Financial highlights

Client assets at all-time high – despite unprecedented market turmoil

Assets under management top CHF 12.0 bn, setting another record high

• Assets under management show another significant increase of CHF 1.4 bn or 13.6%, fueled by market performance and new money inflows – despite the plunge in prices in March 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
• Long-term growth momentum is still intact – COVID-19 pandemic was an opportunity to further sharpen our expert profile in our core segment
• Time-tested investment expertise and product range deliver steady growth
• Attention in 2021 will continue to focus on direct equity investments and the launch of innovative products

Core «Healthcare» strategies attract more than CHF 1 bn for the first time

Assets under management increase 14% thanks to new money inflows and performance-driven growth

• Net new money of CHF 377 mn represents exclusively organic growth
• Investment strategies in healthcare, our core area of expertise, attract more than CHF 1 bn in net new money for the first time in the history of the company. These inflows are spread across the entire range of our healthcare investment solutions
• Differentiated alternative investment solutions (incl. the new «Private Markets» unit) show stability despite the market turbulence
• Asset outflows from traditional investment vehicles slowed versus the previous year – but bond and multi-asset strategies remained pressured by ruthless structural competition
• Termination of a large institutional mandate with a very low margin had a negligible impact on income

Further improvement in operating income with intact momentum

Operating income climbs more than 8% to CHF 110 mn

• Core asset management business generates record operating income of CHF 110 mn despite dramatic slump in Q1 2020
• The 7.3% increase in recurring asset-based income does not yet reflect the strong H2 2020 growth in AuM, which will not feed through to income until H1 2021
• Slight y-o-y increase in non-recurring income, due to significantly lower performance fees of CHF 3.8 mn (prev. period: CHF 6.3 mn), but private equity generates solid income of CHF 2.5 mn (prev. period: CHF 1.0 mn)

Still focused on the business model of recurring income

• Recurring income share of total income, >93%, remains at a very high level

Steady value creation for shareholders over the long term

Significant improvement in cost/income ratio

• Clearly lower CIR thanks to significant increase in earnings and proportionately slower increase in cost base
• The operating profit-based CIR for 2020 confirms the positive downward-pointing long-term trend
• Steady efficiency gains possible thanks to scalability model

Strong equity base

• Equity base remains strong despite special dividend payout in 2020 (CHF 37 mn) thanks to sustained earnings power
• Reduction in goodwill & intangibles (prev. period: CHF 64 mn), after extraordinary value adjustment and impairment at StarCapital
• Required level of regulatory minimum capital as a pure asset manager is lower, enabling a very attractive return on equity
• Reserves of CHF 73 mn create more even leeway for attractive payouts and expansion projects
• Simple and debt-free balance sheet