India is a key market for Julius Baer. Onshore, it is the largest foreign private bank, with a history stretching back more than 30 years, catering to high and ultra-high net-worth customers.
India’s $600 billion wealth industry is growing at around 12% a year – yet just a quarter of that money is professionally managed.
Offshore, the Swiss pure-play private bank is just as busy. In February 2023, it revolutionised its approach to serving the estimated 13.5 million non-resident Indians (NRIs) scattered around the world, living in the likes of the UK, the US and the UAE. Property adviser Knight Frank tips the country’s population of UHNWs to rise from 13,000 in 2021 to 19,000 in 2026.
A year ago, Julius Baer introduced a dedicated India client segment – seen as key to a five-year strategy to strengthen its global India business. The bank also announced a raft of hires, including the appointment of Akshay Jaitly as a team head of the bank’s global India business, based in Singapore. Jaitly reports up to global NRI chief Kunal Sumaya.
In May 2023, the bank opened its new Julius Baer Academy in India, and launched its Young Partners programme, with the aim of fostering the next domestic generation of financial experts.
Over the course of the awards period, the bank expanded its footprint to seven domestic cities in India, including Hyderabad and Pune. The bank also moved to new premises at Worldmark 2, a new office complex southwest of New Delhi, and launched its first domestic-facing alternative investment fund.
It also launched its Equity India Fund, which attracted $167 million in capital in its first two weeks. The fund offers clients exposure to an actively managed portfolio of domestic India stocks, selected from a universe of the country’s top 20 to 30 companies by market value, based on their strong management and business fundamentals, with the aim of doubling profits after tax over a five-year period.
Judges noted its ‘very clear strategy’ when it came to delivering services to its global India clientele
Julius Baer’s ‘Global India Bridge’ is built on a strong onshore-offshore wealth offering, spanning seven offices in India, and a robust presence in the likes of Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Zurich. Since 2021, it has added 55 new India-facing relationship managers and boosted total headcount by 17%.
The private bank scored highly across the board among our expert panel of judges, notching several nines and 10s. The judges hailed the Swiss wealth manager’s “focused approach, strategic expansion and innovative product launches tailored to the NRI segment”, and also highlighted its strong market presence and skilled team.
They also noted its “very clear strategy” when it came to delivering services to its global India clientele including NRIs, and lauded its “branding [and] investment in people, coupled with investment strategies to serve NRIs and people who are interested in” exposure to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
Julius Baer’s holistic offering, which it continues to expand every year, showcased its “leadership in this market”, our judges added.