Lombard Odier’s Assets Under Management is $223 Billion at the end of H1-2023

Lombard Odier’s assets under management (AuM) stood at $223 billion at the end of June 2023, up 4% on end-December 2022.

The Lombard Odier Group is an independent Swiss banking group based in Geneva. Its operations are organised into three divisions: private banking, asset management, and IT and back and middle office services for other financial institutions.

In its financial results for H1 of 2023 on Thursday, the company said that the Group has attracted solid net new money across its Private Client and Asset Management divisions in the first six months of this year and continued to make strategic investments in the business. At end-June 2023, the Group had total client assets of $347.79 billion.

The first half of 2023 saw Lombard Odier’s operating income increase to $794.94 million (up 2% on end-June 2022), while consolidated net profit remained stable at $152.44 million. Negative currency effects were offset by the solid inflows of net new money in the first half of the year, and the positive effect of rising markets, the company said in a release.

Strong Balance Sheet

Lombard Odier’s balance sheet remained strong, liquid and conservatively invested, and totalled $17.5 billion at end-June 2023. The Group has a significant equity base. As of 30 June 2023, the CET1 ratio was among the highest in the industry at 30%. Fitch reaffirmed the Group’s credit rating at AA- with a stable outlook in July 2023.

Hubert Keller, Senior Managing Partner, said that as an investment house whose business model is solely focused on managing our clients’ assets, Lombard Odier consistently attracted net new money in the first half of 2023.

“As ever, organic growth remains our priority. We continue to hire in key markets and expand our presence in the regions, most relevant to our clients,” keller added.

holistiQ Investment Partners Launched

Lombard Odier remains convinced that the environmental transition will unlock superior returns for clients. To this end, in June 2023, Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) launched holistiQ, a dedicated sustainable investment platform in partnership with leading system change company Systemiq.

The company also launched LOIM’s Future Electrification Strategy. The strategy aims to capture opportunities associated with new and shifting electrification profit pools, as the global energy system transitions to an electrified, decentralised, clean, and efficient model.

The fund has already seen strong investor interest, with more than $400 million raised since its launch in May.

Market Outlook

The company said that questions around the trajectory of growth would continue to dominate the investment outlook in the second half. While inflation is slowing convincingly across developed economies, central banks will need to maintain restrictive financial conditions over the coming months.

A key risk for financial markets remains weaker economic activity and persistent price pressures leading to potentially higher rates. Sluggish growth and peaking interest rates continue to support the case for high quality fixed income, and we retain a broadly neutral stance on equities and risk assets more generally, the company added.