Vontobel Holding Stock

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the presentation of Vontobel's Half Year 2026 Results Webcast. I am Matilde, the Chorus Call operator. [Operator Instructions] And the conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast.

At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Georg Schubiger. Please go ahead.

Good morning from Zurich, and a very warm welcome from Christel, Jan, and myself. Thank you for joining us for our half year 2026 call. We are pleased to report an excellent first half. We achieved record financial results and strong strategic progress. Christel and I will give you the highlights. Jan will then take you through the financials. After that, we look forward to opening the line and taking your questions.

We had an excellent start to the year. We achieved a record net profit of CHF 216 million, up 87%. Assets under management reached an all-time high of CHF 252 billion. We are delivering ahead of all our through-the-cycle financial targets. We maintained a strong, liquid and well-capitalized balance sheet.

Our fast capital generation gives us flexibility to continue to scale our business and invest for growth. The strategic progress behind these results is equally important. We strengthened our investment platform by embedding quantitative and AI capabilities more broadly across investment solutions. In line with our strategy, we expanded our solutions offering to address growing client demand for more tailored outcomes.

At the same time, the efficiency program is no longer just a program. It is becoming visible in how we operate the firm. It is lowering our structural cost base, strengthening cost discipline and creating the capacity to invest selectively in areas of future growth. We are making targeted expansions in our focus markets in private clients. In Los Angeles, we are tapping into one of the largest and most sophisticated wealth pools in the U.S. In Düsseldorf, we are strengthening our presence in one of Germany's most attractive regions for high net worth clients and family offices. This is designed to scale a proven model and support our next phase of profitable growth. Taken together, this first half shows both the strength of our franchise today and the potential of our business model as we continue to execute with discipline.

Let me briefly recap the backdrop against which we delivered these results. Markets were constructive overall, but conditions remained complex and volatile. In addition, visibility on the political landscape and its economic implications was lower than in previous periods. The escalation in the Middle East created a sharp energy shock in the first quarter. By the second quarter, markets increasingly looked through the geopolitical quagmire and refocused on earnings and growth.

Investors focus remained highly concentrated on technology, especially companies linked to AI infrastructure and semiconductor supply chains. Equities were positive over the first half. Bonds were more challenged by persistent inflation concerns and a higher for longer rate outlook. Currency headwinds continue to impact us, especially the strong Swiss franc and weaker U.S. dollar. In this environment, clients needed analysis, guidance and flexibility. This is exactly where Vontobel adds value through active management, trusted advice and custom solutions.

We are an active investment firm serving 2 client segments, private clients and institutional clients. These are mutually reinforcing in skills and business and complementary in their diversification benefits. Both segments draw on our dedicated experts and our single investment factory investment solutions, which also includes our structured product capabilities. The relevance of our unique model is increasing. Markets are harder to navigate and clients are demanding more tailored advice and solutions.

A generational wealth transfer is reshaping client needs across private and wealth. Vontobel is well placed to benefit as we combine investment expertise and customization in one integrated setup.

Our priorities are simple because our model is clear. We help clients navigate complexity through advice, active management and customization. We grew in markets and client segments where we have a clear right to win, and we operate with discipline so that revenue growth flows through to profitability. The first half shows that this model is working, stronger client activity, record profitability and a clear operating leverage.

Investment Solutions is at the core of Vontobel. We have flagship strategies across all major asset classes and distinctive structuring capabilities. We are also expanding private markets, including the next Ancala fund and the first fund in TwentyFour Asset Management. Vontobel Solutions builds on that foundation. The new unit within Investment Solutions is designed to connect and combine these capabilities to systematically turn them into scalable tailored outcomes for clients.

There is clear client demand. Markets are more concentrated, correlations have been shifting and macroeconomic and geopolitical drivers are harder to predict. More than before, clients are looking for solutions built around their own goals and constraints. They want portfolios designed for the outcome they need, not off-the-shelf products. This is where Vontobel can win. We have the building blocks, investment expertise, quantitative tools, portfolio construction, risk management and structuring capabilities.

We already know how to assemble them at scale, drawing on the systems and approach we already apply in private clients. We are now scaling it more systematically for institutional clients. For clients, Vontobel Solutions brings tailored portfolios to precise investment needs. For us, it provides access to an attractive and growing market that plays to our unique strength with a clear strategic fit.

And now over to you, Christel.

Thank you, Georg. Let me start with institutional clients where we see positive commercial momentum. We have executed our institutional client strategy with discipline. The focus has been clear: sharpen our coverage, improve client experiences and ensure our best capabilities reach the clients and markets where demand is strongest. That is now reflected in how we operate. We holistically engage clients around the problems they need to solve, bringing the relevant Vontobel capabilities into that conversation.

We work more closely with our clients, combining global reach with selective strong local coverage. Our client processes are more efficient and faster. That is more consistently converting demand into mandates and flows. Indeed, results are clear. In the first half, we saw improved flows, margins and revenues. Reported net new money growth was minus 1.5%, reflecting the known effects from Raiffeisen and Quality Growth.

However, the underlying picture is much stronger. Excluding these 2 known effects, growth was 7.4%, well above our through-the-cycle target. This shows that the underlying business is growing with solid momentum. This is particularly clear in fixed income, where we achieved annualized net new money growth of 15%. Strong client demand and a healthy product pipeline position us well for the second half. Taken together, institutional clients is becoming sharper and ready to scale again, converting investor demand into profitable growth.

Turning to Private Clients, where we delivered strong growth and continued to expand in our focus markets. Revenues grew by 32% and assets under management stood at an all-time high of CHF 132 billion by half year. The result was driven by strong client activity and demand across our offering, specifically advisory and discretionary mandates as well as structured solutions. We attracted CHF 2.5 billion of net new money. This represents 4.1% annualized growth within our through-the-cycle target range of 4% to 6%. Importantly, inflows were positive across all regions. This confirms the strength of our investment-led approach and of our focused market strategy.

We win clients with investment expertise, not through balance sheet credit. More than 90% of our assets are in developed and Western markets. We selectively hire and develop top-caliber relationship managers who can grow with our investment-led approach. We are strengthening the foundations for future growth by expanding in focused markets where we see clear client demands.

In Los Angeles, we opened our first West Coast office in one of the largest wealth markets in the United States. Through Vontobel Swiss Financial Advisers, we can serve the demand for international diversification. We give clients access to global portfolios and Swiss custody fully within the U.S. regulatory framework.

In Germany, we will open our Düsseldorf branch in North Rhine-Westphalia, one of the country's most important economic regions. We will serve individuals, family offices, entrepreneurs by offering diversification and our unique investment expertise. In sum, Private Clients continues to deliver recurring, high-quality growth at conservative risk levels. We are excited to continue scaling this business.

Let me now turn to costs. The efficiency program is delivering beyond its original targets. We will complete the program by year-end and realize further efficiencies as the remaining measures are implemented. I want to emphasize that we do not view this as a short-term cost exercise. The program was always about structurally improving our efficiency and embedding stronger cost discipline across the organization. Our structurally lower cost base and stronger cost discipline are already clearly visible in our results. On an adjusted basis, our cost/income ratio improved to 66% in the first half. That is 12 percentage points lower than 3 years ago and significantly better than our through-the-cycle target of 72%. We achieved this while at the same time, continuing to invest for growth.

Our objective is to grow with scale. That scalability is what creates operating leverage. Higher revenues will, therefore, in the future, translate into higher profitability. Let me close this section with our targets. In the first half of this year, we operated ahead of all our through-the-cycle targets. Assets under management reached an all-time high. Operating income grew strongly. Return on equity and the cost/income ratio were both clearly ahead of target.

Our capital position also remains strong, giving us the flexibility to continue scaling the business. This is an excellent first half performance. It gives an indication of the potential of our differentiated unique business model as we continue to execute our strategy with discipline.

And with this, let me hand over to Jan to cover the financials.

Thank you, Christel. Good morning, everyone. I am very pleased to report that the strong strategic progress set out by Christel and Georg is clearly visible in our financial results.

We delivered record profits, clear operating leverage and further strengthened our balance sheet and capital position.

Looking at the chart, on the far right, you can see that profit before taxes reached CHF 273 million, up 84% year-on-year. Net profit reached CHF 216 million, up a remarkable 87%. The main driver was strong revenue momentum with revenues up CHF 191 million. Of course, stronger performance means that we must accrue for variable compensation. But importantly, costs, excluding variable compensation, declined. This clearly shows the positive effects of our efficiency program and the scalability of Vontobel's business model. These results were delivered despite continued foreign exchange headwinds.

We saw a higher average U.S. dollar exchange rate when comparing the first half of 2025 with the first half of 2026. As a result, dollar revenues we earned translated into fewer Swiss francs. Without that effect, profit before tax would have been around CHF 30 million higher.

Let me walk you through the main drivers behind these record results, starting with assets under management. Assets under management reached an all-time high of CHF 252 billion, up 5% from year-end. The increase was supported by positive net new money, market performance and foreign exchange effects.

Over on the far right of this slide, private clients contributed CHF 2.5 billion of net new money, equal to 4.1% annualized growth. This is within our target range. Inflows were positive across all regions with strong demand for advisory and discretionary mandates. This growth was investment-led and not driven by lending. In fact, lending balances declined slightly, which underlines the quality of the inflows and the continued relevance of our investment-led model.

In Institutional Clients, reported flows were reduced by 2 known effects. The in-sourcing of the Futura funds by Raiffeisen until July 2027 and continued outflows from our quality growth boutique due to the current market trends that do not suit its distinct and defensive investment style. Excluding these effects, the underlying picture is very strong with a net new money growth rate above our target range.

Not on this slide, but I would like to mention that in fixed income, our boutiques achieved an impressive 15% annualized net new money growth. Over both businesses, PC and IC, adjusted net new money for the group was CHF 6.3 billion, equaling a growth rate of 5.9%, which is at the upper end of our through-the-cycle target.

That brings me to revenues. Operating income reached CHF 852 million, up 24% year-on-year or 29% in constant currency. We saw higher income across all major revenue categories. Net interest income increased despite the low rate environment. This was because the deposit mix shifted toward lower cost funding. Net fee and commission income benefited from the higher asset levels and better margins. Trading and other income reflected strong client activity in Structured Solutions, which achieved a record half year.

Demand was exceptionally strong in the first quarter and remained strong in the second quarter. Vontobel's broad product offering, technology platform, distribution network and our ability to issue products swiftly allowed us to capture client demand across changing market themes. Other income included an CHF 8 million gain from the divestment of cosmofunding announced in February.

By client unit, Private Clients revenue grew strongly, supported by Structured Solutions activity and higher asset levels. Institutional Clients revenues also grew, supported by higher margins and asset levels.

Let me now turn to margins. In Institutional Clients, the margin improved to 35 basis points. This was supported by success in higher-margin areas, including fixed income. In Private Clients, the margin increased to 104 basis points. This was primarily driven by strong demand for structured solutions. The recurring fee margin in PC reflected 2 offsetting effects. Our success in the ultra-high net worth segment has put some pressure on the recurring margin as larger clients typically deliver a somewhat lower margin, but strict revenue management has almost offset this.

Moving to cost. This slide shows the operating leverage in our results. As mentioned before, operating income increased by 24%, but operating expenses increased by only 7%. And the increase in expenses was driven by higher variable compensation linked to the stronger performance. Crucially, costs, excluding variable compensation, actually declined. This is an important point. It shows that the structural cost base continues to improve and our business model scales effectively.

I'm very happy that our efficiency program is bearing fruit. It has now reached CHF 116 million of cumulative exit rate savings, well ahead of our original CHF 100 million target. As a result, the cost/income ratio improved significantly, falling a full 10 percentage points to 67.9%. Adjusted for cost to achieve and M&A-related items, it was 66.4%. Both numbers are well ahead of our through-the-cycle target of 72%.

Let me now shift from performance to resilience. Vontobel continues to operate with a strong, liquid and conservatively managed balance sheet. Total assets increased to CHF 38.3 billion. This was mainly due to higher client activity and seasonally higher settlement balances. Our balance sheet remains fully mark-to-market and supported by a high level of liquid assets. Earlier this year, I was pleased about the issuance of a further CHF 250 million senior unsecured bond, which was met with high investor demand. This built on the success of last year's first issuance on continued to diversify our funding base. We also maintained a very comfortable liquidity and funding position with a liquidity coverage ratio of 148% . As a truly investment-led and not credit-led firm, we view lending only as an offering to support client relationship in very strictly defined areas. The lending book, therefore, remains deliberately conservative and modest compared to peers. It comprises CHF 2.2 billion of Swiss mortgages and CHF 5.6 billion of Lombard loans.

Structured Solutions continues to be managed with tight risk controls, supported by careful treasury and liquidity management. This disciplined approach is also reflected in its long-term track record with the business having operated profitably for every year for more than 20 years. Our strong balance sheet is matched by a very strong capital position. The CET1 ratio increased to 23.2% and the total capital ratio reached 28.1%. CET1 capital increased to CHF 1.5 billion, while risk-weighted assets declined slightly to CHF 6.5 billion. This mainly reflected lower exposures from hedging positions linked to client-driven structured solutions.

At 23.2%, our CET1 ratio is well above our 12% internal target. This reflects the strong capital generation and capital efficiency of our business model. This surplus offers us strategic flexibility. It gives us the capacity to fund organic growth, acquire the remaining Ancala stake over time and absorb potential regulatory impacts. It also gives us options to pursue inorganic growth opportunities such as acquisitions with a strong strategic fit.

Let me now turn to value creation. This is where the financial performance translates into shareholder value. The key point is the capital efficiency of our business model. We can grow without significant capital consumption. That allows earnings to translate into tangible equity growth while still supporting our attractive payout ratio target of 50%. Tangible book value per share increased by 8% in the first half of the year. And this is not just a first half effect. Since 2014, tangible book value per share, including cumulative dividends has grown by 227%. Our return on equity was 16.9%, clearly above the estimated cost of equity of 8.5%. And again, this is not a one-off result. For more than a decade, we have operated above our estimated cost of equity. Put differently, Vontobel has consistently generated shareholder value in every single year.

Let me close the financial section by bringing the key points together. We delivered record profitability. We operated above our through-the-cycle targets. We achieved an all-time high assets under management. Margins increased in both client units. Our efficiency program is visibly improving our structural cost base and is helping making our business model scale effectively.

This translated into clear operating leverage and a cost/income ratio of 67.9%. Our balance sheet remains strong and liquid, and our CET1 ratio increased further to 23.2%, well above our internal target. Finally, these results translated into shareholder value. Tangible book value per share increased to CHF 36.5 per share, up 8% in the first half. Taken together, these results indicate the potential of our business model, the clear results of our disciplined execution and the strategic progress we are making.

With that, I hand back to you, Christel.

Thank you, Jan. Georg and I would actually like to take this opportunity to officially thank you, Jan, for your outstanding leadership and commitment as Interim CFO over the past month. You successfully guided the finance function with dedication during this period. So thank you very much, and we look forward to continuing working closely with you going forward.

To recap and conclude this call, we delivered an excellent first half of 2026 with record financial results, a strong balance sheet and capital position and clear progress across our strategic priorities. Our unique integrated model remains a strength and differentiator for Vontobel. The results we report today give a clear indication of the value this model can create for our clients and for our shareholders. We will continue to execute with discipline and carry this momentum into the second half.

Thank you for joining us today. We are now happy to take your questions.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Karol Brodzinski from Octavian.

I have three, if I may. So first one is around the Raiffeisen Futura assets. So if I'm correct, the outflow in the first half of the year was associated with Raiffeisen Futura was CHF 4.6 billion. The total was, if I recall, CHF 13 billion. So could you maybe share some insights in terms of the timing of the outflows. So it will stop at mid-2027, but how much should we expect for this year? And how much should we expect for the first half of 2027?

And then the second question, more general. So 47% of your clients are domiciled in Switzerland, right, as a whole? And if you could maybe share some information on what this split look like between the 2 segments, particularly I'm interested in this split by domicile in Institutional Clients division.

And the third one is if you may share some insights into what the structured products look like in the second half of the year.

All right. Shall I start with your first question, Karol. Maybe to put this into perspective because I don't think it's 100% correct. So we have reported net new money flows in our financial statements in IC of minus CHF 0.8 billion. And for the presentation, we add there the flows of institutional nature, which were plus CHF 0.8 billion. So it's the flat, which you have been seen in our presentation in my part.

Now in terms of these 2 known effects and how they are quantified. So actually, there's CHF 1.3 billion of outflows for Raiffeisen Futura, which we observed in the first half, not CHF 4.6 billion. So CHF 1.3 billion on an asset base of around CHF 12 billion, which is left, so just 10% of it.

From the time line perspective, you are right. This is going to be handed over fully by July '27. So then obviously, by then, all of these assets will be gone, and we will obviously also report like how much that is. I would think that most of it will go out in '27, but that depends a bit on the decisions made by Raiffeisen.

Maybe I also then jump to your third question, the structure -- the structured products. So I mean, obviously, the macro environment, which we have observed is actually very positive. And -- but also, we have to see that from the way this business is set up, so with a very scalable, fully digitalized platform, very good distribution channels and the ability to swiftly issue products, that also helps us to capture these flows. And we have a very good market position in our main 2 markets here in Switzerland and Germany.

So while there's obviously always an uncertainty about the prediction of the macro environment, we believe that the business itself is very sound and also over the last couple of years developed positively, and we think that this may continue.

Let me say a few words about the client domiciles. I think first, it's very important to be aware that we have a much higher share of Swiss domiciled clients as many of our competitors, and we believe that is actually an asset because many risks associated with other markets, especially emerging markets are simply not present here. It gives a lot of stability.

Secondly, I think it's important to differentiate between the private client business and the institutional business. While we don't give a breakdown in assets, we do say that on the private client side, we are much more oriented towards Western and developed countries.

So that's several European countries that are our focus countries. That's the United States with Canada, very selective Latin American countries and South Africa. Whereas on the Institutional side, we are truly global. In the Institutional side, we also cover Asia, we cover Japan. We even cover Australia. And that -- but that has a lot to do with the risk appetite, with the risk involved in the business that are simply different.

The next question comes from the line of Nicholas Herman from Citi.

Hopefully, you can hear me okay. I know that in the past, you have struggled sometimes. So I just want to check if you can hear me first? Hello?

We can hear you loud and clear.

Super. So three from me, please, as well. So firstly, on the dividend, can I just ask why are you accruing at a payout of 40%? And just if you could just remind us the dividend policy there.

Secondly, you've got CHF 700 million of surplus capital. You have outlined some capital needs. So could you just help us understand how much is true surplus? And it sounds like M&A is finally back on the table. So if you could help us understand what are you looking at?

And then the final one is on equities in Institutional Clients. It looks like the equities AUM has fallen year-to-date despite super strong markets. Outside of the CHF 2.5 billion of quality growth outflows, am I correct that there were still net outflows in equities? And can you provide more color there, please?

Okay. Thank you for your questions. I may take the first 2 ones. So on dividend policy, we are committed to our through-the-cycle target of dividending out at least 50% of our profits. And obviously, the actual dividend is being set by the Annual General Meeting after the full year has closed, and we have seen the entire results. So then we can discuss this further.

On your second question on the capital needs. So yes, I mean, of course, you can say maybe you did that, the difference between the 23.2% of CET1 ratio and our 12% minimum ratio. And I think for the capital which we have there, we needed for the Ancala acquisition, which is to close or the remaining stakes we will acquire in the next couple of years. That depends also on how Ancala develops. So the better it develops, the higher the price will be for that. And that's uncertain at the moment.

Secondly, we are -- as you have seen, our business is growing nicely. And although many of our positions are hedged and we are balance sheet light, we still need certain capital to fund and support this organic growth. Then we have the discussion currently in Switzerland about certain regulatory measures, which are mainly targeted against at UBS, but also may influence us. We believe that these rules come into force in 2028. So that's also a bit of an uncertainty we currently have.

In terms of M&A, as in the past, we are looking selectively at targets, which bring us either scale or skills, which we need for business. But there are no concrete ones which we can talk about at the moment.

On equities, you are right that we had outflows. They are, however, linked to quality growth and Raiffeisen. So outside of these, the equity franchises actually did grow. So you have MTX on EM, you have Impact and thematic and you had the Swiss equity business, which was broadly flat. The other 2 actually grew. So yes, linked to the 2 themes that we have specifically mentioned.

That's helpful. If I could just return to the M&A point. You have addressed the one of the hole -- one of the areas of white space for you, which was private markets. So is the kind of preference -- or I guess, where do you see gaps in capabilities? And is the preference to increase scale on the private client side?

Well, I mean, we've said that both are interesting for us, scale on the private client side within our focus market and skills where they are complementary. So that doesn't mean that you necessarily have a completely different space, but you can have additional skills bolt-on around an area where you actually build around an existing boutique or bring complementary skills. So that is more the way we're thinking about it. But there's no obvious white spot as you are mentioning. But both remain interesting, the scale and the skills.

We now have a question from the line of Mate Nemes from UBS.

I have three of them, please. The first one would be on costs. It appears you are well underway with the cost efficiency exercise. And I'm wondering what is the expectation from here given you've already achieved CHF 116 million gross exit savings. Do you expect the amount to rise further from here? Any indication on the magnitude would be helpful.

And the second question is on Structured Solutions. There, the revenues doubled year-on-year, and they're up more than 40% from the second half of last year. Could you talk about the drivers of such a strong performance that also appears to be substantially stronger than what we are seeing from perhaps sector peers.

Has anything changed in the business structurally or tactically? Has the outperformance mainly come from the bond side? And also, if you could put this into the context of market risk RWAs essentially flat at year-end levels.

And the third question would be the flow outlook in institutional clients. It sounds like TwentyFour and the fixed income boutique are generating strong inflows. You're still seeing outflows from quality growth and some mixed trends in other areas. What is your expectation going forward from here? What do you see in the market? And let's put Raiffeisen and Futura aside here.

Okay. Let me go ahead with the first question. I think then Georg and Christel will do the other ones. So on the cost, yes. So in terms of expectation, first of all, I would say that cost efficiency exercise never ends, right? So it's always important that you keep costs under control. And this is obviously something which needs and is embedded now in our cost culture.

Now with respect to the specific efficiency program, you're right. So on the one hand side, we will realize this CHF 116 million of cumulative exit rate savings, which are compared to 2023. Of course, we have, and we said this also in previous calls that we have reinvested some of this in growth. And the other last element I would like to mention on this one is that the cost to achieve, which we have, that obviously is something which directly falls away next year.

On the Structured Solution, it's a combination, obviously, of markets and skills. The markets are structurally favorable. By that, I mean, in particular, the sort of air pockets that you see constantly around a trend that's actually positive. The skills, we very clearly have them that is demonstrated in the pole position that we have in several of our markets, but also in the hit ratios that we see. Now it's hard for -- to speak versus competitors. You will have as much transparency as we do.

The success is your ability to quote and the diversification in underlying that you have. So we are very fast to market in bringing new underlying. What we can tell you is that in the first half, it was in particular on U.S. equities and commodities that we saw a lot of demand. We think that our edge is there to stay very clearly, which are the skills, the time to market, the diversification in products and in distribution as is the tight risk management that we have always had for this business, which brings me to the RWA. It is a reflection of that tight management. But Jan, maybe you want to add something there?

Yes. On RWA, I mean, despite the higher volumes, which we have, you can really see that the RWA didn't move so much, which is actually, as you say, Christel, a reflection of our tight risk management.

And on flows, our target is 4% to 6% over the cycle, and that will remain our target. We don't give any forecasts. I think what is known is Raiffeisen, and we just discussed it before. And for the rest, of course, demand varies. There are cycles. It's based on preference for asset classes and styles. But nevertheless, we think we are very well positioned here to move forward and develop the business given the broad variety of products and very well-performing products that we're having.

That's very helpful. If I just may, one more follow-up on RWAs. It looks like your credit risk RWA actually declined in the first half. Is that simply driven by the lower lending balances that I can see on the balance sheet? Or is there any potential further hedging or capital optimization there?

So on the credit RWAs, you are right. So I think this is partly due to the slightly lower lending balances also a bit depends on the mix of collateral, which we have for these lendings, mortgages, but also more on the Lombard side, what the mix is of the assets which we have there. But then also one thing maybe to mention here is that FINMA requires that we show crypto-related RWAs under credit RWAs. And that is -- these are products which are also managed by Structured Solutions. That's what we mean by that.

As you know, crypto currently is not being sought after a lot. So that was one of the reasons why this went down.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of Daniel Regli from Zürcher Kantonalbank.

First, congratulations to the good set of results. I have 4 questions, if I may. First is again on the flows in Institutional Clients and there, thanks for the transparency on the flows from Raiffeisen and Quality Growth. But as you have done for the Raiffeisen part, could you also give us a bit of a feeling how much AUM is left in the Quality Growth boutique? And what is your expectations regarding future outflows from Quality Growth? How far will this go?

Then the second question is about margins. Can you talk a bit about the margins on these 2 products, quality growth and Raiffeisen? Then the third question is on flows in Wealth Management. Obviously, Wealth Management inflows has been relatively stable and solid, but still they are at around the lower bound of the 4% to 6% target range. So is your expectation there that you will be able to improve this towards more the center of the range? Or is this kind of the going concern assumption on these levels as we have seen now?

And then last but not least, and obviously, this is probably the most tricky question, and I think we all -- and maybe also a bit of a follow-up to other questions from colleagues. We all wonder how much of the success in Structured Solutions is sustainable. I know we all know it's kind of a volatile business, but you still kind of beat my estimates, at least in Structured Solutions for a couple of half years in a row now. So can you give me any kind of indication about what your expectations are in terms of revenues in H2 from Structured Solutions or maybe ask differently, what share of the kind of more than CHF 100 million revenue increase is driven by the particularly good environment and what share is basically driven by your success in building out or building up this product range?

So on the flows on IC, quality growth specifically, we won't give further breakdown than what you see. You have already a lot in the sense with the percentage as well as what you can see on the funds out there, which are all public and listed. Of course, there's a difference between just the funds and the mandates that might be had. But that is as much as we disclose.

In terms of the margin, Raiffeisen is much lower than our average margin, which is customary for a client of that size. So outflows are outflows, but they are margin accretive, and it also fits with what we had declared, which was by 2027, a marginal impact. on our net profitability. Quality growth, you'd assume in a sense, so what was higher margin was the emerging market business, which was the leading business 10 years ago for actually the firm as a whole and is now negligible. The rest of the business, equities tend to be higher, but mandates tend to be lower. So you can count it around the average margin that we currently have in our book, just slightly above, but not meaningfully above.

I'll briefly take the structured solution and then pass on to Georg. So the expectations for the second half, so we just like the central banks, right? We don't give forward guidance. However, I guess what you're seeing is a right analysis that the trend -- it's -- the cyclicality of the market, of course, is always there for this business as it is for other business, by the way. But the trend for us is indeed upward sloped. And that is a function, we believe, of the competitive landscape and our own skills. And that for us is a sustainable edge that we have in this market. predicting the market is obviously something altogether different.

On private flows, I think important not to read too much into this. It fluctuates. We had now many, many half years where we were at around 5%, 6%, we were above 6%. Now we are a bit above 4%. I think what is important here is to remember a few things. First of all, we don't grow for growth's sake. We are protecting our reputation. We are protecting our risk position when it comes to private clients. And hence, we have to be very selective with relationship managers that we hire. So that's a very important thing.

The second thing also remember, if you compare us to competitors, we are literally not present in Asia and the Middle East, which has been a big driver of many competitors' growth and also that is by design. The target stands 4% to 6%. That's where we want to be every half year. Of course, great if you're above. Now we're at 4.1%, and we're very satisfied with the result.

We have a follow-up question from the line of Nicholas Herman from Citi.

Just I had one follow-up and two additional questions, please. The follow-up on Structured Solutions. Just what was the volume of structured solutions in U.S. equities in this period? And how does that compare to normal? That would be interesting.

And then the other two I had, please, was firstly, on Solutions. I mean you outlined that as a clear strategic priority a couple of years ago. Why are you only creating a stand-alone unit now?

And then clearly, Sustainable Equity Income Plus has been a success. But beyond that, could you just talk about the growth of your solutions offering over the past couple of years? And then the final one is on Ancala. Have you had a first close yet on the new fund?

And I guess I'm interested to know what volume of capital do you expect to raise from Vontobel's broad institutional and wealth client base? Yes, that would be interesting.

Let's start from the last one. No, Ancala hasn't had a first close yet. It's for the end of the year. They started raising at the half year pretty much. So looking to close by the end of the year. We're not going to comment specifically on what's going to come from them and then from us. Obviously, the success of the business means that they have a lot of repeat clients, which you do want to have in that business. It really is the cornerstone of a private market business. And given the performance of the previous funds, given of the successful exits that they've done for their funds over the last few months, we definitely expect that they will have a lot of repeat customer.

And similarly, we do see interest from our own customer base for clients that they were not necessarily covering themselves yet. And I'm thinking specifically about Switzerland there, which was for them an undercovered market.

On the solutions, yes, it's been actually -- I'd say we put it forward really in our strategic priorities 2 years ago when we gave those priorities. or a little less than 2 years ago. It's because we set it up, we had really -- it was making it happen in a smooth, seamless fashion at the right time as well, and we made it happen at the same time as the integration of our quantitative skills. A lot around solution is bringing together leading capabilities, which in product term, you would say leading product, but it's not so much about the products, it's about the building block, the capabilities and how do you orchestrate them for clients to meet the specific needs. And that is a lot also about how you assemble from a quantitative risk construction, et cetera, perspective. So this is why the creation now.

On the structured and the outlook, we've had obviously quite a bit of demand-specific mandates to a large extent, the Auckland future reserve fund mandates that we won is very much in the spirit of that. It is a multi-asset mandate, but it's also highly customized. And this is exactly the type of conversation we want to be having with our clients. What do you need? Can we meet them with what team? Do we need to assemble at our end, yes or no? And the assembling could also be, by the way, with our structured solutions guys as well, and that is definitely a strong edge for us.

The volume on U.S. equities, I'm looking at Jan, we don't have, I think, the specifics on that, but...

I just would like to also point out that, Nicholas, I think the real benefit of our franchise is that we can very quickly react on product on underlyings and demand from that. So if it was silver at the year-end, now it's U.S. equities, it really is important that we can capture these flows and these different likes and risk profiles our clients are seeking, and that's what we do.

That's helpful. And if I can quickly just follow up on Ancala. I mean is the CHF 2 billion target in line with kind of your business case for when you acquired the business? I guess I would have expected a little bit more given the potential for cross-sell.

No, I think that is for the -- it's a fourth fund of Ancala and the first one once we have this minority stake acquired. And that's part of the business case in that size.

We now have a question from the line of [Anna Leifdal] from Citi.

Can you hear me? I just have one, if I may. So on emerging markets have been very strong year-to-date. And I'm just wondering, at a high level, could you give us a sense for how much institutional allocations to EM have increased this year? And for Vontobel specifically, how is the pipeline looking? And where do you think this allocation could go to?

So we indicated about actually last year that we thought we had reached the bottom in terms of EM shares of assets for us in the book, which was linked both to what was happening to quality growth EM franchise, and that was performance driven, but most importantly, due to the demand or lack thereof from clients and that we were expecting demand to return from fixed income first.

So that has completely panned out basically. We've seen a lot of demand on the EM debt side, but we also see demand on the EM equities. And I mentioned before that amongst the franchises that are growing for us, our MTX, which is an emerging equity franchise is also growing. So clients are returning to the asset class, yes.

Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Georg Schubiger for any closing remarks.

Thank you all for joining us today and for your questions. We appreciate your continued interest in Vontobel. Should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Investor Relations team.

We look forward to updating you on our progress with our trading update in October. Until then, we wish you a successful day, relaxing holidays and a pleasant summer. Thank you, and goodbye.

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now over. Thank you for choosing Chorus Call, and thank you for participating in the conference. You may now disconnect your lines. Goodbye.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the presentation of Vontobel's Full Year 2025 Results Webcast. I am Sandra, the Chorus Call operator. [Operator Instructions] and the conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, it is my pleasure to hand over to Christel Rendu de Lint. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and a very warm welcome from Georg, Jan and myself. Thank you for joining us today. Georg and I look forward to sharing the progress we have made on our strategic priorities as well as the highlights of our financial results.

Jan Marxfeld, our CFO at Interim, will then take you through the detailed numbers, after which we will open the line and take your questions.

2025 was a successful year for Vontobel. We achieved strong financial results and made decisive progress on our strategic priorities. We reached a net profit of CHF 280 million. We delivered significant growth while at the same time, absorbing lower interest rates and a much weaker U.S. dollar. Assets under management increased to CHF 241 billion, supported by strong inflows in private clients and strong inflows for institutional clients in four of our six investment boutiques, notably in fixed income.

Our capital position remains very strong. We closed with a CET1 ratio of 19.7%, thanks to record capital generation and effective resource management. We will propose a continued attractive dividend of CHF 3 per share. We made decisive strategic progress.

First, we integrated our quantitative investment boutique into the broader investments organization. The tighter integration will accelerate ID generation insights and innovation. We also divested customer funding, a digital lending platform. We want to concentrate on our growth areas.

Second, we captured organic and inorganic growth. In private clients, we hired new relationship managers in key markets and will open an office in Los Angeles to see strong client demand. We welcome the new employees and clients from IHAG Private Bank. This integration was a resounding success. It was completed ahead of schedule on the budget and with very positive client feedback.

Meanwhile, our institutional client teams operate sharper, faster and higher on the value chain. They achieved standout flows in several flagship funds, secured a number of prestigious mandates. Third, our CHF 100 million efficiency program is running ahead of plan. We have structurally improved our cost income ratio and redeployed resources to growth areas. The program will be completed by the end of 2026.

Let me now briefly recap the environment in which we delivered these results. Global bonds and equities gained though volatility remained high. Bond yields drifted down as both the SMB and the Fed cut interest rates. The Swiss franc appreciated sharply, driven primarily by safe haven demand. This environment created dual financial headwind for us. The lower interest rates weighed on our net interest income and the much weaker U.S. dollar reduced our foreign currency income.

Yet, these conditions clearly played into the strength of our credit light investment-led model. We helped our clients diversify and invest with confidence. The proof lies in our strong net inflows and continued high client engagements. Our unique integrated investment model underpins our success and remains the foundation for our future growth. We are an active investment firm serving two complementary client segments, private clients and institutional clients.

These are mutually reinforcing in skills and business and complementary in the diversification benefits. Both segments grow and rely on the expertise of our single factory, investment solutions and our dedicated experts. Our strategy is clear. We are doubling down on this model to realize its full potential. This will drive long-term value for our clients, employees and shareholders.

I am now turning to private clients which delivered another year of strong growth. Operating income grew by 5%, supported by continued client demand for structured investment solutions. While we saw a brief slowdown in April, activity bounced back and stayed above historical levels for the rest of the year. We attracted net new money of CHF 5.8 billion with continued strong growth in developed and Western markets.

This ranks us in the top quartile amongst peers. We win clients with our investment expertise not through leverage. We stick to our defining and successful approach using our investment know-how to grow in Western and developed markets, thereby generating steady recurring revenues. We are committed to building on this track record of steady growth.

We will recruit and develop top caliber relationship managers and are excited about opening our Los Angeles office later in H1. We will further invest in our market-leading platform for structured investment solutions, thereby, expanding its capabilities.

Finally, we will complement our organic growth with highly selective acquisitions. We have successfully acquired integrated many banks and most recently, the client book of IHAG Private Bank. This strong track record positions us to pursue further opportunities in key markets such as Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

And now over to Georg.

Good morning, everybody and also from my side, a very warm welcome from Zurich. Last year, institutional clients net new money was minus CHF 1.6 billion. 3 years ago, outflows exceeded CHF 10 billion in 1 single year. So we made strong progress, but we are not yet where we want to be. Our ambition remains to grow institutional client flows by 4% to 6% through the cycle. In absolute terms, we want to generate annual net inflows of at least CHF 4 billion.

First, I'll update you on where we stand in institutional clients. Then I will share the strategic actions that we are taking across our investments unit to drive our next cycle of growth. Over the past 18 months, institutional clients have executed the strategic measures we outlined at our Investors Day in 2024.

These measures have sharpened and accelerated our distribution capabilities. We have introduced a new coverage model for integrated solutions. We replaced regionally different processes and systems with a fast and globally consistent client journey. We have reinforced our teams with senior hires in priority markets, particularly Asia.

These changes are already yielding results. Our response times have improved, conversion rates have increased and our client relationships have deepened. The operational and financial results are clear. Several of our flagship funds have been exceptionally strong, have seen exceptionally strong inflows. This includes CHF 1.8 billion into credit opportunities and CHF 1.4 billion into emerging markets debt.

We have won prestigious mandates. For example, one, is their CHF 600 million multi-asset mandate from the Auckland Future Fund Board. Vontobel emerged as the winner in a highly competitive selection process, including 21 participants. Our distribution strength is also evident when compared to peers.

In 2025, Vontobel ranked in the top quartile for European institutional fund flows underlying our distribution effectiveness. These are tangible proof points that our strategy is working. Our disciplined execution is also driving tangible results across our investments unit, our factory that serves both private and institutional clients. After the so-called industry winter that started in 2022 for active and especially for emerging markets focused firms, the industry is now back in growth mode.

And so is Vontobel 4 out of our 6 boutiques achieved strong investment performance, grew assets under management and attracted significant net inflows. These 4 boutiques delivered a combined net new money growth rate of 6.7% in 2025, well ahead of most active managers in our industry. By delivering strong performance and innovation across our boutiques, we attracted net inflows in every asset class.

To accelerate the next phase of growth, we will continue to realign and expand our offering towards areas with attractive economics, strong anticipated client demand and demonstrated performance.

First, we will launch new ancillary fixed income offerings that are already under development. This will build on the outstanding success of our flagship funds, including emerging markets that credit opportunities and strategic income. Second, we will expand our solutions offering. Third, we will scale our strong private clients and Swiss institutional clients multi-asset track record to a wider set of institutional clients. And fourth, we will raise the next fund in Ancala.

For the remaining 2 boutiques, quantitative investment and quality growth, which have seen significant outflows, we have an equally clear strategy. This year, we completed a leadership transition at quality growth, ensuring continuity for a boutique founded in 1984. Quality growth continues to deliver stable double-digit returns, making it an attractive diversifier. The boutique has seen significant retail outflows. These were driven by the current focus on AI-driven mega cap stocks.

Quality growth, however, continues to resonate with a set of institutional clients, they value the distinct and defensive style of quality growth. Style preference cycles can span years. Flows could therefore remain volatile. The boutique financials of quality growth are attractive. Our development resources will, however, be concentrated in fast-growing areas, mainly in fixed income solutions and private markets. Systematic investing has been challenged by stop and go macro conditions, and we no longer see pure systematic strategies as a growth area.

Nevertheless, we will continue to serve existing clients and keep our capabilities in place. Going forward, we will focus our quantitative expertise on 2 priorities. Driving tailored solutions and supporting our fundamental investment teams. To make this shift, we are integrating the quantitative investment boutique into a central hub.

This hub will eliminate overlaps and drive idea generation, insights and innovation across all our investment teams.

We have already seen the benefits of this integrated approach. One example is this sustainable equity income plus. It blends our quantitative expertise and fundamental research to deliver outstanding results for our clients. This integration also positions us for the previously communicated insourcing of the Raiffeisen Futura funds in July 2027.

Most of those assets are booked with this boutique today. This change will not impact any other areas of our long-standing and successful cooperation with Raiffeisen. And we continue to expect a minimal impact on the group profit.

Now let's turn to our structured solutions business. It gives clients access to tailored investment solutions at scale. We combine customization, automation and scalability on a leading technology platform. Importantly, Structured Solutions has operated profitably in every single year for more than 20 years. That unbroken track record comes from our franchise being uniquely diversified.

First, in terms of client types and channels, we work with external asset managers and banks, support our internal private clients and provide white label issuance services. We serve individual investors via exchange-traded products. Second, we maintain a balanced mix across 2 lines. Investment solutions and exchange solutions.

Investment Solutions include yield-enhancing certificates and managed certificates. Exchange Solutions offer products such as warrants. This combination stabilizes overall revenues.

Third, in terms of geography, We are the market leader in both businesses in Switzerland. We hold the second spot in Germany for leverage certificates. And we have profitable operations in select key European, Middle Eastern and Asian markets. We will continue investing in our leading technology to stay at the forefront of innovation for our clients. This will defend and expand our market share.

And finally, we have substantially improved our efficiency over the past 3 years. Our cost/income ratio is structurally lower decreasing from 78.2% in 2023 to 72.9% in 2025. This underscores the progress of our efficiency program which is ahead of schedule with over 80% of the targeted savings already achieved. The efficiency gains have been driven by firm-wide initiatives including the consolidation of our IT infrastructure and applications, reductions in vendor spending and process automation. The program has allowed us to lower absolute costs while continuing to invest into our business and technology.

We are currently implementing additional measures to build on this momentum. We remain fully committed to achieving the CHF 100 million in savings by the end of 2026 and embedding a lasting culture of cost discipline across the organization. Our objective remains clear. To deliver sustainable growth and create attractive returns for our shareholders through disciplined execution of our priorities.

We are confident that Vontobel has the right strategy, the right business model and the right team to achieve our through-the-cycle targets.

With this, let me hand over to Jan, our Interim CFO, to cover the financials.

Thank you, Georg. Good morning, and a warm welcome. 2025 was a successful year for Vontobel. We delivered strong financial results. We generated a profit of CHF 280 million, up 5% year-on-year. Profit before tax increased to CHF 364 million. As Christel mentioned earlier, we managed to navigate dual headwinds, CHF 34 million from lower interest rates that compressed our net interest income and CHF 27 million from currency translations into our reporting currency, the Swiss franc.

The Franc significantly strengthened against the U.S. dollar and almost all other currencies. This matters because 37% of our operating income is in Franc's compared to 78% of our costs. Currency swings, therefore, have an impact on our reported profitability. But I'm pleased to report that our underlying profit grew by CHF 74 million, more than overcompensating these headwinds.

The efficiency program achieved CHF 41 million run rate savings, while business growth contributed another CHF 33 million. Our reported results include one-offs of CHF 19 million, slightly lower than 2024. These are what we call cost to achieve related to the efficiency program and the IHAG client book integration expenses.

We expect a cost to achieve of around CHF 18 million in 2026 to complete the program.

On the tax line, we realized a lower effective rate than in 2024 due to the regional mix of taxable profits and the fading of last year's one-off impacts. We are maintaining our effective tax rate guidance of 22% to 23%. We closed the year with assets under management of CHF 241 billion, up 5% year-on-year. This increase was driven by positive net inflows and market performance, again, partly offset by currency headwinds.

Net new money rose to CHF 4.2 billion, up from CHF 2.6 billion last year. Private clients delivered CHF 5.8 billion of inflows which is 5.2% annualized growth. This is certainly in the upper half of our through-the-cycle target range. 4 out of our 6 investment boutiques attracted solid net inflows. But the net outflows from our quantitative investment and quality growth boutiques more than offset these.

The stronger Swiss franc also reduced assets under management by CHF 10.1 billion. This reflects the fact that 3/4 of our asset base is foreign currency denominated. Performance and other effects added CHF 17.6 billion. These predominantly include market gains.

Furthermore, we have effects from the integration of the IHAG client book, the divestment of cosmofunding and our decision to stop developing certain service offerings. These are connected to the strategy and the next steps for the quantitative investment boutique, which Georg explained earlier.

Turning to operating income. It increased 1% to CHF 1.4 billion. Setting aside the FX headwinds mentioned earlier, on a constant FX basis, our operating income grew 3%. Net interest income declined 30%, mainly due to the SMB's successive rate cuts throughout 2024 and in early 2025. Net fee and commission income grew 2% preliminary, reflecting higher average assets under management.

Trading and other income increased 6%, mainly due to the strong client demand for structured solutions throughout the second half of the year. By segment operating income in private clients yet again grew strongly by 5%. This as lower interest income was more than offset by positive effects of higher asset levels and high client activity. Within institutional clients, operating income fell 7%.

This is because of slightly lower assets under management and the tail end of shift away from emerging market products.

Turning to Slide 20 and the Private Clients margin. Our recurring margin remained stable at 40 basis points throughout the year. Growth in the ultra-high network segment has put some pressure on the recurring margin. That is because larger clients typically deliver a somewhat lower margin, but this has been offset by revenue management and the launch of our new modular product offering.

We saw continued strong margins in structured solutions. The 2 basis point of net interest compression is a direct consequence of the lower market interest rates. The transactional margin reflects a normalization and activity levels. As a reminder, this item includes client transactional revenues not related to structured products.

In institutional clients, the overall margin declined 3 basis points to 34 basis points. This is a direct result of the prior period shift away from emerging market funds and mandates.

In the years 2022 and 2024, industry-wide demand for emerging market products weakened. This compressed overall margins as EM-related products typically come with a higher margin. But in 2025, the share of emerging market assets flattened out at around 10%, marking the end of this headwind.

Our gross flows have now turned clearly margin accretive. This reversal is supported by our continued pricing discipline and more importantly, the success we are enjoying with our higher-margin fixed income solutions and emerging market debt offerings.

Moving to costs. Our CHF 100 million efficiency program is running ahead of plan and is delivering tangible results. By the end of 2025, we have already realized CHF 84 million exit rate savings. So with 66% of this 3-year program done, we realized 84% of the savings on an exit rate basis. Now if you look carefully at this slide, you will see that despite of what I just said, the costs are flat year-on-year.

It is our efficiency program that enabled us to do so even as we reinvested for growth and our cost base includes CHF 90 million of one-off costs to achieve and the IHAG client book integration costs.

We will see further benefits next year. Because all the efficiency measures we identified throughout this year will be fully reflected in our P&L of 2026.

Coming to the all-important cost/income ratio. Year-on-year, this improved further to 74.2%. Another consideration is the one-off effects. Adjusted for the cost to achieve of the efficiency program and the IHAG implementation, our cost/income ratio was even lower at 72.9% this year. In summary, this means we are well on track for our below 72% targets.

Now to another core strength of Vontobel, our balance sheet. It is fully market-to-market, and we hold around CHF 25 billion of liquid assets which is more than 70% of our total balance sheet. Our Structural Solution business is subject to conservative and highly effective risk management. This has again been proven during the market turmoil surrounding the so-called liberation Day in April.

Our lending book remains deliberately small and conservative. It comprises CHF 2.1 billion of Swiss mortgages and CHF 5.9 billion of Lombard loans backed by liquid collateral.

We apply strict underwriting standards and a robust risk management, keeping credit losses minimal. Earlier in the year, we issued our first CHF 200 million senior unsecured bond, which was met with high investor demand. This further diversified our funding base and demonstrates our strong market access.

Overall, our liquidity is strong with a liquidity coverage ratio of 150%. Since listing in 1986, we have reported a profit every single year. This unbroken record underscores the strength of our conservative risk culture and the prudence of our balance sheet management.

Vontobel has a very strong capital position. Our CET1 ratio stands at 19.7%, up 3.6 percentage points from a year ago and up 1 percentage point from 2023.

Since then, our capital-efficient business model has allowed us to first, fund 2 strategically important acquisitions. Second, support business growth; and third, absorb the Basel III Final regulation impacts all while funding an attractive dividend every year. This development reflects exceptionally high capital generation and disciplined management of our risk positions.

For example, under Basel III Final operational risk-weighted assets are now largely based on past operational losses because our operational losses are minimal or corresponding RWAs are low. Additionally, the previously communicated optimization measures played a role. These are now largely complete. Our CET1 ratio comfortably exceeds both the 8% regulatory minimum and our 12% internal targets.

This capital position gives us the flexibility to support further organic and inorganic growth while sustaining attractive returns for shareholders.

One of the special things about Vontobel is that we take a long-term approach to shareholder value generation. And we are creating shareholder value this year, but also every year since 2014. Our return on equity reached 12.2%, constantly above our estimated cost of equity of around 9%. This year, our tangible book value per share rose by 15% to 33.86, our strongest annual increase in more than a decade.

Including dividends, tangible equity per share has grown over 200% since 2014, underscoring the compounding power of our capital-efficient investment-led model.

In recognition of this robust capital generation and healthy profitability, the Board will propose a continued attractive dividend of CHF 3 per share for 2025. This is equivalent to a payout ratio of 60%, in line with our target of more than 50%.

To summarize, we achieved significantly higher net profit offsetting both lower interest rates and FX headwinds. Asset under management grew by 5%, and we recorded improved net inflows. We are making good progress narrowing the cost/income ratio down towards our 72% target. And our balance sheet and capital positions remain very strong. We ended with a CET1 ratio of just below 20%.

Taken together, these results demonstrate the strength of our business model, especially in the prevailing macro environment and the strategic progress we are making.

With that, I hand back to Georg.

Thank you, Jan. 2025 was a successful year for Vontobel. We delivered strong financial results, enabling us to propose a continued attractive dividend of CHF 3 per share. We decisively advanced our strategic priorities. And we captured both organic and inorganic growth and our CHF 100 million efficiency program is ahead of plan. At Vontobel, we are determined to carry this execution momentum into 2026.

Thank you for your attention. We are now happy to take your questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Daniel Regli from ZKB.

I have 4 questions, if I may. Ask all of them, please interrupt me if you want to limit the number of questions by analysts.

The first question I have is on the margin and in institutional clients. And as you say, you have kind of flows have turned margin accretive by about 5 basis points difference inflows versus outflows. But can you give us kind of a rough impact of this kind of exit margin as of end of '25 versus the full year gross margin in institutional clients?

Then the second question I have is regarding the net interest income in private clients H2 versus H1. And it seems like the net interest income shown in private clients is up in H2 compared to H1. However, the interest income on a group level was down H2 versus H1. So can you maybe explain to me when -- or what kind of interest income is allocated to the segment and what interest income remains in the corporate center.

And then on the efficiency program, you said CHF 84 million was realized as an exit run rate. Can you give us a rough number what we already see in the cost line of CHF 25 million.

And then the last question on the capital policy. Obviously, the capital looks very strong at 19.7%. So my question is a bit why didn't you choose a higher dividend? Or what do you plan to do with your capital, given the high capital ratio?

Thank you very much, Daniel, for your 4 questions. I'll take the first one, and Jan will go through to the next 3 questions. So as we've shown, indeed, the growth flows have turned margin accretive. It's very hard to give you an exact numbers on the exit rate, but you can see the evolution from '24 H1 '25 and H2 '25. I would also points to the outflows coming at a lower margin.

Now the end results in a given year very much depends on the outcome in the market as well. So what have we seen last year, in particular, is returning demand on emerging markets, we've seen strong inflows into credit opportunities. These are all nicely merged segments the way it's starting off, you can expect the same type of flows. But of course, it honestly really depends on the way that the year pans out.

I think the key message is to see that where we're growing, where we are strong. And in particular, in the fixed income space, this is not a low-margin plain vanilla treasury type of fixed income. It's the high value-added type of fixed income. So that's important to remember. I think the other part that is important to remember is the flattening out on the EM assets. One aspect was the industry winter in a sense for EM demand. That was not under control, and that seems to be now behind us.

And there was, of course, an element of under performance, in particular, for quality growth EM. And that effect is behind us because the assets have literally gone to 0. On the other side, EM was very strong for us in fixed income over the past few years until 2022 and has shown that it will again be strong in the sense that this is a top well in the upper half of the top quartile across horizon. So that's kind of the full picture on margins. And now over to Jan.

Yes. So regarding your question of the allocation of the net interest income between PC and the Corporate Center. What I can tell you the way we do this, and we look at this is that we have an internal funding curve and PC they basically earn interest on the deposit side versus this funding cost. And they also an interest on the loan side compared to this funding curve. What remains in Corporate Center is basically a residual treasury income, which we don't allocate out.

Regarding the CHF 84 million, exit rate reduction. I think you will capture this very correctly. So this is basically what we have identified over the program today. So in the years '24 and '25. And what is in our P&L is roughly 3/4 of this. This is basically the effects which materialized in 2024 and over 2025. And for the remaining, we obviously then we'll see this coming in, in 2026.

Last question I think you had was on our capital and what we will do is this. So on the CET1 capital, 19.7%, at the moment, we feel that this is a very good spot to be in. And there are a couple of reasons for this. So one is definitely, we need capital to sustain our future growth. And this is organic and inorganic.

So for example, the Ancala transaction in the mid- to long term, we will, as you know, acquire further shares or further part of Ancala. So that will certainly absorbed some of the CET1 capital. And lastly, there is upcoming regulation. This is on the background of the UBS, CS discussion, but might also have impact on smaller banks like us. And for this, we also would need capital if that materializes.

The dividend, I think you also asked about the dividend. So the dividend it's obviously decided or proposed by the Board and decided by the AGM. It's important to remember that we have a through-the-cycle target of 50% payout ratio. We are there at 60%. So depending on growth and capital needs from the things we just explained, they will constantly evaluate this. .

Follow-up on the first question on the IC. Can you maybe give me kind of the gross outflow number versus the gross inflow number. So I can kind of calculate the impact from the numbers you've given me?

We'll take that offline with Peter afterwards, also in the interest of the other participants, if you don't mind. I think you already have the ballpark. But yes, yes, let's pick it up offline.

The next question comes from [indiscernible] from Octavian.

I have actually 2 questions. Firstly, on the capital. So your 19.7 CET1 ratio. What I saw it was due to drop in the RWAs. You mentioned operational risk, but there was also a drop in credit risk RWA. So could you maybe give a bit more color on that and maybe more how it came to that precisely?

And the second one, if you could elaborate on this CHF 1.1 billion of inflows to the Center of Excellence that you treat us institutional clients inflow so what kind of inflows are this exactly?

All right. So on your last question, on CHF 1.1 billion from the Centers of Excellence. So this is something these are institutional clients or clients of institutional in nature, which have besides transaction banking needs, they have also investment advice needs and therefore, they are booked in the corporate center. But for the presentation here, we thought it was appropriate to show them by their origin or the client segment. And we also did this in the half year, by the way, consistently.

On the capital question, the 19.7%. So I think on the credit risk, RWA can say too much here. It's in line with the measurement approach that we used the standard approach and depends a bit on the composition of our loan book. Lombard loans have carried very low credit risk RWAs, I think operational risk you saw and then on the market risk we had the measures which I explained before.

Next question comes from Mate Nemes from UBS.

I have 2 of them please. The first one would be going back to institutional clients. It's really good to see good performance and inflows into 4 of the 6 boutiques. Yet you are still seeing some outflows for equities or namely the quality of growth boutique.

Could you offer any color on what is your expectations with regards to those flows? Could we see a stabilization already in the first half of '26? Or this is just entirely dependent on yield curves appetite for quality growth, and so on? That's the first question.

The second question would be going back to the jump in the CET1 ratio. And appreciate the color on operational risk also over that some of that has to do with market risk and tail risk hedges. My question is, should we expect a somewhat more volatile market risk RWAs going forward? Or this is a single onetime jump and this is a baseline from which on you'll develop simply along the lines of normal business volumes.

Thank you, Mate, for the question. To clarify, really, for all intents and purposes, quality growth is now a developed market boutique if you wish, the quality growth EM exposure is, as said, reduced literally to nothing. So that is not something that's featuring into any expectation or weighing into our results.

Closing the topic of emerging markets. On the other side, it's very clear that appetite has returned from clients. As said, we saw the first green shoot on EM debt as we were standing here a year ago and that materialized the whole year. And we're also now seeing, I would say, green shoots and slightly more in EM equities. And there, our franchise in conviction equities mtx is benefiting.

You've seen from the slide that one of the key prestigious mandate win from a U.S. Pension Fund was for this team in EM equities.

So quality growth, the core franchises are U.S. equities and global equities. You're not, obviously, without knowing that the Magnificent 7, AI tech, et cetera, has had a predominant impact on market behavior and have therefore penalized any retail wholesale flows that was chasing performance.

So it is dependent on client appetite and market because what we're seeing is the interest on the other side of institutional clients, those who really look to diversify to construct a book of business that is diversified across investment approaches, et cetera, they actually are seeing as we speak, if you want, because that is obviously a distinctive approach.

Hard to forecast strong investment process, value profitable for us. So that's where we're standing right now as we look at it. But EM is not the factor for quality growth. In capital for -- Jan?

So on the market risk RWAs and whether or not this is volatile. So I think probably it helps just to reflect 1 second on the structured solutions business itself. So this is margin-driven business, which is clearly depending on client activity, which again then is fueled by healthy volatility of the markets and sentiment around that. So it's deliberately not position taking.

So therefore, I would expect the RWAs, they are being more or less flat. And we have done the optimizations. So certainly not going down from here. We have, obviously, a hedging arsenal already and a prudent risk management, which just was exemplified in the turmoil after the Liberation Day. So I would steer you towards a flattish -- somewhat flattish RWS there.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Nicholas Herman from Citi.

I've got a few, but I'll start with 3, and I might circle back if that's okay, later. Just can I just continue the line of questioning on institutional clients, please? Encouraging, but not a surprise to see, I guess, your EM assets stabilize given strong markets. I'm interested, could you just talk about the pipeline there? And more broadly, do you see this as being investors just addressing under allocations?

Or -- and I guess even more broadly than that, do you see this as well as the start of a structural reverse of a shift away from global back towards local. I would love to hear your thoughts on what your clients are telling you.

Sticking with IC, I was a little surprised to see equities AuM shrink by 10% half-on-half despite clearly very strong equity markets. Just why was that AuM build so weak in Q4?

And could you please segregate that between investment performance and flows? And then finally, private client margins. How do you see the outlook for recurring margin? And I guess I ask that in the context that you mentioned some revenue management actions and the launch of a new modular product offering. Could you give some more details on these, please, and the impact on the benefit that those have driven to your P&L?

Yes. Thank you for the questions. We had great difficulties to understand your first 2 questions. So maybe you can repeat them, but we got the third one. So I will respond to that. This was about the recurring PC margins and revenue management in case we understood that right?

Yes, listen, there is always pressure on those margins, right? There's overcapacity in the industry. So we constantly need to ask ourselves and take action in terms to defend those margins. Secondly, with the strategy we announced a few years ago to do more in the ultra space that also has put certain pressure on the margin. So therefore, we mentioned last time that we have done 2 things. We have introduced a new modular product offering combined with rollout that was focusing on revenue management or pricing as you can also call it.

And I think the combination of these things has been allowing us to keep the margins very stable at 40 basis points, while the overall industry is struggling. This is a very big focus point of ours because we -- as I said, we don't just need to compensate for a certain book transformation towards some of the larger clients and it's a little bit away from the small and very small clients. Secondly, we also need to compensate the general industry development. Now if I may ask you to repeat your question number 1 and 2. So we can...

Can you hear me okay?

Yes.

So the first two questions that I had were on institutional clients. So the first part was on EM. And could you talk about the pipeline there in the context of very strong EM markets?

And more broadly, is this investors just starting to kind of address some underweight allocations? And are they -- is it -- and do you see this as well as the beginning of a structural reverse of the shift away from local towards global, are we going back towards local away from global because that's been a long-term structural shift for a long time.

And I would just love to think your clients are telling you there. And then the other part on IC was, I think equities AuM shrank by 10% in the half despite very -- clearly very strong equity markets. Could you please disaggregate the moving parts there between investment performance and markets and net new money, please?

Sure. So on EM on the pipeline, it's very clear that the client engagement is strong on that. And so it's followed the packing order that we'd expect, right, in terms of moving up the risk ladder. So starting with EM debt and now moving into EM equities.

So for us, we've seen the flows materialize tangibly in EM debt, and you've seen them on the presentation through the funds. We've seen the interest also starting to materialize, and you've seen that mandate for mtx, and we're seeing the interest. So I think it's a bit of both, to answer your question. They go together, right? So the valuations were extremely stretched if you look about 6 months ago.

And going back to 2021, 2022, there was really a sense among the investors community that suddenly, EM, it started with China, but then EM was on investable. And that was kind of, I guess, always questionable, right, is 50% of the GDP of the world is investable -- uninvestable. So we're seeing both, it's just -- looking at the stretch valuation, looking at the underweight allocation and the discussions around diversification around the dollar also play a role. So it's -- that probably -- that part is bigger than it historically was.

In terms of the equities, it's been -- indeed, there are moving parts. And there, Peter can walk you through what you've seen has worked very well for us is the Swiss equity part has grown through the sustainable equity income product. The other franchise have stabilized to slightly up. So that's impact for us.

It's empty emerging market equities and quality growth is the part that has suffered in terms of outflows, as we've mentioned, the EM having come to an end, if you want now by the end of last year pretty much.

Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Christel Rendu De Lint for any closing remarks.

Thank you all for joining us today and for your questions. We appreciate your continued interest in Vontobel. Should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Investor Relations team. We look forward to seeing you latest at our AGM in April. Until then, we wish you a successful day and a great finish to your week. Thank you very much.

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