Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Banca Mediolanum Full Year 2023 Results Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To enter the queue for questions, please press star one one at any time. You will then hear an automated message advising that your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Alessandra Lanzone, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, madam.
Good afternoon, everyone. It's a pleasure to be back with all of you. Before we begin, please remember to ask your questions in the language of the language line you're calling from. In any case, the answers will be provided in English, sorry in Italian with an English translation. So without further delay, I pass the floor to our CEO, Massimo Doris, that will guide us through the presentation today, accompanied by our CFO, Angelo Lietti. Massimo, over to you.
Thank you, Alessandra. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is with great pleasure that I'm here with you today to share the outstanding performance of Banca Mediolanum for the full year of 2023, and I'm thrilled to report that we have delivered record-breaking results, surpassing even the most aggressive projections. The numbers speak for themselves, with real growth in revenues, net income, and key financial metrics. In fact, Banca Mediolanum has not only weathered the challenges posed in 2023 by unpredictable and rapidly changing economic landscape, but has emerged with unprecedented financial performance. Our stellar results showcase the resilience of our business model and strategic vision, and the effectiveness of our key initiatives.
They underscore the key message we conveyed at the nine-month point: the performance of the year is not a one-off, but serves as a launchpad for where we are headed, superior growth in the years ahead. In fact, the earnings potential that is embedded in our top line is considerable. We've seen that the renowned spike in our NII is actually a step up. Remember that this is the fallout of our long-term diversification strategy, which includes the expansion of our credit book and of our decision to opt for variable rates in both mortgages and treasury activities. Going forward, our NII will stabilize at this stepped-up level, certainly providing a more substantial contribution to the top line than before.
In fact, our customer base is rapidly expanding with a growing percentage of primary customers who have stickier deposits and make up the core of our lending business, contributing to the projected growth of our credit book. Additionally, we are locking in the current high rates in our banking book by prioritizing fixed income over floating rates, and by replacing the bonds that expire with some that have longer maturities. On top of this, as we already discussed, as soon as interest rate cuts commence, asset management products will regain their appeal as the number one option for investors seeking higher returns, thus resulting in a greater increase in our commission income once again. We've always been highly aware of the importance of having a diversified revenue stream, and this is especially true in a changing interest rate environment.
And now, one more thing I know to be true, Banca Mediolanum has entered a new era. We have made a qualitative and quantitative leap that is unprecedented and here to stay. So now let me highlight some of the key accomplishments that have led to our remarkable success. As you can see in slide number four, we exceeded last year's restated earnings by 62%, as net income reached EUR 821.9 million. One of the standout features of our performance has been the generation of a robust net interest income, which came in to over EUR 752 million, increasing 85%. Our capacity to adjust and make the most of changing interest rate conditions has been pivotal in delivering a strong NII.
The same can be said of the strategic positioning we've taken in variable assets, in variable rate assets in both the credit book and treasury portfolio to the tune of EUR 24 billion. As we've already discussed, all of the progress made over the course of 2023 will carry over into 2024. Our net interest income won't just hold firm. It will expand this year. Of course, we are well aware that given that inflation is expected to approach the ECB target over the next several months, the interest rate environment is going to change substantially in 2024, although some confusion persists in the market on the matter.
Following the current market expectations, we have revised our rate assumption for the average three-month EURIBOR from 3.63% down to 3.4% for 2024, and 2.5% for 2025. This marks a material shift compared to last November, when we gave a guidance of a 10% increase in NII for 2024. In light of all this, we are adjusting our NII guidance somewhat, and now foresee an increase of 6%-8%. At this point, we anticipate a flattish NII for 2025, flat compared to 2024, of course. We feel this is achievable, given our proven ability to quickly adapt to the evolving interest rate landscape, optimizing the various moving parts and maximizing profitability, while managing funding costs prudently.
Remember, we have the flexibility and the room to decrease the cost of funding if needed. But on top of this, just keep in mind that we leverage on a well-diversified business model, and as rates decline, assets under management increase in value, generating more recurring fees. As a matter of fact, the reduction in yields that occurred at the end of Q4 led to a positive effect on AUM, which, on fixed income investments alone, is creating additional fees that will largely offset the reduction in our NII guidance. Having said that, while NII was a standout contributor to our record results, our core revenue source, including fees and commissions, continued to expand. Net commission income, in fact, grew by 6%, surpassing the EUR 1 billion mark for the first time to nearly EUR 1.03 billion.
Particularly, the healthy growth in our recurring fees, coming from higher average AUM, was backed by positive markets, though agitated at times, and by sound management asset inflows, which were remarkably resilient despite the new and most unfamiliar competition from govies. In fact, management and investment management fees together totaled over EUR 1.3 billion, surpassing last year's figure by 8%, and with a higher quality asset mix, pushing margins even higher. In fact, on a pre-IFRS 17 like-for-like basis, the recurring fees on average assets would be 214 basis points, 214. Don't forget that our advisory model drives our customer to invest in equity products for their long-term investment horizons on a regular basis and through our automatic investment services. This explains why the equity component of our customers' managed assets has reached an unrivaled 61%, 61%.
As you can see, slide number 15. Going back to the P&L, I'd like to highlight yet another exceptional and record-setting outcome. Our operating margin soared to EUR 987.7 million. Once again, marking a sizable increase, up 49%. This indicates that our core profitability growth trajectory remains unaffected by any turbulence in the operating environment. Thanks to the positive operating jaws, the cost-income ratio continued its downward trend over the course of the year, reaching 39.9%, compared to a restated 47% in 2022. Below operating margin, our net income also got some help from performance fees in 2023. In fact, a few of our funds had extremely good returns due to the rally of the markets toward the end of the year. Consequently, our performance fees line item registered an unanticipated EUR 54 million.
Now, going to slide number five, I'd like to make a quick comment on the business results for the year, which you, of course, have already seen. We registered positive total net inflows of EUR 7.1 billion, with managed asset flows ending up at over EUR 4 billion, which puts Banca Mediolanum at the top of the industry by far, as is our trademark when the going gets tough. I'm sure you are aware that Assogestioni has recently reported that the open-ended funds in Italy suffered outflows of EUR 20 billion.
As you all know, this exceptional resilience, even in the market's most negative phases, is largely due to our advisory strategy, in particular, to the exceptionally high level of installment plans we've always offered, further enhanced by our signature automatic investment services that feature a gradual automatic conversion from money market funds or interest-bearing deposits accounts into equity funds, and now bond funds in Double Chance as well. But I also give an enormous amount of credit to the disciplined, nimble, and proactive approach of our Family Bankers, and to the strong franchise they have with their customers.
Together with the high diversification investment strategy we advocate, this approach also explains why our net flows have been less impacted than our peers by the competition from govies. Indeed, our Family Bankers have seized the current high interest rate environment as a chance to initiate conversation with customers, with the aim of explaining the value of fixed income investments for the medium term, and to then propose alternative options as well, such as mutual funds with attractive yields. To support their efforts, we have provided dedicated tools to show the intrinsic value of fixed income funds compared to BTPs alone.
As a matter of fact, we assert that govies alone are not a comprehensive solution, unless integrated into a well-rounded and diversified asset allocation, where equity, of course, stands out as the optimal choice for long-term investments. In a nutshell, we have demonstrated, in an unusually high interest rate scenario, to be able to generate positive and high-quality managed asset inflows. Just think what we can achieve when rates begin to normalize. Indeed, even though the market context remains a bit tough and uncertain for the asset gathering industry, we are confident that we are well-positioned to thrive in terms of managed asset inflows in 2024 as well. We envision that our flows will end up somewhere between last year's and the year before. Therefore, our guidance for 2024 is for some EUR 5 billion in managed assets inflows.
In the final analysis, solid net flows, in addition to sticky deposits, gave favorable markets a big hand in pushing our total assets to the record level of EUR 118.07 billion at the end of the year, growing an impressive 14%. On the other side, our credit book progressed 4%, passing the EUR 17 billion mark, even though loans granted were down 26% year-on-year, due to the impact of high interest rates on the appetite of our customers for mortgages and personal loans. However, the quality of our loan portfolio continues to be top-notch, with a Net NPE ratio of 0.79% and a 12 month rolling cost of risk of 19 basis points, in line with the expectation of some 20 basis points.
Lastly, General Insurance policies were flattish compared to previous year, coming in at nearly EUR 182 million, although new business on protection policies was up 16%. Lastly, on slide six, you can see that our growth drivers are trending positively. Bank customers total 1,799,100, up a hefty 7%. Our ongoing success, our ongoing success in expanding the customer base is fueled by very strong acquisition and retention rates. In fact, the acquisition of new bank customers has made notable progress, with 185,000 new customers at the end of the year, 10% higher than the previous year, powered by targeted marketing efforts aimed at acquiring primary customers.
Likewise, the network's expansion remained on track, thanks to the recruitment and training of professionals coming from other sectors, as well as to the new Banker Consultants that were gradually added to the franchise. The number of Family Bankers at the group level reached a total of 6,216, an increase in the headcount of 3% for the year. The initiative we refer to as Next is playing a significant role in the enhancing the Italian network. As shown in slide number 38, at the beginning of February this year, there were already 232 Banker Consultants working as licensed financial advisors, together with their senior Private Banker or Wealth Advisors. Adding on to this, a total of 136 Banker Consultants in training are in the process of completing their executive master at our MCU Corporate University.
Our objective for 2024 is to reach a total of 400 Banker Consultants by the end of the year. To give you an idea of the benefits generated, those 80 senior bankers who have been working with a Banker Consultant for at least 11 months have gone from outperforming their peer group by 10% in terms of total net inflows to 62% and the acquisition of new customers has greatly accelerated, more than doubling versus their peer group. Lastly, I would like to take a moment to focus on our automatic investment services, which serves as another fundamental factor driving our growth. Indeed, at the end of December, there was a reservoir of over EUR 2.9 billion parked in the money market funds of the Intelligent Investment Strategy service and in the deposit of Double Chance.
All assets that are ready to be transferred automatically, mainly into equity funds, on a monthly basis over the next few years, ensuring a baseline level of upcoming inflows and margins that we know we can count on regardless. And as far as our installment plans are concerned, please take into account that there are almost EUR 1.6 billion that automatically go into mutual funds on an annualized basis. Now, I'd like to shift our attention, your attention, to the balance sheet ratios in slide number seven. Our consistently high return on equity, registering 25.7% for 2023, reflects our exceptional financial performance. This indicator, showing a 10-year average of 20.4%, underscores our commitment to delivering value and efficiency to our stakeholders.
Our bank's capital position remains rock solid, providing a firm foundation for future growth and commanding resilience in the face of economic uncertainties. This strength positions us as a reliable and solid financial partner for our customers and investors alike. Our CET1 ratio moved up to 22.3%, while our leverage ratio rose to 6.9%. Now, you know how important it is for us to deliver value to our investors, and our commitment to shareholder returns is reflected in the generous dividends we have always distributed. In light of the jump in the size of our business, and most notably, of the sustainable nature of its profitability, this morning, the board of directors approved the proposal for the distribution of a dividend balance of EUR 0.42 per share.
Therefore, the 2023 dividend per share comes to a total of EUR 0.70 when added to the interim dividend of EUR 0.28 paid in November, and is 40% higher compared to 2022, corresponding to a total of EUR 519 million. This sets a new, very high base dividend for the years to come. No doubt, our dedication to maximizing long-term value for our shareholders is unwavering. Right now, I'd like to quickly review our business in Spain, going over to slide number 33. The 2024 results for Spain align with the overall performance of the group business. The operating margin jumped an impressive 85%, and net income showed an outstanding growth of 74% versus 2022, reaching EUR 61.9 million.
Total assets increased 19% since the start of the year, finally surpassing the EUR 10 billion mark, hitting EUR 10.5 billion, of which 7.3 are in managed assets, up 19% as well. Net inflows ran to a total of EUR 865 million, with net inflows into managed assets adding up to a positive EUR 529 million. In addition to this, we made substantial headway in other areas in 2023. The credit book made material progress, increasing 15% to EUR 1.35 billion, mainly thanks to higher volumes of mortgages granted in contrast to the market. Family Bankers were up slightly, 1%, to 1,640.
Keep in mind, we have been concentrating on the quality and productivity of all the FAs who came on board in the past few years. Lastly, the number of customers in Spain surpassed 231,300, a notable jump of 11%. Changing gears and closing up with a look at recent flows, January fared well, with a respectable performance, relatively speaking, and also considering seasonality. Total net inflows registered EUR 645 million, with managed assets reaching EUR 287 million. Maybe it is worth mentioning that the process of transforming the EUR 1.9 billion of matured time deposit connected to the promo offer in January 2023 into managed asset is going smoothly, moving faster and more successfully compared to the promo offer we did in 2020.
47% of the new money that customers participating in the promo offer brought into the system is now in managed assets. We are also experiencing fewer outflows, thanks to the stricter conditions we introduced. And like we've already said, we have a very positive stance for 2024, expecting inflows into managed assets to reach EUR 5 billion. We have similar commercial initiatives slated for the current year that support our focus on customer acquisition, taking into account what our competitors are doing, as well as the competition from government bonds. For instance, we are currently one month into a 5% promo offer on six months' time deposit, as well as Double Chance, that goes until the end of March, with exactly the same conditions as the 4% offer last year. The funding costs associated with these initiatives are already embedded in our NII guidance.
To wrap things up, I'd like to summarize a few key points. Last year posed unique challenges to the financial industry, and our outstanding performance in such conditions is a testament to the dedication and resilience of our company as a whole, the trust of our customers, and the strategic vision that guides our every endeavor. As we celebrate these extraordinary results, we remain forward-looking and committed to sustainable growth. We are entering a new year with many unknowns. From a macro point of view, the instability surrounding the global scenario remains elevated, with geopolitical tensions and conflicts in the Red Sea in the forefront, not to mention the elections in Europe and the U.S. We are certainly mindful of the ongoing challenges and uncertainties, and we are aware that the financial landscape is precarious.
But we believe that our strategic foresight and adaptability will continue to help us navigate the complex future complexities and capitalize on emerging opportunities to sustain our growth trajectory. Actually, we are powering a new chapter of growth. We are entering a new era for Banca Mediolanum, an era defined by unprecedented and sustainable financial performance that will further enhance shareholder value. Thank you sincerely for entrusting us with your support. Well, now we are open for a Q&A.
Yes, we are now open to Q&A. Please try and limit your questions to no more than two in order to give anyone the chance to participate. I promise that we'll get back to any questions that you still may have that were not uncovered. And please also try and speak reasonably slowly in order to help translation. So, now it's time to start, and this time we are going to start from the English line. Thank you.
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. We will now take the first question. Coming from the line of Hubert Lam from Bank of America, please go ahead.
Hi, thank you for taking my questions. I've got two of them. Firstly, on the impressive growth of your dividend, it's very 20% increase is probably way, way better than what people expected. Sorry to sound greedy, but where should we think about it, going from now? Is the increase driven by, you know, your strong earnings of 62% last year, or, and/or also the recognition that your capital ratio of 22% is probably, you know, too high for what it is, and that going forward, you're probably thinking of not needing as much capital as you need to have? Or is it just based on, you know, how earnings are in a particular year?
I guess what I'm thinking of is how should we think of, you know, your thoughts in terms of how the dividend grows over time? Should it be more than a EUR 0.01 or EUR 0.02 increase that you've historically done, even after this big jump, last year? That's the first question. And the second question is on flows. Thank you for the new guidance you've given on flows, and managed assets for this year. Should we think about it more, that it's gonna be geared towards the second half of the year, in which the flows start to come, accelerate? I guess in the near term, as you said, January was a soft, okay start, due to some seasonality, rates are still high, and you still have the, another BTP Valore issuance in February.
You know, is your guidance for the EUR 5 billion, is it more geared towards the second half coming through rather than the first half? Thank you.
Well, actually, the dividend increase is 40% year-on-year, because it's EUR 0.20 with a 40% increase. So what are we expecting? Why this big jump, and what's our outlook? Well, as you may have noticed compared to 2021 and 2019, when we paid out a base dividend plus a special dividend, in this case, EUR 0.70 were represented actually the base dividend. Because unlike 2019 and 2021, this, I mean, earnings were not really influenced by the market, i.e., performance fees. We did report the performance fees, but they have a limited impact on net income. Net income is generated by revenues, by AUM that are steadily growing, so commission income is in excess of EUR 1 billion now, plus NII that actually exploded.
But while performance fees, considering how they are computed and are built, may come in at zero one year and 100 the next, net interest income does not behave that way. So even against a falling rate environment or backdrop, we have projected an increase of 6%-8% for 2024, based on today's data, today's projections. But should the average EURIBOR be lower than expectations, maybe we'll have a smaller growth or a flattish growth, but we won't go down to zero.
So the operating income of EUR 987 million that we reported this year is actually here to stay, and we expect even a higher operating income next year. And getting to dividend, what we are paying out is no special dividend. It's entirely made up of a base dividend, because we think, and are persuaded, that in 2024 we'll pay more than EUR 0.70, and in 2025, we'll pay out even more than we, what we paid out in 2024.
Obviously, no big, big jumps, maybe just a EUR 0.20 increase, but an increase will be. So that we'll see, we will see that during the year. But this jump from 50 to 70 doesn't even account for a new basis, you know, because, for 2024, I expect even more than EUR 0.70 per share. So that's an increase that is there, it's here to stay. Inflows into managed assets, EUR 5 billion. Yes. We do expect sort of a softer start in the wake of the last few months, you know, December, with the exception of December, which is a rather exceptional month. So we will behave more or less like last year with a softer start, and then there will be an accelerating acceleration in the second part of the year.
Rates are expected to fall, and we believe that this is going to facilitate inflows into managed assets. Additionally, some BTPs that our clients have purchased in 2023 will come due. There are clients that have actually bought one-year BTPs, and once they reach maturity, I'm sure they will invest into managed assets. Thank you, Hubert. Next question, please.
Thank you. We will now take the next question coming from the line of Isobel Hettrick from Autonomous. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. I also have two, please. The first is on banking fees. We saw quite a big uptick in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the third quarter. How should we think about the run rate of banking fees as we head into 2024? And then the second question is on G&A expenses. How do you anticipate the trajectory for these, both in 2024 and 2025? Thank you.
As far as banking fees are concerned, they really depend on certificate sales, and how they fare. From a year-on-year basis, they are lower because the sale of certificates. They totaled approximately EUR 1 billion in 2022, and EUR 1 billion in 2023. However, the maturity of certificates, and consider that the commission is upfront, was of one year, one year and a half lower, and therefore we have a four year certificate has lower commissions compared to a six year certificate. The difference lies there. How things will fare in 2024, where will largely depend on interest rates and market volatility, because this is what really makes it possible to design certificates that can be more or less interesting for our network. Consider that this is only one of the products we have.
So if certificates should end up being less interesting, then our Family Bankers will just propose funds. Which means that should certificate sales decline, this doesn't worry me at all, because we will just switch to other products. We have a very wide range of products that we can pick from, and so I'm not worried at all. With respect to G&A expenses, I expect to see a 10% increase for 2024 as well. We have a number of interesting projects at hand to improve the productivity of our Family Bankers and to acquire, to win over more customers. And for 2025, you know, we should still be more or less there, but it's too soon to say.
Once again, this is the growth trend we expect to see. But, of course, we keep an eye on costs, but what we are really interested in is the cost-income ratio, 39.9, and most likely it's going, it is bound to decline. So if costs increase by ten, revenues must increase even more. Thank you, Isobel. Now, we have the next question, please.
Thank you. There are no further questions on the English line. I would like to turn it over to the Italian call for questions.
The first question comes from the line of Elena Perini, Intesa Sanpaolo.
Hello. Thank you so much. Hello, Massimo, and good afternoon, everyone. I've got a couple of questions. The first one is on performance fees, which in Q4 were more robust than in the previous nine months. So I was wondering what are you actually seeing right now? How are these fees faring right now? And also, your net inflows into managed assets guidance, what will be the share accounted for by the conversion of deposits into managed assets? As far as performance fees are concerned, we have recorded them not in the last quarter, but in the last 15 days of the year, when we reported EUR 45 million out of the EUR 54 million in total. So those EUR 45 million were reported in the last 15 days of the year.
As far as January, maybe you wanna take the question. Well, Mr. Lietti is answering now. We have reported EUR 3 million performance fees in January, and on average, we are lagging behind 10% on average, as we said. Yes, because in 2023, all the performance fees you see were generated by three funds only. So it really depends on how individual funds perform. Out of that EUR 1.9 billion that we were mentioning in terms of the offer that was launched in the first quarter of 2023, 45% have already been converted into managed assets. Our objective was 70% over 18 months. Only 12 or slightly less than 12 months have elapsed so far. The promo offer was launched in mid January.
We are, or in early February, so I think that by the summer, we'll hit the 70% mark or, get very close to that mark. So the offer, the current promo offer of about, 5%, well, a portion, not necessarily small, because, if it goes as well as in 2023, maybe by the end of the year, already 40%, of, the money, will be converted, into managed assets. Because the offer is really, identical to the one we launched in 2023.
So if this offer performs the same way, and also assuming we actually will gather EUR 1.5 billion again, because if you consider that currently we have a 5% promo offer compared to a 4% promo offer, and we are gathering 30% more assets under this offer. So if things keep faring that well and moving forward that fast, I think we will gather even more assets.
Next question. Gianluca Ferrari, Mediobanca, please go ahead.
Thank you. Good afternoon. My first question, out of EUR 287 million worth of managed assets for January, what was the contribution made by certificates? And the second is, the EUR 3 billion worth of loans, different type of loans, as equity and mortgages and so on, what is the amount you expect for this year?
Out of the EUR 287 million, we have EUR 25 million worth of certificates, talking about January. Expected, expected lending was only loans or also mortgages?
Everything. You put everything together, last year was EUR 1 billion less compared to 2022, so I just wanted to know your guidance for 2024.
It should be more or less around the same amount, EUR 3 billion, approximately EUR 3 billion also for 2024. Because you see, in any case, interest rates will be higher for longer, slightly higher for longer. It will not be an easy task to exceed these EUR 3 billion.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Gianluca. Next question.
Giovanni Razzoli, Deutsche Bank.
Good afternoon. A couple of questions, well, better said, a clarification and a question. I'd like you to confirm, please, that in 2024, you have +6%-8% growth in NII as a target. Also, considering inflows in January, but also, you know, in December, you reported excellent inflows. But I see an increase in inflows, not only into managed assets, but also into administered assets, and a trend that actually was reported in January as well. So I'd like you to please clarify and let us know whether you see that clients still have an appetite for more traditional asset classes, such as BTPs or other government bonds.
And also, I'd like to know, you know, Mediolanum is a different story, but many other banks are talking about the conversion of the BTPs that their customers purchased into managed assets. Don't you think that that is an assumption, that it's a bit too simplistic for a highly sophisticated sales network as yours? Well, let me confirm that our forecast for NII in 2024 is an increase comprised between 6% and 8% over 2023, and compared to the +10% that we had projected back in December. I have to say that the new EURIBOR curve, which is going to be lower, will be offset by higher management fees that will be generated by fixed income funds.
It is normal, you know, a certain... I mean, interest rates go down, and so, bonds go up, and my management fees, you know, it's the same, but I have a bigger amount of AUM. I have, you know, I lose on one side, I gain on the other. So all in all, we are not in positive territory, but we are only slightly in negative territory that way, because the two components offset, almost offsets each other. As far as the appetite for BTP is concerned, I think that clients will still have an appetite for BTPs this year as well.
I think we have already proven last year that not only we were not affected or negatively impacted by the competition of BTPs, but we managed to really leverage and take advantage of BTPs. Because, you know, customers see the 3.5% BTP a yield, and they are really attracted. And we tell them, That's right, it's an attractive yield. But then we show them the potential implicit yield generated by our fixed income funds. And net of commissions, their implicit yield is higher than BTPs. And so we say, Mr c ustomer, you can buy a few BTPs, but it would be stupid for you to miss out on this opportunity that can be even more, you know, attractive, even, more rewarding for you.
This is how we really took advantage of BTP's competition last year, and we'll do the same thing this year as well. Other banks are saying when BTPs reach maturity, we'll manage to switch those funds into managed assets. May sound simplistic, but depending on how fast the rates are going to fall, banks will succeed or they won't. Because, you know, when customers bought BTP at a 4% rate, when they go in to roll them over, the rate will be down to 3% or 2.8%. At the same time, the bank is selling an equity fund that is generating a +6%.
So the bank would show the difference between the two, you know, things. It's not the best and most sophisticated approaches of all approaches, if you wish, but I really think that this is exactly what is gonna happen. Other banks will show off those products that are performing well. And if BTPs used to yield 4% and now are down to 2.8%, and fixed income funds are up, most likely those funds, even net of commissions and fees, and our funds are generating a yield comprised between 4% and 5%, much higher than BTP's yield. Maybe in the future, they will pay off 2%-3.5%, still higher than the 2.8% yielded by BTPs.
You know, the approach may be similar, but you may engage in that kind of a strategy in a more or less professional way. But I really think that falling rates will really support the conversion from BTPs or from deposits into managed assets. If rates don't fall, it's another story, but since the expectations indicate that they are going to go down, I think there will be a conversion into managed assets.
Thank you. Next question, Alberto Villa, Intermonte SIM.
Good afternoon. I've got two questions as well. The first one, a bit of color on net interest income in 2025. You talked about an estimated EURIBOR at 2.5 for 2025. Well, where would this put net interest income? And maybe you might also think about other promos that would be adjusted on the interest rates that are available at that time. And also with respect to assets and possible investments that you might launch, what we can expect in terms of NII in 2025? Second question, a guidance with respect to tax rate impact, considering that this year, the global minimum tax was adopted.
Let me start from the last question. For 2024, we expected to see a 2 percentage point increase in the tax rate, with a 2% impact on the projected net income for next year. These are our estimates with respect to the introduction of this new tax. Okay, then as to the NII, for 2024, we said 6%-8%. So if I take 7%, NII for 2025, 2024 is EUR 287 million, and for 2025 Sorry, I missed the other data, but for 2025, it would be EUR 805 million. Now, average EURIBOR in 2025, where will that be? You know, we can just rely on forward yield curves.
With an average EURIBOR at 2.5% in 2025, they'd be somewhat more than EUR 800 million in terms of NII. We are expecting to launch other 5% promos, yes, also for 2025, but of course, they will be adjusted depending on the interest rates along the yield curve we have today. We will adjust it depending on where the EURIBOR will be. If it's gonna be lower, then our promo will be slightly lower. If it's higher, it's gonna be slightly higher. So, and we're talking about 2025, so it's very difficult to give a precise guidance as to where NII will land, but this is what we expect.
That's fine. Thank you so much, because expectations talk about a very strong decline in NII for 2025.
Well, you know, it depends. There might be a decline. To be a marked decline, EURIBOR should go down to 1.5%, which is possible, although not projected. The EUR 805 million, approximately NII, is with an average EURIBOR of 2.5%. If it's gonna. If the EURIBOR is gonna be much different, also, our NII data will change accordingly. Should EURIBOR be much lower, this means that equity funds will have gone up more, so more management means greater management fees, irrespective of inflows. And this should largely offset the NII decline. As I said, it's going to be compensated by net commissions. In my opinion, fully offset, because a very strong decline in interest rate is going to favor asset management inflows.
With the increase of asset management funds, it means flows. I'm sorry, this means that commissions are going to pick up as well. I'm not worried if there is a more rapid decline in rates than what is expected right now. You know, it really depends on the bank's capability of growing their assets and depending on the size of banks. So for smaller banks, the growth effect is lower. It's not only an interest rate tax effect, but also a market effect. And we expect to have a flat rate between 2024 and 2025. And also growth volumes are important.
Thank you, Alberto. Next question, please. Next question. The next question comes from the line of Luigi De Bellis. Good afternoon.
What are the growth objective for 2024 for the Family Bankers and sales network, both in Italy and in Spain? Also, are you increasing or adding projects to increase the number of Family Bankers in the years to come? Well, we expect actually an increase in the number of Family Bankers in 2024. We expect to add about 300 of them. So no big numbers, actually, because we are still extremely focused on quality. As to the increase of their productivity, we have started recruiting Banker Consultants and that has really boosted the productivity of the senior bankers that rely on these junior consultants.
So if you look at inflows, these Private Bankers and Wealth Advisors that are supported by a junior banker consultant, whom they pay out of their own pockets, had a inflows performance that was 10% better than their peers. So the senior bankers that decided to rely on a junior consultant were among the best, but even a little better than others. Well, they used to outperform peers by about 10%, but thanks to the help of the junior consultants, their performance, their inflows, grew by 60%. In the past, before being aided by a junior consultant, they used to outperform their peers in terms of customer acquisition by 15%-20%. Now, the outperformance is 100%, so they work very well.
The idea, the thing is working really very well. Also, statistically, we can demonstrate that, because already we have 80 of them. And this performance booster was generated in a year time, over 11-month period. So these are senior advisors that could have relied, that could rely on a junior consultant for a year only. So you can imagine what kind of contribution these juniors will generate in a couple of years. Because, you know, as soon as they are hired, they are junior, they have no experience. But after a couple of years, I am sure that they will give a much bigger contribution to the senior advisor in terms of customer acquisitions, in terms of portfolio management, and so on and so forth.
So as they become more experienced, I am sure that the performance of senior advisors will be boosted. We will add even more, we'll go up to 400 in 2024, and I believe that their help will really boost performance, our bankers' performance significantly. The other project that was recently launched, only recently launched, and so we are still to actually gauge results, is an instrument which we refer to as Life Planning. It's something. It's an instrument we are making available to our Family Bankers. They have just started being trained on the use of this instrument, which helps them work with customers, gather customers' data, information, and thus plan customer investment in the best possible way.
I have to say that those bankers that who contributed to the design and architecture of this instrument, they work together with clients as well, and these bankers have said that this is an instrument that allow them to really improve their performance. Obviously, the instrument has been used by a pilot in sort of a pilot test situation by a few bankers. Once we roll it out, I am sure that that will be something that will increase our bankers' ability to gather, to raise money. But please, remember that despite the... I mean, no matter how many aids or instruments you design to help the bankers, our results will always be influenced by market trends and market performance.
But if you run a little faster than your competitors, no matter what the external conditions are, you will be always a little bit ahead of their competitors. In 2023, for instance, we reported EUR 2 billion AUM, less than in 2022. Was it a bad result? No, because we have really beaten our competitors. We have gathered a lot more than our competitors. I am a cyclist, and I am quite passionate of, you know, cycling. So when you cycle uphill, you tend to slow down a bit because, you know, it's more difficult to cycle uphill. But if your competitors are even slower and find it even more difficult to go uphill, you will beat them anyway. So you will be faster downhill, and you will be less slow cycling uphill.
Oh, somebody also gave me a suggestion, because when I mentioned the junior banking consultant, that is the pro- I was referring to them as junior consultants, this is the project, under the Project Next. And the young consultant that work with the seniors are called Bankers Consultants instead. Thank you, Luigi. Let's move on to the next question. There are no further questions, so let me hand it over to Mrs. Lanzone.
Let me thank you all for being with us today and following this presentation. The next conference call will be on May the ninth, for the first quarter results. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference call is over. You can now disconnect. Thank you.