In 2002, Baer placed the next generation of the family at the helm of Raymond J. Baer, who led the company as it refocused on its core private banking business. Baer also set about reviving this division. In the late 1990s, the company had also sought to open up to a larger group of customers and reduce its preferred minimum investment to as low as $150,000. However, at the turn of the new century, Baer revised its client profile and set a preferred minimum investment target of $2 million for clients with a personal value of at least $25 million. With the boom of the global economy at the beginning of the 21st century, Baer`s wealth increased sharply, as in 2001 the group exceeded total assets under management by 126 billion Swiss francs ($80 billion) and the company`s total assets by $8.89 billion. Part of the company`s growth came from setting up a dedicated brokerage division to tap into the stock market it deserves – the company had even tried to join the rush to online brokerage. However, the switch to mediation would backfire on the group, with a market collapse in 2001, and the group was forced to cease its online activities and lost its investments. At Julius Baer, our goal is to help you grow, protect and pass on your wealth to the next generation. We adhere to very high standards in everything we do and run our business with a long-term approach and a focus on building and maintaining long-term personal partnerships based on trust. Julius Baer originally functioned as a partnership and was founded on July 27.
It was founded in November 1974 with a share capital of CHF 14,040 million, divided into 56,400 registered shares of CHF 100 each and 16,800 bearer shares of CHF 500 each. The company went public in 1980. The Baer families relinquished control in 2005 and converted the share capital into a single class of registered shares, all listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. [17] Today, MFS Investment Management is the largest shareholder with nearly 10% of the voting rights. [18] Baer then turned to Hong Kong and opened a representative office there in 1985. The company also expanded into Switzerland itself, acquiring a 51% stake in a branch in Geneva in 1986. By this time, Baer had established itself as one of the most respected names in global finance – but the group itself remained relatively small. With assets under management of just $1.5 billion, Baer wasn`t even big enough to rank among the top 20 Swiss banks.
Bär continued its expansion by establishing a subsidiary in Frankfurt, Germany, Bank Julius Baer (Deutschland) AG, and a subsidiary in Guernsey, Julius Baer Trust Company (Channel Islands) in 1989. In 1990, the company launched a new investment fund based in Luxembourg. In 1994, the company opened a branch of Bank Julius Baer in Guernsey and also entered Monaco with the creation of Société de Gestion Julius Baer (Monaco). The following year, the company launched a new Zurich-based subsidiary, Julius Baer Asset Management AG. Julius Baer Holding Ltd., Switzerland`s leading independent private bank, has become the embodiment of the Swiss banking tradition after more than 100 years of exclusive service to its high-net-worth clients. Private Banking remains the Group`s largest business, accounting for one third of the Group`s annual net operating profit, which reached CHF 1.4 billion in 2001, and more than 50% of total assets under management, which exceeded CHF 126 billion in 2001. Baer (also written Bear) serves its clients – the company targets retail clients worth at least $25 million and is willing to invest at least $2 million in the group – through its army of personal bankers, offering a ratio of 100 clients per banker, compared to more than 700 per banker for Baer`s biggest competitors. Clients of Baer`s private bank can expect a range of services, including portfolio management, investment advice, estate planning and related services, financial planning and tax services, as well as a host of other amenities, including concierge services. While the firm`s largest business is managed by its private clients, Baer also serves institutional investors.
The company has recently expanded its target market beyond its traditional locations in Switzerland and New York, with offices and offices in other parts of the United States and Europe. Baer`s other areas of business include trading services; Asset management, with a focus on investments in the European market; and brokerage services with offices in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, New York, Paris, Stockholm and Zurich (the company has offices on all local exchanges). As a public company listed on the Swiss stock exchange, Baer will continue to be controlled and managed by the founding Baer family, who are now leading the company in the third and fourth generations. In 1996, Baer surprised the Swiss private banking community by announcing that it had acquired a majority stake of 51% in the Swiss private bank Falck & Co., based in Lucerne. In 1998, Bär had already completed the acquisition of Falck and transformed it into a branch of Julius Baer Bank. By then, the company had added a new bank branch in Lausanne, a new subsidiary based in Paris and a representative office in Vienna. At the end of the decade, Baer continued to expand its international network, opening offices in Milan and Amsterdam in 1999, offices in Bern, Basel and Madrid in 2000 and an office in Stockholm in 2001.