The Swiss private bank Julius Baer said today its assets under management rose 14 per cent from the start of the year to SFr175 billion (around $179.7 billion) at the end of October, with the strongest inflows coming from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, as well as from the onshore German business.

The AuM increase includes the effect of the acquisition of ING Bank (Switzerland), the bank said.

Total client assets increased by 12 per cent to SFr271 billion.

The year-to-date AuM increase was supported by a positive market performance, whilst the Swiss franc currency translation impact was negative as a result of the decline of the euro and the US dollar.

Julius Baer said net new money inflows accelerated the momentum that started to build up during the first half of this year and have grown at an annualised pace well into the bank’s 4-6 per cent medium-term target range in the first ten months. All regions contributed positively.

The gross margin was year-to-date slightly below the level of the first half of 2010 (107bps) but it was ahead of the level achieved in the second half of 2009 (103 bps).

The bank’s cost/income ratio for the 10 months to end-October has risen slightly above the 63.4 per cent level reported in the first half of 2010. This increase was attributable to the gross margin development and due to selective further investments related to ongoing business initiatives, the bank said.

The BIS tier 1 ratio stood at 23.6 per cent at the end of September 2010.

The bank also commented on recent moves by the Swiss government to enhance co-operation on tax issues, which have been such a vexed point in recent years, saying that by diversifying its business, any potential negative impact from such co-operation will be “more than offset” by new inflows.

“The Swiss Federal Department of Finance recently announced it will open official negotiations with Germany and the UK on tax matters. A successful conclusion of these negotiations would provide German- and UK-resident clients of Swiss banks the opportunity to regularise any undeclared assets whilst maintaining their financial privacy. Julius Baer has accomplished a very strong international diversification of its client base since 2005, particularly into emerging markets,” it said in its statement.

Julius Baer Group's detailed financial results for the full year 2010 are scheduled for release on 7 February 2011.