Bellevue reports sharply lower net profit of CHF 8 mn for the first half due to falling markets – continued expansion of Private Markets as a source of future income - Seite 2

Market-induced decline in assets under management – net new inflows into successful strategies
The sub-par performance of Bellevue’s target market segments and the resulting weak performance of its healthcare strategies led to a decline in Bellevue’s assets under management. Besides reducing assets under management by CHF 800 mn, the adverse conditions in the healthcare space also led to a high level of redemption activity. Investors also took advantage of attractive entry points, especially in the Bellevue Digital Health and Bellevue Medtech & Services (Lux) funds, which absorbed inflows of more than CHF 330 mn thanks to their strong performance. Overall net outflow amounted to CHF 468 mn, which represented less than 5% of total assets under management, resulting in an overall decline of approximately 14% in assets under management to CHF 8.1 bn. Despite the prolonged weakness in its core investment area, Bellevue’s international client base remained stable.

Earnings curbed by weak markets – selective expansion of investment expertise
The lower level of assets under management also had an impact on Group earnings for the period under review. Average assets under management were down by 18% compared to the first half of 2022, a period buoyed by the peak in assets under management reported at year-end 2021. Income from asset management services therefore declined by 20% to CHF 43.3 mn. Market-induced unrealized losses on investments in proprietary products and on financial assets amounted to CHF 2.5 mn, well below the corresponding prior-year figure of CHF 8.7 mn. Total operating income for the period amounted to CHF 41.3 mn, a decline of about 12%. 

Bellevue continued to build its profile as a specialist asset manager by selectively strengthening its investment expertise. Besides recruiting additional investment specialists for its healthcare strategies, data scientists for AI/big data were hired along with medical experts for neurological diseases. The Private Markets business area was expanded with the recruitment of a private equity secondaries team and additional analysts as well as experienced direct equity management experts were recruited for the direct investment operations. Bellevue’s sales teams in its core markets of Switzerland and Germany were strengthened as well. This led to an approximately 5% increase in personnel expenses. Other operating expenses rose by a similar amount in the wake of ongoing expenditure on infrastructure (core application upgrades among other items) and the deployment of next-generation technology (digitalization, introduction of AI solutions). As a result, total operating expenses increased by almost 5%. The cost/income ratio rose to 70.1% and is thus temporarily above the long-term target range of 60-65%. Group net profit amounted to CHF 8 mn, a decline of 44% from the prior-year period. Return on equity for the period stood at 14.8%.