Julius Baer will IPO U.S. Asset Management Arm

Swiss private bank Julius Baer Holdings on Tuesday said it is preparing an initial public offering for sometime this year for its U.S.-based mutual funds unit.

The move confirms months of speculation over the unit, best known for a highly successful international equities fund with $72.3 billion in client assets, which has little overlap with the Zurich-based bank.

The unit, run by New York-based fund managers Richard Pell and Rudolph-Riad Younes, is estimated by analysts to record profits of $100 million annually.