Strategy and organisation

Information checkedInformation geprüft Strategy and organisation

A clear vision, an ambitious strategy and a value-oriented corporate culture make the LLB Group a trusted partner for its clients, investors and employees. As a universal bank steeped in tradition and whose history goes back almost 160 years, we also have a strong private banking and institutional banking business. The core elements of growth, profitability, innovation and excellence are thereby central to our actions.

Structure and organisation of the LLB Group

Business model

The structure of the LLB Group follows a clear strategic pattern:

• a bank each in Liechtenstein, in Switzerland and in Austria
• a focused business model with three market divisions:  Retail & Corporate Banking, Private Banking and Institutional Clients
• two competence centres: Asset Management and Fund Services
• a stable, long-term ownership structure
• a very solid capital base

The three market divisions

The LLB Group's business model is based on three profitable market divisions:

• Private and Corporate Clients comprises the universal banking business in the home markets of Liechtenstein and Switzerland (see chapter "Private and Corporate Clients"). It provides the full range of universal bank services to private and corporate clients. As the market leader in Liechtenstein, LLB has a strong competitive position. Bank Linth is the largest regional bank in eastern Switzerland.
• Private Banking comprises investment advice, asset management, asset structuring as well as financial and pension planning (see chapter "Private Banking"). Its focus is on the onshore markets of Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria, on the traditional cross-border markets in Germany and the rest of Western Europe, and on the growth markets of Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Middle East.
• Institutional Clients comprises the intermediary and fund business as well as the Asset Management Business Area of the LLB Group (see chapter "Institutional Clients"). Clients include fiduciaries, lawyers, asset managers, fund promoters, insurance companies, pension funds and public institutions. With our Asset Management, the largest investment team in Liechtenstein, we have multiple award-winning investment expertise. Under the umbrella of our fund powerhouse, we bring together four fund management companies in three jurisdictions, making us a leading fund provider in the market regions of Liechtenstein, Austria and Switzerland.

Management structure

The management structure of the LLB Group is divided into divisions:

• The Board of Directors is responsible for overall supervision and control. It defines the strategic, organisational and financial basis for corporate governance (see chapter "Corporate governance").
• The Group Executive Board comprises the heads of the six divisions – three market divisions and Group CEO, Group CFO and Group COO (see organisational structure).

Group structure

The LLB Group has a presence through an independent bank in each of the market regions of Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria. These are Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG, Bank Linth LLB AG and Liechtensteinische Landesbank (Österreich) AG. With LLB Asset Management AG and LLB Fund Services AG, our Group has two competence centres in the areas of asset management and fund services respectively.

StepUp2020 strategy

With the StepUp2020 strategy, we initiated in 2016 a phase of sustainable, profitable growth. The difficult environment during the reporting year caused by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has served to show that the strategic direction of the LLB Group is right.

The focus of our Group's efforts was thus again in 2020 on sustainable, profitable growth.

Strategic success factors

The LLB Group's success is based on a number of factors, the most important being:

• a clear strategy with high-quality implementation
• a client-oriented business model
• a strong competitive position
• innovative, client-oriented products and services
• security and stability
• a stable management structure
• highly effective employees
• efficient processes
• the interplay of digitalisation and personal contact
• a unique corporate culture

The four core elements

Always with an eye to the clients, we will concentrate on our strengths. In doing so, we will focus thereby on four core elements:

• Growth: We want to achieve this in two ways. Firstly, we want to grow organically by building on our own strengths. To this end, we will increase resources available for client advisory services. Secondly, we will target acquisitions in our home markets of Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria.
• Profitability: We intend to increase our margins by offering outstanding products and services. Efficient market penetration will help to generate profitable income. Maintaining strict cost management will be key.
  
• Innovation: We will invest in the future in a targeted manner. On the one hand, we will develop pioneering digital solutions and, on the other, we will provide our clients with an optimised and personalised service. We will automate standard business and individualise trust-based business. The investment volume amounts to more than CHF 100 million, of which CHF 30 million were earmarked for digital solutions for our clients during the last five years.
• Excellence: We will continually improve processes throughout the organisation using lean management principles. Our aim is to increase the benefit to clients and boost added value. Given increasing regulation, we will strive to maintain strict compliance standards.

Growth and financial targets

Under the StepUp2020 strategy, the LLB Group set itself four clear and measurable targets. These are: a business volume of more than CHF 70 billion, a Cost Income Ratio of under 65 per cent, a Tier 1 Ratio of over 14 per cent and a cumulative Group net profit of more than CHF 500 million. We achieved or exceeded three of the set targets in the originally planned strategy period, namely those for business volume, the Tier 1 ratio and cumulative Group net profit (see table). The target set for the Cost Income Ratio has not been reached yet. This is primarily due to adverse interest rate developments.

Extending the strategy period by a year

Due to considerable general uncertainty during the reporting year caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we have decided to extend our StepUp2020 strategy by a year. The LLB Group will present a follow-up strategy and new financial targets in the autumn of 2021. We will therefore continue in 2021 to focus on the strategic core elements of growth, profitability, innovation and excellence. Maintaining cost discipline and achieving income targets will be central to improving the Cost Income Ratio. We want to maintain our growth path. In order to continue to deliver a sustainable, attractive dividend, we will strive to achieve a solid business result again in 2021.

Corporate culture

Vision and guiding principles

Besides strategy and structure, the culture of a company is one of the most important factors in its success. The LLB Group is committed to a concept of banking with a binding system of values. Our vision is thus encapsulated in the motto:

"We set standards for banking with values."

Our vision of banking is based on the idea of managing material values with a clearly defined value system. The guiding principles derived from this are based on four binding values:

• integrity – We create clarity and stand by our word.
• respectfulness – We believe in partnership and hold both clients and colleagues in high esteem.
• excellence – We set standards through performance and passion.
• pioneering – We play an active role in creating a sustainable future.

Vision, guiding principles, strategy and targets drive our thinking and our actions within the LLB Group in a sustainable way. We take various measures to ensure that our vision and guiding principles are firmly established in the minds of the employees and managers. To this end, we launched, among other things, the hashtag "#wertvollhandeln" It is aimed at encouraging the employees to live the corporate values. And also the cultural journey started in 2018 is intended to make employees question their actions, exchange views and rethink processes. The LLB Group continued the cultural journey in the reporting year. The core topics of the cultural journey were addressed and developed further on the intranet, at employee appraisals and through offerings for managers. The topic of "Ownership and delegation" was an element in the target agreements for all employees. For each person, what issues they champion and which overarching topics they take ownership of and promote was recorded (see chapter "Values and corporate management").

Code of Conduct

We believe that responsible, forward-looking management practices are critical to our success. As a trustworthy and respectful partner, we want to be measured by our vision, our guiding principles and our Code of Conduct.

Precisely because of our regional roots, we have our finger on our clients' pulse. That is why we set high standards when it comes to responsibility – both for us as a company and for every individual. The Code of Conduct lays down these standards in a binding set of guidelines. It reflects our values and clarifies what we expect of the Boards of Directors, the Group Executive Board, the managers and the employees. It shows how to handle potential issues or difficult situations that affect our business practices or our dealings with each other.

The LLB Group is present in many countries – where the laws, regulations and rules of conduct are as different as the history, language and culture. The Code of Conduct helps us to implement our company's values Group-wide in our target markets and thereby strengthen the trust of our clients, investors and partners. Further information can be found at www.llb.li/codeofconduct.