Strategy and organisation

Information unaudited Information ungeprüft Strategy and organisation

LLB has a long tradition as the oldest bank in Liechtenstein. However it is not just our 160 years of history that make us a trusted partner for clients, investors and employees. It is also our clear vision, our ambitious strategy and our values-based corporate culture that make us into “their bank”.

ACT-26 strategy

The ACT-26 strategy is the next logical step in the LLB Group’s development. ACT-26 stands for taking action and also for acceleration and transformation (ACcelerate and Transform).

The strategy is based on three core elements:

• Growth: Over the next five-year strategy period, the LLB Group will once again strive to significantly increase its business volume through a combination of accelerated organic growth and targeted acquisitions. The basis for this expansion is the security and stability of the LLB Group combined with award-winning investment expertise and investment performance for private and institutional clients. In retail and corporate banking business, we also want to expand our position in Liechtenstein.
• Efficiency: Now and in the future, we again place special focus on providing personal advisory services to our clients. We will achieve this by employing a combination of different advisory models, also known as a hybrid advisory model.  For this purpose, the digital client platform will be modernised and the range of digital products and services will be expanded for all client groups. We will adopt an agile approach in order to be able to react to the changing needs of clients. At the same time, we will also be streamlining, standardising and automating our core processes to increase efficiency and make the bank more scalable.
• Sustainability: Sustainability has always enjoyed a high priority at LLB. We want to play a leading role in this area and have therefore set ourselves ambitious goals. For example, we want to become completely climate-neutral by 2040 – ten years earlier than most of our competitors. On the way to achieving this goal, we will significantly reduce the carbon emissions of our banking operations and those of our client portfolios. In addition, we will continue with the process of making our products sustainable and add more innovative products to our range. We have already made great progress in realising these objectives.

Ambitious growth and financial objectives

In implementing the core elements of our corporate strategy, we are pursuing ambitious goals:

• Growth: Growth in terms of net new money and net new loans should be at least three per cent annually.
• Efficiency: In 2026, the Cost Income Ratio should not exceed 65 per cent.
• Sustainability: The complete carbon emissions of the LLB Group should be reduced to net zero by no later than 2040.

In addition to this, we are targeting a tier 1 ratio of over 16 per cent.

Implementation of the ACT-26 strategy

The implementation of the ACT-26 strategy is progressing according to plan. In 2023, important intermediate targets were also attained with the three strategic core elements – growth, efficiency and sustainability. The only exception was with net new money where the ambitious objective of at least three per cent growth annually was not achieved in 2023. On the other hand, net new loans increased substantially.

In order to continue growing sustainably, the LLB Group is investing in Switzerland and Germany. We want to exploit the growth potential of both markets by increasing our business presence in both countries. For this purpose, we are opening two new business locations in Switzerland – in St. Gallen and Zurich. Since the beginning of 2024, we now have a business presence for the first time in Germany consisting of a branch office having three business locations in Munich, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf.

We plan expenditure totalling CHF 250 million for the implementation of our ACT-26 corporate strategy. In addition to CHF 100 million for the digital transformation, we shall invest in our building infrastructure, hard and software, as well as in strategic projects.

Attractive and sustainable dividend policy

The LLB Group is continuing to pursue an attractive and sustainable dividend policy. The distribution ratio amounts to more than 50 per cent of the Group net profit. Furthermore, the LLB Group intends to continually increase the dividend.

Structure and organisation of the LLB Group

The strategic focus of ACT-26 will also be consistently implemented at the organisational level. Clients and technological change are at the heart of the transition.

The LLB Group has a divisional organisational structure. In addition to the two market divisions “Retail & Corporate Banking” and “International Wealth Management”, the management structure includes the functions of Group Chief Executive Officer (Group CEO), Group Chief Financial Officer (Group CFO) and Group Chief Digital & Operating Officer (Group CDO).

Dual positioning

We intend to achieve our ambitious growth and financial objectives through a clear dual positioning in the market: a universal bank with strong local ties on the one hand and a sustainable international private bank on the other.

The LLB Group’s business model is based on two profitable market divisions:

• The “Retail & Corporate Banking Division” services locally oriented private banking clients in Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Germany, as well as corporate and private clients in Liechtenstein and Switzerland (see chapter Retail & Corporate Banking).
• The “International Wealth Management Division” cares for Austrian and international private banking clients, as well as institutional and investment fund clients (see chapter International Wealth Management).

Group structure

We have a presence in the market regions of Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria with one bank each: Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG, LLB (Schweiz) AG and LLB (Österreich) AG. In addition, the LLB Group has two competence centres in the areas of asset management and fund services.

With Liechtensteinische Landesbank in Vaduz and LLB Schweiz in eastern Switzerland, the LLB Group already has two successful universal banks. We want to expand this strong position and establish ourselves as the market leader in Liechtenstein and as a “trustworthy bank” in the German-speaking region of Switzerland (see chapter Retail & Corporate Banking). 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 the German-speaking regions, a reliable partner in institutional business and as an international private bank in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Corporate culture

In addition to 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 (see chapter LLB brand).

Our vision of banking is based on the idea of managing material values with a clearly defined system of principles.

It is only through living and living up to a (corporate) culture that a company can achieve success. For this reason, at the LLB Group we implement various measures to ensure that our culture is firmly established in the minds of employees and managers (see chapter Values and corporate management).