For the first time, Rothschild & Co Bank booked revenues in Switzerland on par with those in the UK. Further growth is planned with the hiring of more relationship managers.
Zurich and Geneva-based Rothschild & Co Bank posted a profit of 33.3 million francs last year. However, the comparison to results the year before is limited due to a special effect from the acquisition of Geneva-based private bank Pâris Bertrand.
Considering that, the result was a profit of 38.1 million francs in 2022, compared with 21.4 million francs in 2021. Although all business units grew, client assets under management fell 8.4 percent to 29.9 billion francs last year due to the market turmoil, according to the annual report published Wednesday.
More Relationship Managers
New money inflows were significantly weaker than in 2021, amounting to 1.013 billion francs last year, compared with 2.017 billion in 2021.
Total managed assets fell despite the new money inflows, falling to 29.1 billion francs at the end of last year from 31.8 billion the year before. The new money was not enough to offset losses of 3.3 billion francs in losses from currency and market losses, according to the report.
The firm aims to lure more funds by hiring additional relationship managers in recent months. In total, the bank employed 388 people at the end of 2022, up from 358 twelve months earlier.
In Switzerland, Andreas Feller moved from Bank Julius Baer to Rothschild & Co in February 2022, where he has since headed the Swiss onshore business in the Zurich market region and is also deputy head of private banking in Zurich. Under Feller's aegis, a team of six client advisors then joined the bank in Zurich last December.
Goodbye Stock Market
The Swiss market region increased revenues by 31 percent last year, matching the UK wealth management unit for the first time. «This development shows that our growth strategy in Switzerland is working,» Laurent Gagnebin, CEO of Rothschild & Co Bank, said in an interview with finews.com on Wednesday.
The bank also confirmed that Concordia, the family holding company and Rothschild & Co's largest shareholder, is preparing a bid to acquire the financial institution fully. Currently, the company is still listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. A corresponding offer is to be submitted to shareholders by the end of May.
