These plans were announced by its top management when Julius Baer convened a Board of Directors meeting for the first time in Singapore to signify the importance of Asia. Bank Julius Baer also hosted an exclusive gala dinner for clients and business associates to celebrate its 120th anniversary.

Raymond J. Baer, Group Chairman, who commented on the evolution of global wealth management, said, “Wealth used to be concentrated in several designated wealth centres. Today, growth in emerging markets will help the world develop higher living standards and to broaden wealth distribution, with the investment universe getting richer in the process. This presents significant opportunities for the Bank. Building on our treasured 120-year Swiss heritage, we will relentlessly improve on our focused client-centric business model, expand our offering, deepen and broaden our market penetration in Asia as we increase our global reach.”

Boris F.J. Collardi, Group Chief Executive Officer, talked about Julius Baer in the 21st century and added, “Our meetings with many different stakeholders in Asia further affirm that Julius Baer is the private bank of choice. As the largest Swiss private banking group, Julius Baer will be the catalyst to bring European know-how and investment expertise to Asia and bring Asian investment opportunities to Europe.

Thomas R. Meier, Member of the Executive Board and CEO Asia & Middle East, reaffirmed that “Singapore and Hong Kong are our key gateways to Asia, with the former serving as the regional headquarters for South East Asia and the latter for North Asia.”

Bank Julius Baer now employs more than 400 employees in Asia. It was awarded ‘Top 10 Private Banks’ by Euromoney in 2010. In Asia, Julius Baer was recently confirmed as this year’s winner of the ‘Best Boutique Private Bank’ by The Asset Magazine. It was also awarded ’Best Private Bank 2009’ by Finance Asia for the second year running and ’Best Boutique Private Bank Asia-Pacific’ by Asiamoney for two consecutive years (2008, 2009), affirming its leading position in the wealth management industry.