Julius Baer expands real estate business
Julius Baer is expanding its real estate offering, which was previously limited to mortgage financing. To this end, the banking group is acquiring a majority stake in the real estate service provider Kuoni Mueller & Partner (KMP). KMP CEO Dominik Weber is to set up a new real estate unit at Julius Baer.
Julius Baer's portfolio of real estate services has so far focused on mortgage financing. Now the banking group wants to expand its offering in "this important asset class", announced Julius Baer in a press release . In the future, advice, brokerage, financing and structuring as well as related services for investment management, valuation and management of real estate are to be offered.
The banking group wants to implement these plans with partners and in cooperation with third-party providers. In a first step, Julius Baer will acquire 83 percent of the Zurich real estate service provider KMP , explains the banking group in the announcement. The current majority owner and CEO of KMP, Dominik Weber, is to set up a new real estate unit for the banking group under the umbrella of Julius Baer. As a future minority owner, Weber will also remain Chairman of the Board of Directors of KMP, writes Julius Baer.
In a further announcement , the banking group is communicating its key figures for the first half of 2021. According to this, Julius Baer was able to increase net profit by 23 percent year-on-year to 606 million francs. The group’s assets under management increased by 12 percent to CHF 486 billion compared to the end of 2020.
"We have successfully shifted our focus to sustainable profit growth and continuously strengthened the attractiveness of our performance promise for existing and new customers", Julius Baer CEO Philipp Rickenbacher is quoted in the press release. According to her, the net profit is the highest half-year profit in the company's history.