LLB Group focuses on growth, efficiency and sustainability

LLB Group focuses on growth, efficiency and sustainability - New ACT-26 strategy stands for acceleration and transformation

Vaduz, 27 October 2021. With the ACT-26 strategy, the LLB Group will be focussing on the core topics of growth, efficiency and sustainability for the next five years. ACT-26 represents the continuation of the Group's successful growth and its technological and sustainable transformation. During the strategy period, the Group will invest CHF 100 million in this transformation. The Group's organisational structure will be aligned with the new strategy, and the number of divisions will be reduced from six to five. The LLB Group continues to represent security and stability.

With the StepUp2020 strategy, we further strengthened the LLB Group and have established an excellent foundation for future-oriented corporate development," says Georg Wohlwend, President of the Board of Directors of the LLB Group. "At over CHF 100 billion, business volume has reached a record high. We have completed three successful acquisitions, have grown thanks to our own efforts and have increased our profits by 50 per cent."

ACT-26 - growth, efficiency and sustainability

The new ACT-26 strategy is the next logical step in the LLB Group's development. ACT-26stands for taking action - and also for acceleration and transformation (ACceleration and Transformation). "With ACT-26, we want to accelerate our previous growth. At the same time, we want to use modern technology to transform ourselves into a more customer-oriented, efficient and sustainable organisation," explains Group CEO Dr. Gabriel Brenna.

"As the core elements of the ACT-26 strategy, growth, efficiency and sustainability are our main focus," says Brenna. "We feel confident that this will allow us to continue to build upon our last successful strategy phase and will allow our clients to benefit from excellent personal advisory services and modern, digital offers."

The corporate objectives of the five-year strategy are:

• Growth:> 3 per cent annually in terms of new client funds and loans to clients
• Efficiency:a maximum cost/income ratio of 65 per cent in 2026
• Sustainability:net zero carbon emissions by no later than 2040
• And a tier 1 ratio of over 16 per cent

The LLB Group is pursuing an attractive and sustainable dividend policy. Whereas the distribution ratio was previously between 40 and 60 per cent of the net profit, it is now more than 50 per cent. Furthermore, LLB strives to continually develop dividends.

Growth: organic and acquisition-driven

Over the next five years, the LLB Group is aiming to once again significantly increase its business volume through a combination of accelerated organic growth and targeted acquisitions. With Liechtensteinische Landesbank in Vaduz and Bank Linth in Eastern Switzerland, the Group has two banks with strong local roots. Moreover, in terms of Wealth Management, the LLB Group wants to expand its position as a leading asset management bank in Austria, a unique fund powerhouse in German-speaking regions, a reliable partner in institutional transactions and an international private bank in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The security and stability of the LLB Group combined with award-winning investment expertise and investment performance for private and institutional clients form the basis for this expansion.

Efficiency: CHF 100 million for digital transformation

In future, LLB will once again focus on providing personalised advisory services to their clients using a hybrid advisory model that is supported by technology. The digital client platform will be developed further and the range of digital products and services will be expanded for all client groups. Concrete added value for clients and a positive client experience across all channels - personal and digital - are at the heart of this development. The LLB Group wants to take an agile approach in order to consistently align its transformation with the changing needs of its clients. At the same time, the Group will also be streamlining, standardising and automating its core processes in order to increase efficiency and make the Bank more scalable. The objective is to enable cost-effective future growth while also making the Bank faster, simpler and better for clients. The LLB Group will therefore be investing CHF 100 million into its digital transformation in the next five years.

Sustainability: comprehensive and accelerated

Sustainability has been a fixed part of LLB's DNA for 160 years. In future, the LLB Group wants to play a leading role and is therefore setting ambitious goals for itself. For example, the LLB Group's banking operations will already become carbon-neutral in 2021 - making it the first bank in Liechtenstein and one of the first in Switzerland and Austria to do so. They will achieve this goal by fully compensating for the greenhouse gas emissions caused by banking operations (including employee commutes) through investments in local and international projects to reduce carbon emissions. The LLB Group is working together with the Swiss climate non-profit organisation myclimate to reach this target. Furthermore, the LLB Group has set itself the goal of becoming completely carbon-neutral by 2040 - ten years earlier than most competitors - and all in line with the UN's ambitious target to limit global warming to 1.5°C. To achieve this goal, the Group aims to reduce the carbon emissions of its banking operations by 20 per cent and those of its client portfolios by 30 per cent by the end of the strategy period in 2026. The Bank will forge ahead with its ongoing process of making its own products sustainable while at the same time adding new, innovative products to its existing range.

Furthermore, based on its fundamental belief in doing the right thing, the LLB Group has also joined the UN's Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). The LLB Group's membership in the Principles for Responsible Investment and Principles for Responsible Banking initiatives also highlights its strong commitment to sustainability and climate protection. The Group's expansion of social sustainability (e.g. the ability to balance work and family, diversity, equal pay, etc.) and its commitment through the LLB Future Foundation will also be accelerated.

To make these efforts and their implementation transparent, the annual sustainability report in accordance with the GRI standard will be supplemented by an additional report created in accordance with the internationally recognised TCFD standard.

Organisation: geared towards clients and change

The strategic focus of ACT-26 will also be consistently implemented at the organisational level. Clients and technological change are at the heart of this shift. The LLB Group will now be comprised of five divisions instead of six. With Private and Corporate Clients and International Wealth Management, the LLB Group will have two clearly positioned market divisions going forward. The Private and Corporate Clients division will manage locally oriented private banking clients (LI / CH / D) as well as corporate and private clients in Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The International Wealth Management division will focus on Austrian and international private banking clients as well as institutional and fund clients. To advance LLB's strategic ambitions of becoming an efficient, digital and innovative banking group, the necessary change capacities and skills will be pooled in what was previously the Group COO division. It will now be renamed the Group CDO (Chief Digital & Operating Officer) division, and a new Group Digital Transformation business area will be created.

As of 1 January 2022, the new organisational structure and composition of Group Executive Management will be as follows:

• Group CEO: Dr. Gabriel Brenna
• Private and Corporate Clients: Urs Müller
• International Wealth Management: Natalie Flatz
• Group CDO: Dr. Patrick Fürer
• Group CFO: Christoph Reich

Furthermore, the Board of Directors has named Christoph Reich Deputy Group CEO as of 1 January 2022. Going forward, Urs Müller, who has held this position since 1 July 2012, will be focussing on the strategic further development of the Private and Corporate Clients market division.

"On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Urs Müller for his immense dedication to the LLB Group. I am pleased that we can continue to count on his many years of management experience and his efficacy," says Georg Wohlwend, President of the Board of Directors of the LLB Group, expressing his appreciation. "Since joining LLB in November 2010, Christoph Reich has helped to shape the LLB Group's successful development as CFO. I would like to congratulate him on being named Deputy Group CEO, and I look forward to continuing to work with him and other members of Group Executive Management. I feel certain that they will drive our new ACT-26 strategy with a great deal of focus and enthusiasm."

LLB Group Investors' Day

At Investors' Day on Thursday, 28 October 2021, Group Executive Management will offer investors a closer look at the ACT-26 strategy and the 2026 financial objectives. Furthermore, the heads of the five divisions will outline their positions in terms of the new strategy.

Brief portrait

Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG (LLB) is the longest established financial institute in the Principality of Liechtenstein. The majority of the company's share capital is held by the Principality of Liechtenstein. LLB's shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (Symbol: LLBN). The LLB Group offers its clients comprehensive wealth management services, as a universal bank, in private banking, asset management and fund services. With 1'048 employees (full-time equivalent positions), LLB is represented in Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria and the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi and Dubai). As per 30 June 2021, the business volume of the LLB Group stood at CHF 101.9 billion.

Ad hoc 2021 Media communiqués Organisation

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