Swiss bank Julius Baer's assets under management fell 10 per cent in the first half, hurt by financial market turmoil, missing expectations and hitting shares.

Baer, Switzerland's third-biggest bank for the rich, said its assets under management declined to 364 billion Swiss francs ($358.3bn) at the end of June, when compared to the end of 2007.

Baer said it did not experience any losses related to the credit and liquidity crisis, though tough equity and debt market conditions and the strong franc hurt its asset base.

Net new money at Baer halved from a year ago, hit by market turmoil and the strong franc, though it comfortably beat forecasts.

First-half net profit fell 2 per cent to 510 million francs, also beating recent financial forecasts.

"Although the profit was convincing, the results have to be viewed rather critically," Wegelin analysts said in a note.

Savers entrusted Baer with 10 billion francs in the first half, more new money than expected, suggesting it is benefiting from wealthy clients leaving bigger rivals such as UBS.

The net new money was outweighed by a negative market performance of 32 billion francs and a negative currency impact of 19 billion francs, the bank said.

The bank had been expected to post first-half net profit of 488 million francs and assets under management of 380 billion, according to a survey by a news agency.