold its Oyster fund arm in February, and also disposed of its Bahamas arm and pulled out of several markets.
Family Ties
Syz vowed to focus in asset management on institutional clients like pension funds and insurers. It spun this business off into a fully-controlled Syz subsidiary led by Daniel Hannemann. The banking group is leaning on its private bank, which recorded 7.1 million francs in pre-tax profit last year, as well as Syz Capital for future growth.
The capital unit is an alternative asset unit focused on private equity and hedge funds, led by Marc Syz. The wider Syz group in 2018 gave key positions to both Marc Syz and Nicolas Syz, sons of the 62-year-old co-founder. The family's two-thirds share of the company is divided up nearly equally between Eric Syz and his wife, Suzanne Syz-Mueller. Other notable shareholders include Casper Kirk Johansen (10 percent) as well as a foundation for employee stakes (13 percent).
