2024 will be remembered as a year of constant change.
Democratic elections, geopolitical tensions, armed conflicts, divergent economic trajectories, advances in artificial intelligence, and escalating environmental issues: the year has been filled with both challenges and opportunities.
At Lombard Odier, we have always viewed it as an essential part of our mission to support our clients, help them rethink the world around us, and assist them in preserving and growing their wealth over the long term, through market cycles.
In this letter, you will find our outlook for the upcoming year 2025, as well as an overview of the latest developments in our range of services.
As a second Trump administration deploys its ‘America First’ policies, a new investment landscape is being shaped in the US and beyond. In 2025, the global economy should continue to expand. The US economic engine will shift into a higher gear. However, the next Trump administration’s policies, most immediately through higher import tariffs across the board, threaten to weaken prospects for the rest of the world.
This is especially true for Europe and China. Europe may experience its own pivotal moment. The region’s leaders are already working to coordinate ahead of elections in Germany, and possibly France. China’s authorities have worked to counter slowing domestic demand and potential trade shocks with a series of stimulus measures. Trade tensions and a strong US dollar are both challenges to emerging markets, however economic fundamentals across many emerging markets have improved, helping to limit stresses.
Central banks’ policies in developed markets will further diverge. Higher US growth and inflation will require the Federal Reserve to halt its cutting cycle sooner, leaving interest rates at elevated levels. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank and Bank of England will need to accelerate their respective easing cycles to mitigate risks and stimulate their own economies. The Swiss National Bank is expected to maintain a similar easing cycle to keep the Swiss franc from appreciating too much. The divergences are further amplified by differing approaches to government spending: the US has committed to massive infrastructure investments, outpacing other economies.
These different macroeconomic dynamics have implications for asset classes. Equities, and US stocks in particular, despite high valuations, should deliver robust returns. Markets anticipate lower US taxes and deregulation, fuelling corporate earnings growth. Advances in technology and its wider adoption should also help. The US remains a core portfolio holding and we also see potential for strong returns in Japanese equities. European equities are likely to underperform.
Within fixed income, corporate bonds, in particular high-yielding ones, offer attractive yields and, through their shorter maturities, are less sensitive to interest rate movements. Corporate bonds therefore offer greater risk-adjusted return potential than sovereign bonds. We expect US government bonds to underperform as the Federal Reserve makes fewer rate cuts and long-term yields rise. In sovereign bonds, we prefer German Bunds and UK Gilts.
Higher US interest rates should keep the dollar supported, allowing it to outperform most other currencies. We retain our positive outlook for gold, driven by a flight to safety and central bank demand.
In this increasingly multipolar world, we work to strike the right balance of risk and reward through active management. This lets us prudently steer portfolios through market volatility while continuing to capitalise on short and long-term opportunities.
As an investment-focussed firm, we believe that the long-term success of a portfolio depends on a clear vision, strong convictions, and attractive investment solutions. In 2024, we rethought and consolidated all our investment views into a single, unified House View: a strategic and coherent perspective that guides our asset allocation and reflects the best of our market expertise.
Publications supporting our House View are always available on our digital portal, My LO, and can also be shared with you by email through your private banker.
Investment performance and the ability to achieve long-term financial objectives primarily stem from a clearly defined strategic allocation. To assist our clients in establishing such an allocation, we have developed a proprietary approach called “Your Wealth Outlook”. Supported by an iterative and intuitive digital solution, this methodology enables simulations of different scenarios and helps define the most suitable allocation.
The current interest rate environment offers attractive opportunities for clients to earn advantageous returns on their cash holdings. This year, we actively worked on creating an appealing cash investment offering for our clients, leveraging the strong fundamentals of our balance sheet.
We now provide our own fixed-term deposit products in 16 currencies through the balance sheets of our Group’s banking entities. This offering is available to clients with assets deposited at our banks in Switzerland and Europe. Additionally, we also offer fiduciary placements through the balance sheet of our European entity, tailored for clients of our banks in Switzerland and Singapore.
Today’s higher long-term rates, particularly in the United States, have led many clients to rediscover the benefits of the bond asset class and to seek to secure certain yield levels by building portfolios of securities held to maturity. For such portfolios, we prioritise high-quality issuers.
In 2024, we strengthened our thematic investment approach, focusing first on opportunities in listed equities. Our new approach, rethink investments, is rooted in our equity research and leverages our analysis of transformations underway in the global economy to identify the investment opportunities that flow from them. Changes in demographics, longevity, infrastructure, technology, and the transition to a net-zero, nature-positive economy are disrupting business models and value chains, creating new winners and losers. We build thematic investments into portfolios with a view to accessing long-term growth opportunities and building resilience across business cycles.
Our core, active equity funds are key building blocks for multi-asset portfolios. They combine our macroeconomic, strategy and equity analysts’ views, and aim to generate excess performance versus major equity indices with limited risk. Both our US and eurozone funds have outperformed their benchmarks since the strategy was initiated in 2020, in highly competitive and efficient equity markets.
Our PrivilEdge range of strategies also celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. PrivilEdge is designed to give our clients access to best-in-class external managers. In 2024, we added new managers and restructured the range into ‘core’ and ‘select’ strategies. The former are portfolio anchors that offer low tracking error versus benchmarks and the latter take a high conviction approach that seeks specific solutions to navigate different market environments.
The challenges of climate transition and the sustainable development of our society are significant. At Lombard Odier, we view sustainability as a fundamental trend that can unlock interesting investment opportunities. Our role is to identify companies that, either by transitioning their business models or by offering innovative technological solutions, will emerge as winners in the ongoing transformation. For private clients wishing to align their portfolio with this transition, we have developed a new investment offering: the CLIC® mandate.
For investors with a long-term investment horizon, private assets present significant diversification potential by providing access to sectors of the economy that are no longer adequately represented in listed markets. Over the past 15 years, we have developed genuine expertise in this area, with more than 30 specialists dedicated to this asset class.
Our offering is broad and diversified, including private equity, venture capital, real estate, infrastructure, and private debt. However, unlisted assets are not suitable for all profiles. Their illiquid nature requires investors to have a solid understanding of how this asset class operates. If you are interested in unlisted assets, and if applicable regulations governing your relationship allow, we can help you build diversified portfolios tailored to your personal circumstances.
As private bankers, our ambition is to help you preserve and grow your wealth, as well as that of future generations. Our expertise in wealth and estate planning allows us to align the structuring of your wealth with your long-term goals in a fully personalised manner.
This year, many countries, including the United Kingdom and France, have experienced changes in their tax policies. Our advisors are at your disposal to assess the potential impact of these changes on your situation. We are also equipped to assist you in managing the tax implications related to the location of your assets (situs of assets) and in handling the necessary steps in the event of relocation from one jurisdiction to another.
Building on our experience in the transmission and support of family-owned businesses, we assist families in defining sustainable governance structures that promote the harmonious transfer of wealth across generations. We have extensive expertise in drafting family charters, particularly when wealth is managed collectively and there is a need to clarify its management rules.
We have also enhanced our offering for future clients representing the next generation. In the summer of 2024, we had the great pleasure of welcoming members of the NextGen community in Geneva for a series of masterclasses on investment-related topics. In November, during our LO Generations Summit held in Tuscany, the NextGen community engaged in discussions on themes such as the future of Europe, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, and sustainable investment.
Our digital solution, My LO, provides you with a comprehensive, secure, and real-time overview of your portfolio, its performance, market movements, and our latest analyses – all accessible from your smartphone, tablet, or computer. In 2024, we continued to expand our digital services to better meet your needs:
If you have not yet accessed My LO, feel free to contact your private banker who will assist you in setting it up.
By September 2025, our Group will relocate to new headquarters on the shores of Lake Geneva, in Switzerland. Our future home will bring all our employees together under one roof, offering our clients a unique experience.
Proud of our history and the generations that preceded us, our future headquarters have been designed to reflect our heritage while embracing the modern world in which we operate. We look forward to welcoming you there.
We monitor regulatory changes affecting the financial sector very closely. We would like to remind you that relevant regulatory documentation is always available on a dedicated page on our website: www.lombardodier.com/legal-information. Any notifications affecting you will be sent separately.
We have always maintained a philosophy of prudent management in both our operations and our balance sheet. Fitch Ratings once again acknowledged the financial stability of our Group, reaffirming our AA– rating with a stable outlook, the highest possible rating for a group of our size.
As of 30 June 2024, the total assets of our clients deposited with us amounted to CHF 318 billion. With a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 31.7%, Lombard Odier is one of the most well-capitalised banking groups in Europe. Our balance sheet is liquid and conservatively invested.
Our governance model provides for gradual changes within the Board of Partners, ensuring the continuity and long-term orientation of our Group.
On 31 December 2024, Mr. Alexandre Zeller, Managing Partner, will retire. After five years with the Group, overseeing our technology operations and various cross-functional areas, Alexandre has expressed his wish to begin a new chapter. The Board of Partners warmly thank Alexandre Zeller for his invaluable contribution to the development of our Group. We are pleased to maintain a close relationship with Alexandre Zeller, who will serve as a non-executive member of the Board of Directors of our Swiss bank.
On 1 January 2025, we will warmly welcome Mr. Xavier Bonna to the Board of Partners. Xavier Bonna brings many years of experience in wealth management for private clients, both outside and within the Group. His expertise in private client management and his strong interpersonal skills will be valuable assets in continuing the Group’s growth.
As of 1 January 2025, the Board of Partners will be composed of: Hubert Keller (Senior Partner), Frédéric Rochat, Denis Pittet, Jean-Pascal Porcherot, Alexandre Meyer, and Xavier Bonna.
This year again, we wanted to support those in need. Our year-end philanthropic initiatives focussed on local organisations assisting people with disabilities in the many countries where our Group operates. These efforts have facilitated, for example, the education of children with disabilities and the integration of adults into society through sociocultural projects.
Our philanthropic advisory activities also continue to grow. Since 2008, the Fondation Philanthropia, a hosting foundation dedicated to helping our clients achieve their philanthropic projects, has enabled them to realise their ambitions with professional and experienced guidance.
One of the foundation’s most emblematic commitments is its contribution to the ambitious restoration project at the Château de Versailles. Over the past decade, the foundation has supported the successive restorations of the Latone Fountain, the Grand Trianon, and the Royal Chapel. These projects have both preserved historic monuments and safeguarded craftmanship and know-how. Through these initiatives, dozens of artisans – stonecutters, master carpenters, gilders, roofers, and sculptors – have acquired or passed on invaluable expertise.
We sincerely thank you for the trust you have placed in us. We extend our warmest wishes to you and your loved ones for success, happiness, and health in 2025.
Frédéric Rochat, Managing Partner
Denis Pittet, Managing Partner
This is a marketing communication issued by Bank Lombard Odier & Co Ltd (hereinafter “Lombard Odier”).
It is not intended for distribution, publication, or use in any jurisdiction where such distribution, publication, or use would be unlawful, nor is it aimed at any person or entity to whom it would be unlawful to address such a marketing communication.
share.