ALM in the Age of Zero: Treasury and Economic Perspectives on a Low-Rate Reality

Summary

Zero interest rates are back in Switzerland, potentially lower for longer.

Let’s make sense of this together from an economic perspective and consider its implications on Asset-Liability Management! Join us for this event bringing together different perspectives on the issue:

• First, the economist sets the stage: How did we get here? What scenarios are to be expected? And what can we learn from Japan’s decades-long low-rate experience?
• Then, the Treasurer takes us into the engine room of ALM: What happens to term transformation, replication portfolios, and margins when rates flatline? How is client behaviour shifting—and what does that mean for product demand, interest income and Treasury Risk?

Whether you’re in ALM, Treasury, or Risk, this is your chance to get fresh insights and practical strategies for navigating through this challenging interest rate environment.

Presenters

• Marc Bussmann, Group Treasurer at Julius Bär
  Marc Bussmann joined Julius Bär in 2023, and soon became Group Treasurer, bringing over two decades of international experience in Treasury, Risk, and Financial Control to support the bank’s strategic objectives. Precedingly, he covered several roles at Credit Suisse, initially working in Product Control with a focus on interest rate derivatives, followed Treasury roles covering Asset and Liability Management and Funds Transfer Pricing (FTP). Subsequently, he took on liquidity and capital planning responsibilities within Wealth Management Finance. Marc began his financial career in New York within a corporate Treasury function before relocating to Silicon Valley to support a subsidiary in a similar capacity. The German-Swiss national has academic backgrounds in both Germany and the United States.
• Claude Maurer, BAK Economics 
  Claude Maurer re-joined BAK Economics as Chief Economist in December 2024, where he had started his economics career in 2004. In between, he gained two decades of experience at Credit Suisse, where he was responsible for Swiss macroeconomic and monetary policy analysis and forecasting. He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Zurich and focussed on data- and technology-driven economics and AI implications on economics through executive education at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to completing his studies, he was a professional athlete and represented Switzerland at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney in 49er skiff sailing.

The event will be introduced by Serena Fioravanti, SRA Board Member and Chief Risk Officer at ABN AMRO Bank and moderated by Robert Maringer, Liquidity Risk Chapter Advisor and Head Financial Risk Control at Berner Kantonalbank AG.

Agenda

17:45  Arrival & Name Tag Collection
18:00  Welcome and Introduction (Serena Fioravanti & Robert Maringer)
18:15  Presentations (Claude Maurer & Marc Bussmann)
18:45  Panel with all the speakers and Q&A (All)
19:25  Conclusion
19:30  Networking Drinks
20:30 End

Chapter Event