GENEVA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Julius Baer sees very strong inflows into its private bank in the second half of the year and expects to play a role in consolidation in the industry in coming weeks, its chief operating officer said on Monday.
'The engine on the private banking side is very strong and we will see some very good inflows also in the second half of the year,' Julius Baer COO Boris Collardi said at the Reuters Wealth Management Summit.
'We had people calling us to ask to open accounts within the day so they could sleep better at night. We had clients queueing to open accounts,' he said. 'It (the bank) is perceived as a safe haven within the safe haven of Switzerland.'
Collardi reiterated Julius Baer's target to add 50-70 new private bankers every year and said he expected to bring the total to more than 600 by the end of the year due to a 'very good hiring season'.
After the wave of banking mergers in the United States, he expected more action in Europe 'in the next few weeks'.
'I think now we're coming to the moment of truth in the market and I'm sure we'll see fascinating things,' he said.
'In the case of Julius Baer, if there is a deal to be done ... that is complementary to our business we will for sure have a look at it,' he said.
Collardi said he did not expect the Swiss government would need to prop up banks: 'I don't see any signs that there will be any government intervention, we've said that about other countries so I hope these are not famous last words.'
(For summit blog: http://summitnotebook.reuters.com/)
(For more on the Reuters Wealth Management Summit, see
(Reporting by Jason Rhodes and Emma Thomasson; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) Keywords: WEALTH SUMMIT/BAER tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomsonreuters.com cmr COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
'The engine on the private banking side is very strong and we will see some very good inflows also in the second half of the year,' Julius Baer COO Boris Collardi said at the Reuters Wealth Management Summit.
'We had people calling us to ask to open accounts within the day so they could sleep better at night. We had clients queueing to open accounts,' he said. 'It (the bank) is perceived as a safe haven within the safe haven of Switzerland.'
Collardi reiterated Julius Baer's target to add 50-70 new private bankers every year and said he expected to bring the total to more than 600 by the end of the year due to a 'very good hiring season'.
After the wave of banking mergers in the United States, he expected more action in Europe 'in the next few weeks'.
'I think now we're coming to the moment of truth in the market and I'm sure we'll see fascinating things,' he said.
'In the case of Julius Baer, if there is a deal to be done ... that is complementary to our business we will for sure have a look at it,' he said.
Collardi said he did not expect the Swiss government would need to prop up banks: 'I don't see any signs that there will be any government intervention, we've said that about other countries so I hope these are not famous last words.'
(For summit blog: http://summitnotebook.reuters.com/)
(For more on the Reuters Wealth Management Summit, see
(Reporting by Jason Rhodes and Emma Thomasson; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) Keywords: WEALTH SUMMIT/BAER tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomsonreuters.com cmr COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
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