Julius Baer banks on new hires to spur growth

Frankfurt: Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer added more than 100 private bankers in the first 10 months of 2016, hoping the new hires will help it hit a target for attracting new assets. In recent years Baer has grown through a string of purchases, the largest of which was a deal to acquire Merrill Lynch’s international private banking business, to catch up to larger rivals UBS and Credit Suisse. But aside from some smaller deals, Baer this year has largely focused on hiring relationship managers (RMs), or private bankers, from peers. As of the end of October, Baer had added a net 159 RMs for a total of 1,376, it said in a 10-month interim management statement on Thursday.