Page 11 - Maerki Baumann & Co. AG | Annual Report 2020

Report from the Executive Board
Coronavirus as stress test
From the first quarter onwards, last year was dominated by the spread of the coronavirus and attempts to contain it. In March, the financial markets were subject to con- siderable turbulence. On the investment side, our bank was well positioned at all times thanks to the approach it pursues in security selection, which revolves around defensive investments with growth potential (“defensive growth” strategy). The market turmoil was followed by a widespread loosening of monetary policy coupled with the financial stimuli packages rolled out by numerous governments. These had the effect of stabilizing both financial markets and economic momentum. Business trends over the next few months will probably continue to be accompanied by major imponderables. It is pre- cisely in an environment of pronounced but unpredicta- ble fluctuations that our investment policy of defensive diversification will continue to prove itself.
Maerki Baumann recorded very pleasing business devel- opment in 2020 despite the coronavirus crisis. This was due mainly to our future-oriented business model, the
stability of our shareholder base and the great commit- ment shown by our employees. During lockdown, we were pleased to observe how our investment in digital infrastructure in recent years was paying off: Contact with clients was at times only possible via telephone or through digital channels, but nonetheless functioned seamlessly. In addition to our high-quality IT set-up, this was of course also due to our seasoned client advisors. In the reporting year, their expertise was also under- scored by the stamp of quality awarded by the renowned company Gsponer.
The experience we have gained over the last few months with the various electronic channels and platforms has also motivated us to develop ideas for the further digi- talization of our business model. For example, investors who approach us for the first time now have the option of having their identity confirmed by means of video iden- tification within just a few minutes. A further important step in the implementation of our digitalization strategy was the development of our Mobile Banking app, which
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