Julius Baer is to discontinue its institutional equity sales business as part of its commitment to focus more on private banking. The Zu...

Julius Baer is to discontinue its institutional equity sales business as part of its commitment to focus more on private banking. The Zurich-based bank said in a statement: “As part of the full business analysis and design process for the new Julius Baer Group, the institutional Swiss equity sales initiative has been reviewed in the context of the focused wealth management business model. Julius Baer has concluded that this initiative will be discontinued.” Julius Baer said a commitment to institutional equity sales would require a much bigger commitment of resources. “This is inconsistent with Julius Baer's strategy of focusing its resources on the wealth management segment to create the most valuable organization for its clients and therefore its shareholders.” The bank added that it would rely on a combination of third-party research and in-house efforts to continue its research capacity for its wealth management business. Julius Baer’s efforts to focus more on wealth management have also been apparent recently with a new adverting campaign, which is geared towards emphasizing its private banking expertise.