Tag Archives: Business & Economy

Investec Switzerland. Julius Baer Group Ltd. said net new money from clients amounted to less than 3 percent of managed assets in the first four months of the year, missing its target. Source: Julius Baer Clients in eastern Europe and Latin American showed “slow momentum,” while customers in Asia reduced borrowings and wealthy French and Italians repatriated money for tax declarations, the Zurich-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Julius Baer said it can still...

Investec Switzerland. Swiss stocks are set to close higher this week, outperforming global equities on positive earnings releases and brighter inflation signals. Stock markets around experienced a mixed week as investors weighed Federal Reserve rate hike expectations against gloomy economic data out of the US  with more positive indicators out of China. © Jakub Krechowicz | Dreamstime.com Last Fridays US employment report showed that firms took on the fewest workers in...

Investec Switzerland. Shares of Zurich Insurance Group AG headed for the biggest gain in more than four years after Switzerland’s biggest insurer posted a first-quarter profit that beat analyst expectations. Source: Facebook – Zurich Switzerland The stock rose as much as 5.6 percent, and was trading 5.4 percent higher at 228 francs as of 11:24 a.m. in Zurich, paring losses this year to 12 percent. A close at this level would mark the biggest one-day gain since September...

Investec Switzerland. Nestlé is by far the largest food company in the world. Its 335,000 employees produce more than 2,000 brands, manufactured in 436 factories across 85 countries. It’s Europe’s most valuable corporation, worth $240 billion, comfortably more than oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. Among the world’s 195 nations, it sells in 189. © Gvictoria | Dreamstime.com Nestlé’s impact on the history of how we eat is almost impossible to overstate. Sweets as we know them...

Investec Switzerland. Swiss stocks fell significantly this week, underperforming global equities, amid renewed global growth worries and a poor performance from financial heavyweights. Stock markets across the world tumbled after weaker-than-expected manufacturing data out of China revived fears around global growth prospects. © Huating | Dreamstime.com In the US, the future path of interest rate hikes remained in focus. Two regional Federal Reserve presidents said...

Investec Switzerland. The main players in Europe’s most hostile bid situation are digging in. Saint-Gobain said last week that its bitterly contested plan to take control of building materials rival Sika was still a strategic priority — even though the Swiss target’s board and minority shareholders are prepared for a multi-year fight. There are peaceful ways out of the situation, if only emotion wasn’t involved. © Zepherwind | Dreamstime.com Sika is controlled by...

Investec Switzerland. Swiss equities are expected to finish lower this week, underperforming global stocks after the Federal Reserve and the bank of Japan held off on policy changes, mirroring last weeks “wait and see” stance of the European Central Bank. © G0d4ather | Dreamstime.com U.S. central bankers skipped an interest-rate hike on Wednesday for the third straight meeting since kicking off its tightening cycle last year. According to the Banks statement, the Fed...

Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss watch exports posted the biggest quarterly drop since 2009 as the industry faces declining demand across all its main markets. © Ateliermadman | Dreamstime.com Shipments fell 8.9 percent in the first quarter, adjusted for working days, according to data from Switzerland’s customs office. Exports declined 16 percent in March to 1.5 billion francs ($1.5 billion), the lowest level for that month in five years, the Federation of the Swiss Watch...

Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The east German village of Glashuette doesn’t look like much: just a handful of streets stretching up and down a narrow valley from a bare station platform, where trains depart once an hour for the 45-minute trip to Dresden. Scratch a bit deeper, though, and you’ll find that the town of 7,000 is home to the greatest concentration of world-class watchmakers outside of Switzerland – with a business that’s growing even as Swiss producers retrench. A....

Investec Switzerland. The SMI continued its struggling upward trend this week and is expected to finish slightly higher on Friday, in-line with global equity markets. Stocks held on to early gains despite concerns that the European Central Bank (ECB) and People’s Bank of China may roll back stimulus measures as the global recovery continues. © Photomall | Dreamstime.com The increase in oil prices, signs of a stabilizing economy in China and brighter corporate earnings...