Among other details, Vontobel said that its cost income ratio had tightened and it intends to compress this further.

Vontobel yesterday said that its total advised client assets reached a record SFr274.5 billion ($300.5 billion) at the end of June this year, rising 11 per cent from the end of 2020, while net new money grew at an annualised rate of 6 per cent at the upper end of its target range.

The Swiss firm logged a pre-tax profit of SFr223.4 million, up from SFr156.1 million from the six-month period a year earlier. Operating income rose to SFr779.6 million in the first half of 2021, up from SFr623 million a year before.

The business’s cost/income ratio narrowed to 69.6 per cent from 74.7 per cent in the first half of 2020. The lower ratio was partly due to the “significant increase” in the profit contribution from digital investing, which was achieved at low/marginal costs. 

Vontobel has set a target of achieving a cost/income ratio of less than 72 per cent by 2022. 

Although Vontobel bought the remaining stake in TwentyFour Asset Management, which was fully financed from Vontobel’s own funds, its Common Equity Tier 1 ratio as of 30 June rose to 14.5 per cent, from 13.8 per cent at the end of last year.

“We are aware that depending on market developments, it may not be possible to maintain the positive trend seen in the first half of 2021 on a linear basis over the full year. Nevertheless, we firmly believe that as an investment firm, we are ideally positioned in an environment where investing is the new form of saving. We are therefore confident that we can continue to achieve our own targets together with our clients in the future,” Zeno Staub, Vontobel chief executive, said.