This May, Julius Baer provided an update to its mid-term strategic programme. As the Bank approaches the end of the current 2020–2022 strategic cycle, CEO Philipp Rickenbacher outlined Julius Baer’s evolved strategy and the ways the wealth management industry is expected to undergo vast changes in the next decade.

Accelerating the pace of change

“The backdrop has changed radically. From a macro-economic perspective, we’ve sped into an inflationary environment for the first time in 50 years. Geopolitically, bloc-building east-to-west has massively accelerated. And ESG continues to require enormous efforts, not only on the environmental side but also on the social side, where the digital divide in society has been compounded by the pandemic and the inflation divide,” Rickenbacher said. 

In parallel, clients are also experiencing rapid changes in their personal and professional lives, meaning their wealth management requirements are becoming increasingly complex, thereby compounding the need for the industry to rewrite its playbook. Julius Baer has a long and successful track record of supporting clients with wealth preservation and wealth transfer – both of which are becoming more complex as families become increasingly multigenerational and international. Add to this a demand for new sources of investment performance and the expectation of 24/7 service and accessibility, and the approach to delivering holistic wealth planning advice in the current socio-economic climate must be reassessed.

The digital revolution

Accelerating this pace of change is the digital revolution that continues to unfold around the world. Innovation, by its own nature, is impossible to predict. Yet one thing is clear: digital is here to stay. As the pace of innovation increases, so too does the need to rethink technology’s role in wealth management. To remain current, wealth managers are making substantial front-to-back investments and updating their client interfaces. In addition, wealth management continues to be a growing market around the globe and new, technology-driven players are entering the arena and increasing marketplace competition.

But with change comes opportunity, including the opportunity to rethink what wealth management is. The emergence of digital assets as an alternative asset class, including crypto assets, is changing the industry profile and is set to transform the financial sector in the coming years. As tokenization and decentralized finance develop, the Bank sees a clear role for itself.

Our strategy for 2023–2025 – A leading approach to wealth management

Further details are available on these strategic pillars, including the updated three-year financial targets, in the Strategy Update materials published by Julius Baer.