Swiss wealth management giant Julius Baer has decided to close its booking centre in Nassau, the capital city of Bahamas.
The decision to close business in the Bahamas is expected to result in the termination of 30 staff.
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“Julius Baer will no longer have a presence in The Bahamas once the liquidation process has been finalised,” the company said in a statement.
“The decision to close our office in The Bahamas is a purely commercial decision based on future growth potential.”
The decision follows the statement by Julius Baer CEO Philipp Rickenbacher that the wealth manager will slash 300 jobs this year after its net profit slumped.
The Zurich-based private banking firm’s net profit slumped 37% to CHF465m in 2019 on a year-on-year basis.
The job cuts are part of Rickenbacher’s three-year plan to improve the bank’s profit margins.
The bank now plans to “shift from an asset-gathering strategy to one focused on sustainable profit growth”.
As part of its new cost-cutting strategy, Julius Baer eyes CHF200m in cost cuts over the next three years.
Reviewing geographic presence is one of the key parts of the wealth manager’s strategy to achieve its targets.
“It’s about 30 employees that will be impacted. Julius Baer will conduct a professional liquidation process. This will take time, so the job cuts will be staggered. The affected employees will receive severance packages,” tribune242.com quoted a spokesperson of the bank as saying.
