The private banking group said that a change in the focus of its wealth business, to better identify target markets, meant its assets under administation fell in the half-year period.

REYL Intesa Sanpaolo said its operating income in the first six months of 2023 rose 21 per cent year-on-year to SFr65.1 million ($73.7 million), with an operating profit at SFr11.1 million, swinging back from a loss of SFr3.3 million a year ago.

The group – interviewed here by this news service – said that as part of a “refocusing” of its wealth business to identify target markets more effectively, assets under administration fell 9 per cent to SFr16.4 billion, although return on assets improved to 75 basis points, the firm said in a statement yesterday. 

Operating costs fell 5 per cent year-on-year from the restructuring programme implemented following the merger between REYL & Cie and Intesa Sanpaolo Private Bank (Suisse) Morval in 2022. 

The cost/income ratio has improved, it said, standing at 78 per cent from 100 per cent. The bank had a Tier 1 capital ratio – a measure of its capital “buffer” – of 17.7 per cent, falling from 18.1 per cent a year earlier.

Founded in 1973, in 2021 REYL & Cie entered a strategic partnership with Fideuram – Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, a prominent European banking player, through which Fideuram ISP acquired a 69 per cent stake in REYL & Cie. 

In its results statement yesterday, the group said the agreement signed in 2021 with Fideuram – Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking "opened up many cross-sector development opportunities for the group, enabling it to position itself as the spearhead of a major banking group while retaining its entrepreneurial nature."

"The completion of the integration process of Intesa Sanpaolo Private Bank (Suisse) Morval has also strengthened the group’s presence in Lugano and London, while facilitating its entry into the Argentine market. The acquisition of a 40 per cent minority stake in the  independent asset manager 1875 Finance and the takeover of investment fund representation services company Carnegie Funds Services further strengthen the group’s capabilities in its wealth management and Asset Services business lines," the bank said in its statement.

François Reyl (pictured) is the group's chief executive.