Despite the ongoing pandemic and fluctuating markets that characterized 2021, Mirabaud marked significant asset expansion that year. Founded in 1819 and led by board chairman and senior partner Yves Mirabaud since 2014, the Geneva-based private banking firm was able to enjoy unprecedented growth thanks to new incoming revenue along with strong performances from existing assets.
Mirabaud By the Numbers
In 2020, the private banking group had an operating profit of 42 million Swiss francs, a sum that grew by 8 million francs in 2021. This also translated to a modest rise in consolidated net income, from 2020’s 35.9 million francs to 2021’s sum of 40.5 million.
The most notable expansion came in terms of the firm’s asset management profile. In a new annual earnings announcement, Mirabaud revealed that, in 2021, its assets under management grew to 38.9 billion francs, representing an 11.4 percent expansion. Of that increase, 9.7 billion was due to strong asset management performance; the remaining 652 million francs could be attributed to new incoming money.
In fact, 2021 revenue grew by 14.1 million francs, up to 312.7 million from the previous year’s 298.6 million. (The full revenue figure reflects an income of 259.8 million from fees and commissions, as well as 34 million in net trading income.)
In revealing his group’s expansion, Yves Mirabaud said, “After a second year marked by the pandemic and its effects on international trade and the economy, our company’s results for 2021 are positive; above the rise in the financial markets, they are also based on a contribution of net new money, reflecting the quality of our performance and our services.”
Weathering the Storm
Given its 200 plus year history of financial management and expertise, this growth period is not the first time the storied bank has thrived through adverse conditions. In 1931, just two years after the Great Crash on Wall Street in the United States, the Mirabaud Group reaffirmed its strength and solidity as a co-founder of the Geneva Private Bankers Association. As an Arab oil embargo and runaway inflation wreaked havoc on markets in the early 1970s, Mirabaud showed a new way forward by spearheading the introduction of alternate investments. In the years that followed, regardless of external financial pressures, the group enjoyed steady international growth, opening offices in Montreal, Canada as well as the U.K. between 1985 and 1990, then acquiring private bank Banque Jenni & Cie SA and Spanish brokerage and research firm Venture Finanzas in the early 2000s. New offices in Dubai, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville accompanied these acquisitions, lending the group a position of strength just as Yves Mirabaud prepared to take on a more significant role in the bank.
