Bellevue Group had a difficult year. In 2024, client assets fell by 17 percent to 5,8 billion Swiss francs, which also had an impact on the asset manager's earnings due to the associated decline in management fees. Consolidated profit amounted to 9.2 million francs, 40 percent below the previous year's level.

In a press release on Tuesday, Bellvue attributed the weak performance to the «below averace development of the healthcare sector», the asset manager's core investment universe. “Investors are increasingly allocating their money from the healthcare sector to areas such as IT and communications service providers. These outflows of just under 1.5 billion francs were offset by newly acquired client assets «in predominantly traditional healthcare strategies» of over 600 million francs.

«Additional Expenses» Weigh on Group Profit

Nevertheless, other commission income and income from financial investments increased, so that total income only fell by 14 percent to 70.2 million francs. Operating expenses fell by 8 percent to 53.5 million francs.

However, additional expenses were incurred as a result of personnel changes and organizational optimizations as well as the return to the original location at Bellevue, which was reflected in the consolidated profit.

At 76 percent, the cost/income ratio is currently well above the target range of 60–65 percent.

«Benefiting from the Future Upturn in the Healthcare Sector» 

Gebhard Giselbrecht, CEO of Bellevue Group, has expressed dissatisfaction with recent performance. He noted that weakness in the healthcare sector has «impaired the performance of our healthcare strategies and accelerated the reallocation of client assets». He added, «This result does not align with Bellevue's ambitions. We aim to create added value for clients and shareholders. We have further optimized our organization and structure and continue refining our investment strategies to position ourselves for a future upswing in the healthcare sector.»

The Board of Directors will propose a dividend of 0.70 francs per share at the Annual General Meeting on March 18, which corresponds to a dividend yield of 6.2 percent based on the share price at at the end of 2024.