Julius Baer Gruppe Namen

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Julius Baer 2024 full year results presentation for media and analyst conference call. I'm Sandra, the course co-operator. I would like to remind you that all participants have been listened only mode and the conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. You can register for questions at any time by pressing star and one on your telephone. For operator assistance, please press star and zero. The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast. At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Alexander van Leeuwen, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Judas Bear 2024 full year results call. I am Alex van Leeuwen, Head of Investor Relations. Before starting the presentation, allow me to flag the important information provided on slide two of the presentation. It is now my pleasure to hand over to our CEO, Stefan Bollinger.

And good morning, everyone. And thank you for dialing in. I'm excited to open this earning call for investors and analysts in my role as the new CEO of Julius Baer. And I'm looking forward to an open and constructive collaboration with all of you. I'm joined this morning by Nick Trackman, COO and Deputy CEO, and Evi Kostakis, our CFO. Before Nick and Avi start with the presentation of the full year 2024 results, I would like to make a few remarks. As you know, I joined Julius Baer on January the 9th and since connected with many colleagues and clients here in Switzerland and abroad. I also visited Hong Kong and Singapore as well as the Middle East and started a constructive dialogue with our regulators. Everything I've seen and heard so far in the past three weeks has not only confirmed but reinforced the reasons why I took on the CEO role. To mention just a few things I feel particularly strongly about. We have a high-quality client portfolio, a compelling wealth management proposition, a unique and resilient brand, and excellent people with an entrepreneurial mindset. I'm looking forward to building on these strengths and unleashing the full potential of Julius Baer's unique market position. Hence my conclusion that we have all the ingredients required to become the most admired international wealth manager. Having said that, I'm fully aware of some of the challenges we have faced in the recent past, as well as some of the areas for improvement that you, the analysts and investor community following us closely, have identified. We aim to address these swiftly and decisively to deliver on two-fold performance imperatives. Relentless focus on high-quality net new money generation and sustainable and profitable long-term growth, while at the same time delivering on margin resiliency and on structural and operational efficiencies. In that context, we have announced an extension of our ongoing 2023 to 2025 cost program. You will hear more about it from my colleagues in a moment. Looking ahead, in order to execute on those objectives and to deliver the performance our shareholders expect and deserve, I have identified five immediate short-term priorities that I have already communicated to our people. These priorities are an enduring client focus or what I call internally client obsession. Back to the roots culturally, but since it's 2025, technology enhanced. Disciplined entrepreneurship. a phrase I coined that you will hear me talk about a lot, a performance and ownership-led culture, and a prime spot for prime talent. This is obviously not yet a full strategic vision, but these priorities will guide all our short-term actions from here. I see them as a foundation and a necessary guide to rapidly get back on track and prepare for more to come. They will also represent the core principles for the comprehensive strategy review that I'm about to launch and will present to you at the strategy update day that will take place before the summer break. As a very first step in delivering on those priorities and setting the right tone from the top, I have decided to substantially downsize our executive board and to reorganize our top management structure. As announced this morning, the new eXp will be reduced from a current 15 to newly 5 members. And beside myself will be composed by Nick and Evi, who you know and are with me this morning, Oliver Bartolet, Chief Risk Officer, and Christoph Hestand, Group General Counsel. In the new Executive Board, I will personally assume direct responsibility for all revenue generating activities with the region and product heads reporting directly to me. In addition, the role of the COO will be strengthened and as such the areas of client strategy and experience and HR and corporate affairs will newly be reporting to Nick in his COO capacity. This is my first move to create a leaner, more straightforward way of running our business. while increasing accountability, simplifying decision-making, instilling disciplined entrepreneurship top-down and reinforcing our client focus. We're going to apply the same principle through the entire organization. I am convinced that clients and all other stakeholders will feel the difference. With that, I would like to conclude my initial remarks. Nick and Evi will now take you through the 2024 result in detail. Over to you, Nick.