Daniele Brupba's questions to Julius Baer Group (JBAXY) leadership • Q4 2015
Question
Daniele Brupba from UBS inquired about the sequential decline in the gross margin, the expected impact of the 'Your Wealth' initiative on fee income, the drivers of Lombard loan growth, and observations on business activity in January.
Answer
CFO Dieter Enkelmann explained the gross margin decline was due to lower client activity in H2, affecting brokerage, structured products, and FX trading. He noted Lombard loan growth was solid and not over-proportional. CEO Boris Collardi commented that January's market sentiment was driven more by fear than fundamentals, resulting in reasonable but not extraordinary transaction volumes compared to the prior year's SNB-driven volatility.