Julius Baer Assets Pressured by Swiss Franc

ZURICH—Julius Baer Group AG said Monday that the Swiss bank's assets under management fell 2% in the first half of this year, as a result of a sharply strengthened Swiss franc and related changes in currency values.

Zurich-based Julius Baer said assets under management fell 7 billion Swiss francs ($7.3 billion) during the first six months of 2015, reaching 284 billion francs. The bank said 56 billion francs of that total resulted from its purchase of Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch wealth- management business outside of the U.S., which is ongoing.

Julius Baer had set a target of obtaining between 57 billion francs and 72 billion francs in managed assets as a result of the Merrill purchase, which was originally announced in 2012. Merrill bankers and their clients have had the option to take their business elsewhere. Julius Baer, which is focused on wealth management, has also acquired the Swiss operations of Israel-based Bank Leumi.

Adjusted net profit fell 62% to 109 million francs in the first half, Julius Baer said. The bank cited the provision of $350 million that it made last month, to settle a long-standing U.S. Justice Department probe of Julius Baer's alleged aiding of tax evasion among American clients.

Write to John Letzing at [e-mail]

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