Swiss bank Julius Baer to cut workforce by 5% in new CEO's shake-up

Swiss bank Julius Baer plans to cut its workforce by about 5% as part of savings measures under new chief executive Stefan Bollinger, whose predecessor was ousted after heavy losses from its exposure to failed property group Signa.

The wealth manager is targeting savings of 110 million Swiss francs ($120.1 million) and will reduce the executive board to five members, it said after reporting worse than expected 2024 pretax profit on Monday, sending its shares down more than 8%.

Bollinger, who took the helm last month, said that a new leadership structure and smaller executive board would increase accountability, instilling discipline from the top down.


"This is the first move to create a leaner, more straightforward way of running our business. We are going to apply the same principles through the entire organisation," said Bollinger.

The planned cuts amount to 400 jobs, said operations chief Nic Dreckmann.

Baer's cost-income ratio stood at 70.9% in 2024, which the bank said was "still unsatisfactory" and far removed from its 2025 target of less than 64%. The bank also said it had decided not to launch a new share buyback programme.

Though assets under management were up 16% at 497 billion francs, analysts at Bank Vontobel described the results as mixed, flagging adjusted pretax profit 3% below consensus expectations.