UBP said its operating costs rose last year amid some investments, while its result included the sale of real estate property and a $14 million figure paid to the US as part of the US/Swiss Bank Program to regularise past issues over offshore accounts.

Union Bancaire Privée, the Geneva-based firm operating in regions including Asia, reported a 10.6 per cent year-on-year rise in total assets under management for 2019, with the figure ending at SFr13.5 billion ($13.9 billion), helped by net inflows of SFr4.5 billion.

Net earnings came to SFr187.8 million, falling from SFr202.4 million the previous year.

Strengthened operations and offering
Commenting on the results, UBP said that its AuM figure gain was caused by “favourable markets and the strong performances of our managed mandates, as well as substantial net capital inflows”. Asian equities, as well as investments in the Middle East and Eastern Europe made strong contributions, it said. 

Operating costs rose by 3.9 per cent last year to SFr725.2 million as resources were allocated to the firm’s London and Luxembourg entities (in relation to ACPI and Carnegie), but also due to significant investments in the digital arena. Explaining its 7.2 per cent net earnings dip last year, UBP said the 2019 result included the sale of real estate property in London. Another cause for the lower figure was a $14 million sum the bank paid to the US Department of Justice as part of the Swiss Bank Program. 

The cost/income ratio widened to 67.9 per cent last year from 65.8 per cent in 2018, UBP said in a statement. 

“Our industry is facing major challenges such as negative interest rates, margin pressure, new competitors, and digital development. It is, therefore, vital that we continuously anticipate, innovate and adapt our offering to the fast-changing requirements of both private and institutional clients, as demonstrated by our successful private market product offering,” UBP chief executive Guy de Picciotto said. 

UBP’s Tier 1 capital buffer ratio, at 25.6 per cent – a standard way of measuring a bank’s financial strength – is “substantially” above international and domestic Swiss minimum requirements, it added.