Julius Baer Prices $391 Million Bond In Capital Move

Mark Shapland

23 May 2014

Switzerland’s , which has described Asia as its second "home market", has successfully priced its SFr350 million ($391 million) perp bond, part of an adjustment to its capital position, the bank said.

After a short book-building process, it has now placed the subordinated, unsecured debt with private and institutional investors.

The perpetual non-cumulative additional tier 1 securities carry a coupon of 4.25 per cent and include an optional redemption call in June 2020. The securities will be issued in denominations of SFr5,000. The additional hybrid tier 1 capital will balance the diminishing Basel III capital recognition of Julius Baer Group’s outstanding old style capital instruments.

Earlier this month Julius Baer announced it had total assets under management of SFr264 billion ($296.9 billion), up 4 per cent from the end of last year.

The increase in group assets under management was bolstered by the inclusion of SFr6 billion from Brazilian subsidiary GPS, which was consolidated for the first time following the increase in ownership from 30 per cent to 80 per cent in March 2014. Other drivers were continued net inflows and a positive market performance, partly offset by a negative currency impact due to the appreciation of the Swiss franc against a number of leading currencies, especially the US dollar.