Banks and wealth managers still do not particularly shine when it comes to transparency regarding the comparability of yields, writes the company, which positions itself as a comparison portal for the industry, in a statement.

The previous year, with its favorable market environment and positive yield contributions across all major asset classes, made it easy for wealth managers to generate positive returns for their clients.

Balanced Portfolios Continue Their Comeback

In the analyzed investment portfolios denominated in Swiss francs, the median yield ranged from +3,0 percent (income strategy) to +9,7 percent (equity-heavy risk profile).

The so-called balanced portfolios continued their comeback in 2024 as well. Roughly calculated, these portfolios typically consist of 60 percent bonds and 40 percent equities. The median yield for these popular balanced strategies in francs stood at a solid 5,1 percent.

Significant Variance

However, there are exceptions. Negative outliers were found in all risk profiles. Additionally, the gap between the highest and lowest yields was notably wide. In equity portfolios, the difference between the worst and best-performing portfolios exceeded 30 percentage points. In 2023, this difference was 25 percentage points. Even in fixed-income risk-profile portfolios, a record-high variance of over 12 percentage points was observed (compared to 8 percentage points in 2023), according to the report.

US Equities Dominated

Global equity portfolios were once again driven by the dominance of US equities. Global equity yields were reported to be close to 20 percent. As in the previous year, a very small group of US technology stocks, the so-called «Magnificent 7,» was responsible for 30 percent of the US yields. These include the tech and IT companies Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Tesla, and Microsoft. Portfolios with a high Swiss component (home bias) were unable to keep up.

Moreover, in terms of investment models, «Growth» outperformed «Value,» and «Passive» outperformed «Active.» The technology rally, with a focus on AI, tipped the scales in favor of the former.

The comparison is based on information from over 500 banks and wealth managers on the Zwei Wealth Office platform, the statement adds.