Q1: Private banks in Asia have faced a number of challenges in 2024, from uncertainty around interest rate cuts in the US to volatile markets and geopolitical tensions. Considering this background, how did you safeguard AUM and revenue streams in 2024, while also attracting net new assets? What will your strategy be in 2025?

This year has been a remarkable journey for us, marked by significant achievements that align with our strategic goals of sustainable growth, innovative client service, and operational resilience. Our impressive track record speaks for itself; as of September, we’ve recorded almost a 20% increase in recurring revenue and over a 15% increase in client assets.

This growth is a testament to our commitment to nurturing relationships with high-potential clients and the success of our bespoke service model. Looking ahead to 2025, we plan to continue this momentum by deepening client engagement through personalised services that emphasise long-term partnerships.

Q2: How are you advising clients in terms of investment opportunities in 2025? Which markets and asset classes will provide the best opportunities? And how can clients balance leveraging these opportunities while managing risks to their portfolios?

Looking ahead, we foresee a mixed cyclical recovery, driven by lower interest rates, resilient US demand, and growth in Chinese manufacturing exports. Globally, inflation continues to decline. In this context, our strategy is to stay invested, viewing potential corrections as more technical and temporary rather than fundamental.

Equities continue to ride a long-term bull trend, supported by favourable fundamentals. Our focus remains on quality large-cap growth, while also diversifying with select cyclicals like quality mid-caps, German stocks, industrials, and our long-term themes in Automation & Robotics and Future Cities. Beyond the Magnificent 7, we see earnings-driven opportunities, with the US as our preferred market. Japanese equities are benefitting from a weaker yen, robust earnings, and corporate reforms, while non-US-driven emerging markets such as India and China offer compelling opportunities with secular growth and attractive valuations.

In the fixed income space, bond investors need to be more agile, moving away from the traditional buy-and-hold strategy. Emerging market hard-currency bonds and low investment-grade debt currently offer attractive yields.

Additionally, alternative investments, including gold, serve as hedges against systemic risks, helping to diversify portfolios in volatile markets.

Q3: China’s announcement in 2024 of a series of monetary and fiscal stimulus measures has helped re-energise the world’s second-largest economy, bringing optimism and momentum to the market. What opportunities has this created for your bank? How would you advise clients when it comes to investing in China?

We remain optimistic about Chinese equities, especially following the rally that began in September 2024, fuelled by significant short covering and increased activity from US hedge funds. As the market consolidates, we encourage investors to optimise their portfolios by trimming weaker holdings and focusing on companies with strong earnings potential, particularly those poised to benefit from favourable policy changes and current economic conditions.

Sector-wise, we see significant growth potential in the online sector, which is closely tied to consumer sentiment and could gain further momentum if economic conditions improve. We’re also watching mass consumption sectors such as dairy and sportswear, which stand to benefit from consumption-driven stimulus measures. For longer-term investments, we recommend high-dividend stocks and companies with buyback programmes, offering both regular income and capital appreciation potential.

Q4: In 2024, the private banking industry witnessed organisational restructurings, leadership reshuffles, as well as heavyweight departures. Looking forward, what are the priorities for your private bank in terms of attracting and retaining talent across the front, middle, and back office? What measures do you have in place for managing personnel transitions?

Our talent management strategy is a key driver of our growth in Asia, where we’re committed to developing both client-facing teams and support functions. Over the past decade, we’ve shifted from relying mainly on external hires to a balanced approach that cultivates home-grown talent alongside targeted market recruitment. Initially, we focused on rapid capability-building through external recruitment, but now we emphasise internal development to ensure continuity and deep regional expertise. With over 130 years of heritage and reputation, we attract and retain top-tier talent.

In Asia, our significant investments in recruitment initiatives have strengthened our candidate pipelines, leading to impressive growth and senior appointments in Greater China and Southeast Asia. We prioritise recruiting talent with strong client management skills, seeking individuals who align with our ethos, whether they come from traditional wealth management backgrounds or other banking sectors. Nearly 90% of our relationship managers (RMs) are director level or above, providing high calibre service.

Our graduate recruitment programme allows new talent to gain hands-on experience across Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich providing a holistic view of private banking. We also offer continuous professional development through our Julius Baer Academy, including the Associate Relationship Manager Programme and Certified Wealth Management Advisor (CWMA) qualification, preparing our professionals to excel in a dynamic landscape.

Q5: Much hype has been made about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. What opportunities does AI present to your financial institution, and how does it fit into a broader strategy of technological upgrade and digitisation?

As the only pure-play private bank with an Asia-based innovation lab, Launchpad continues to set us apart by driving technological advancements that enhance client service and operational efficiency. With over 50 projects developed to address the bank’s use cases, we’re leading the way in innovation.

Our AI-Agent Narrative Generation engine, which streamlines the client portfolio review process, received the Google AI Trailblazers Innovation Award in September 2024. These innovations highlight Julius Baer’s commitment to blending high-tech solutions with the high-touch, personalised service that defines our brand.

Q6: With wealth clients being increasingly sophisticated, tech-savvy, and time conscious, they are demanding more expertise and capabilities when it comes to discretionary portfolio management offerings. How is this reflected in your long term approach to DPM in Asia and efforts to deepen client penetration of these solutions?

To meet the evolving demands of our Asian clients, we’re enhancing our discretionary portfolio management (DPM) solutions in response to a growing appetite for managed offerings.

Our strategy focuses on diversification and proactive decision-making by our CIO team, which has consistently delivered strong performance throughout 2024. By incorporating non-traditional assets such as gold and bitcoin, which have a low correlation with traditional markets, we can mitigate risk while offering growth potential. Earlier this year, our fixed income recommendations enabled clients to secure attractive yields, and our timely hedge against the US equity market in July delivered significant gains, further demonstrating our platform’s reliability.

Notably, 80% of our mandate strategies outperformed comparable offerings, and our in-house funds have earned top Morningstar ratings, reinforcing the strength of our investment capabilities. This approach has bolstered client confidence and contributed to a year-to-date increase in AUM and active accounts. Moving forward, we will continue enhancing our DPM offerings, deepening market penetration and delivering sustained value for our clients.

Q7: Trillions of dollars of wealth are expected to be passed down to the next generation of clients in Asia over the coming years, bringing into the spotlight services targeted at next-generation clients. What is your bank doing to ensure it captures the full potential of this opportunity, whether via content, outreach, or solutions like family office and wealth planning?

In Asia, we’re seeing a growing trend of wealthy families establishing single-family offices with professionalised practices, often involving the next generation in wealth management and succession planning.

Deepening relationships with the next generation is one of our strategic priorities. This year, we launched our Cross-Generational Asset Retention campaign, focusing on onboarding new-generation clients as successors for our existing clientele reaching specific milestones. Beyond new account openings, our RMs collaborate closely with our wealth planning team to offer comprehensive family office solutions.

For UHNWIs and families, we offer bespoke and holistic services designed to protect and grow their wealth while meeting long-term financial and family objectives. Increasingly, clients seek integrated solutions that encompass estate planning, tax optimisation, and diversified investments. Our established in-house trust company provides direct access and dedicated expertise in delivering sophisticated trust and estate planning services. This comprehensive approach ensures security and continuity for our clients’ wealth.

Q8: The Middle East, in particular the United Arab Emirates, has come onto the radar of many private banks as clients increasingly seek global diversification. What potential opportunities do you see in the region for private wealth clients, as well as in the Middle East-to-Asia wealth corridor in general? How else are you adapting to clients’ increasing requirements for global services and offerings?

The Middle East, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), under the leadership of Rahul Malhotra, head of emerging markets and member of the executive board at Julius Baer, is a key growth market for us.

We have a formidable footprint in the Middle East, with our first presence in Dubai as early as 2004. The first-mover advantage there helped establish us as one of the largest wealth managers in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). In addition, we have expanded our footprint with offices in Manama and Doha. This strong onshore positioning, which combines our Swiss heritage with local know-how, enables us to tap into the immense wealth creation the region is experiencing, supporting our growth ambitions.