Last year, assets under management (AuM) at Zurich-based private bank Julius Baer fell by 57.6 billion Swiss francs to 424.1 billion, levels last seen in 2019, as financial markets impacted market valuations, according to annual figures it released Thursday.

In times of financial turmoil, money often moves to safer investments, and that can also be seen in a breakdown of AuM. Last year money market instruments made up five percent of AuM at Julius Baer, up from one percent in 2021. That is the highest level since at least 2014, the last year for which data is available. 

According to the figures provided by Julius Baer, the move into money markets accelerated in the second half when they rose to five percent from two percent in the first half. 

Stocks and Bonds

Bonds, another safe-haven investment, saw their share of AuM increase to 15 percent last year from 13 percent in 2021. But that is still below the high of 2018 when they accounted for 20 percent.

Despite making up two percent less of AuM in 2022, 31 percent, stocks made up the biggest percentage and are down from 33 percent, the highest level since at least 2014.

According to the results, investment funds made up 28 percent of AuM last year, down from 30 percent, with client deposits at a respective 16- and 17 percent. Structured products were unchanged at 4 percent.

US Dollar Dominant

By currency, the US dollar made up the bulk of investments at 48 percent last year, down marginally from 49 percent the year before. The Euro made up 19 percent, the same as the previous two years, while 9 percent of investments were in Swiss francs, compared to 10 percent in 2021.

Relationship Managers

The number of people managing those assets fell to 1,248 last year from 1,274 in 2021. That figure has come down each year since 2018 when there were 1,501 relationship managers at the firm.

Still, that doesn't mean the company isn't adding them where they see an opportunity. One region in which Julius Baer sees a great deal of growth is the Middle East where it hired two senior relationship managers for the Middle East and Africa, as finews.com reported. 

In addition, it was granted a license by Qatar's financial regulator to open its third Middle East advisory office in Doha.