Two of the top wealth management players in Switzerland say the gross margins they make on wealth management assets - a key measure of financial health - have remained stable or increased in recent quarters.

Julius Baer said it is committed to keeping a margin on its business of more than 100 basis points, a level that has increased over the past two years, the bank said in a recent presentation in

London. In the second half of 2006, the private bank margin at Julius Baer was 95 bps, rising to 102.2 bps in the first half of this year.

A spokesman for Julius Baer told WealthBriefing that the firm was reiterating targets that it had previously announced.

Meanwhile, Credit Suisse - Switzerland's second-biggest bank - said its gross margins on private banking assets were 116 bps in the second quarter, a drop from 117 bps in the previous two quarters but a rise from 112 bps in the third quarter of 2007.

Margins can vary widely by geography. In 2006, Credit Suisse had a gross margin on its wealth management business of 122 bps in its Europe, Middle East and
Africa region, for example. At its US division, Credit Suisse's gross margins were just 61 bps. Clariden Leu – owned by Credit Suisse - had a gross margin of 136 bps.

In its targets for 2010, Julius Baer said it is aiming to achieve annual net new money in the private banking operation of over 6 per cent of all money. At Credit Suisse, net new asset growth in 2007 was also 6 per cent and the annualised growth rate for the first six months of this year was 7 per cent.