The Swiss fund market saw assets under management rise by 49.2 billion francs to 1,371 billion francs in 2023. This is equivalent to a 3.7 percent increase, as Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS) reported on Monday. Of this growth, 43.4 billion francs was due to market performance and 5.8 billion francs to net new assets. 

Assets under management for the entire Swiss asset management market (including discretionary mandates) are expected to increase by around 5 percent to 3,020 billion Swiss francs.

Money Market Funds Benefit from Risk-Averseness

The majority of investors took a risk-averse approach in 2023. Money market funds thus added 15.8 billion Swiss francs. «Both 2022 and 2023 must be described as years of money market funds,» said AMAS CEO Adrian Schatzmann. According to Schatzmann, these funds represent a welcome alternative for risk-averse investors.

Equity funds also saw an inflow of 3.7 billion Swiss francs. However, the funds on all the other asset classes lost client funds – in an amount totaling 13.7 billion Swiss francs. Investment-strategy and bond funds also suffered outflows, although their performance was positive at +3.5 percent and +1.4 percent, respectively.

Changes to Market Structure

UBS’s ongoing acquisition of Credit Suisse will significantly change the market structure among Swiss fund providers, AMAS reports. Credit Suisse now has a market share of 12.6 percent, compared with 13.7 percent a year ago. At UBS, the figure has fallen from 25.6 percent to 25 percent.

(Source: AMAS)

The winners, which each rose 0.2 percentage points, were Zuercher Kantonalbank’s fund brand Swisscanto (10.3 percent) and Pictet (5.8 percent). Moreover, U.S. banking giant J.P. Morgan (2.2 percent) and Swiss Life (1.9 percent) each improved by 0.1 percentage points. This means they both outperformed Geneva-based private bank Lombard Odier, which slipped to 1.6 percent (previous year: 2.2 percent).

The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, gained market share in the Swiss fund market (from 6.7 percent to 7.3 percent), whereas specialist Zurich investment firm Vontobel (2.4 percent) saw a slight decrease in its market share. The fund arm of the insurer Zuerich maintained its share of 1.4 percent.

Credit Suisse continues to be reported separately in the statistics, as long as the funds remain named accordingly.

Better Market Access Wanted Abroad 

«Asset management is a cornerstone of the Swiss financial center,» AMAS President Iwan Deplazes said on Monday. AMAS intends to continue its efforts to strengthen its competitiveness.

The AMAS President’s current topics include positions on current regulatory and location issues in the areas of sustainable finance and technology and on expanding international market access.