August 2026 – 9th meeting

This meeting marked a milestone: the committee met for the first time in its new lineup! With our evolution into an account-holding securities firm, full investment responsibility now lies entirely with our in-house team. A warm welcome to Kay, and a big thank you to Prof. Dr. Thorsten Hens as we say goodbye. We are truly grateful for his impactful dedication and the collaboration over the past four years!

Decisions

The investment committee has made a small update to all existing investment solutions.

Going forward, non-Swiss equity ETFs will be regularly aligned with current market capitalization. Right now, this means a slight boost in US equities, alongside a relative adjustment in Europe, Japan, and emerging markets.

The committee has also set the allocations for our two brand-new investment focuses! Global puts the spotlight on international equities, while the Focus Switzerland zeroes in on domestic equities and uses CHF bonds exclusively.

The share of Swiss equities within this asset class makes the difference! Here is the overview:

• Switzerland: 80% 

• Standard (previous): 40% 

• Global: 10%

The committee is convinced that these new investment solutions fit seamlessly into our offering and provide similarly attractive long-term return potential!

Additional ETFs for your custom investment solution

Starting right now, customers building their own ETF investment solution can pick from these additional ETFs:

• UBS Core MSCI USA UCITS ETF USD acc 

• UBS Core MSCI Europe UCITS ETF EUR acc 

• UBS Core MSCI Japan UCITS ETF JPY acc 

• UBS Core MSCI EM UCITS ETF USD acc

All of these ETFs meet our selection criteria and are ideal for investors who prefer to invest without sustainability filters.

Further Updates

The committee has also chosen the investment solutions for launching Pillar 3a! With this, we’re bringing our proven approach 1:1 right into your private pension: transparent, straightforward, and affordable!

June 2026 – 8th meeting

Discussion Points

Following a lively discussion, the investment iommittee concluded that no changes are required to the investment solutions.

First, the role of gold was analysed. While its price performance over the past two years has reached speculative levels, its centuries-long track record of acting as a «safe haven» during times of crisis continues to make it a valuable component of more conservative investment solutions. In our view, the same does not apply to silver, which has historically experienced extreme price fluctuations and is therefore considered «the» textbook example of a speculative asset.

Second, the committee discussed the allocation to Swiss real estate funds within the investment solutions. This asset class is primarily driven by domestic interest rate developments: the lower interest rates are, the greater the upward pressure on valuations. Unexpected interest rate increases therefore represent the greatest risk. On the other hand, Swiss real estate provides valuable stability during economic downturns. The committee considers this benefit to outweigh the risks and sees no more attractive alternatives at this time.

Finally, the committee discussed a potential ETF replacement for international real estate exposure for clients who follow their own investment solution. The technical details will be analysed by the Investment Management team in the near future and implemented thereafter.

Other

The committee also discussed the planned investment solutions for the upcoming launch of the Pillar 3a product line. It agreed that the proven concept should be adopted on a 1:1 basis for private retirement savings as well.

Our clients can look forward to transparent, simple, and above all cost-effective Pillar 3a investment solutions.

December 2025 – 7th meeting

Decisions

The investment committee has decided to make a small change to all investment solutions.

Going forward, the liquidity ratio in all findependent investment solutions will be set at 1%. The halving of the previous ratio was made possible through technical optimizations. The “freed-up” funds will be invested in bonds for the Cautious, Considered, Balanced, and Adventurous solutions, and in equities for the Risk-Taking solution. Implementation will take place during Q1 2026.

No other changes have been made. In particular, the committee acknowledges the substantial returns from Swiss equities in the 2025 investment year, but continues to see attractive returns for investors with a long-term horizon. Swiss equities are fairly valued and, overall, offer a diversified opportunity to participate in the success of well-managed companies.

Additionally, the committee sees no reason to believe that the long-term return potential of a diversified portfolio, focused on global equities, CHF bonds, and Swiss real estate funds, will be significantly reduced.

Additional ETF for personal investment solutions

From now on, customers who wish to create their own ETF-based investment solution can choose from the following two additional ETFs:

• Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield

• Xtrackers NASDAQ 100

Both ETFs meet the strict selection criteria and complement the existing offering.

The Vanguard ETF has been added in response to multiple customer requests and is suitable for investors who want to invest globally in high-dividend-yield equities.

The Xtrackers ETF replaces the previous iShares ETF on the NASDAQ 100 Index. All existing customer holdings will be exchanged cost-efficiently. The new ETF offers lower annual product costs for existing investments (0.20% vs. 0.30%) and a significantly lower per-unit price for future investments, allowing for more individualized portfolio allocation.

Other

The committee also discussed the role of Swiss government bonds in the current zero-interest-rate environment and decided not to change their weighting. On the one hand, they serve as a stability anchor in times of crisis. On the other hand, the list of viable alternatives is very short, offering little additional expected return while sometimes carrying significantly higher risks.

June 2025 – 6th meeting

Decisions

The investment committee has decided not to make any changes to the current investment solutions.

So far this year, riskier asset classes such as equities and high-yield bonds have experienced higher volatility compared to the previous two years. Despite ongoing global conflicts and continued negotiations around new US trade tariffs, the global economy and the majority of companies have proven resilient. As always, the best and most valuable companies continue to adapt to an ever-changing world.

The committee sees no compelling reasons that would significantly reduce the long-term return potential of a globally diversified portfolio including equities, Swiss bonds, and real estate funds.

New ETF for your own investment solution

Starting now, findependent clients who put together their own investment solution can choose an additional ETF:

• SPDR MSCI World Small Cap

This ETF meets our strict selection criteria, complements the existing offering, and is suited for investors interested in small-cap companies, which are typically underrepresented in standard market-cap-weighted indices.

The ETF was added in response to strong customer demand.

Other

The committee also discussed the possibility of offering a low-risk investment solution without equities. However, this will not be pursued further at this time. Given Switzerland’s near-zero interest rate environment and the high valuations of top-rated CHF bonds and domestic real estate funds, investors can expect only minimal excess returns after costs, barely more than a savings account.

Increasing exposure to foreign bonds and real estate would introduce higher currency risk, which would likely offset the benefit of higher yields. Other accessible asset classes, such as precious metals or cryptocurrencies, are subject to high volatility, making them unsuitable for larger portfolio allocations.

In short: there’s little way around equities when it comes to reliable long-term returns.

December 2024 – 5th meeting

Decisions

The investment committee has decided not to make any changes to the investment solutions.
The 2024 investment year brought significant price gains for global equity investors, with three factors standing out:

Firstly, the economic development in the USA was encouraging. The world’s largest economy by far continued to show hardly any signs of fatigue.
Secondly, further interest rate cuts have taken place in the largest economic areas and are more likely than interest rate hikes in the future.
Thirdly, the election of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the USA led to euphoria, particularly on the US equity markets and with regard to crypto assets.

All three factors led to significantly higher stock market prices in the USA. This led to an increase in rebalancing transactions for our clients, i.e. allocations to US equities that had risen due to the above reasons were systematically reduced to their target values. Such rebalancing enabled disciplined profit realizations in the strongly risen US markets, whose short and medium-term return potential probably decreased accordingly in return.

Furthermore, the following additional exchange traded product (ETP) for Bitcoin will be available in the coming weeks for findependent clients who put together their own investment solution: WisdomTree Physical Bitcoin ETP

The ETP complements the existing offering and is suitable for investors who wish to add up to 10% Bitcoin to their own allocation.

Commentary on crypto assets

The committee is responding to a frequently expressed customer request and is taking the most important crypto asset – Bitcoin – into account in this first step. This offers interested parties an opportunity to invest with a low portfolio weighting. This still young asset class has attracted attention in the past with extremely high gains and fluctuations in value and is therefore particularly suitable for investors who are willing to take risks.
The committee refrains from using crypto assets in ready-made investment solutions, particularly in view of the extremely euphoric sentiment. In its view, it is unclear whether they are suitable as an asset class for capital accumulation or preservation over several decades.

Comment on ETPs

As it is unlikely that ETFs on Bitcoin will be launched in Europe and Switzerland in the foreseeable future for regulatory reasons, ETPs remain the best alternative. An ETP differs from a “conventional” ETF in that the former is legally a debt security to the provider and not a special asset like the latter. The ETP therefore does not offer quite the same level of security as an ETF. Consequently, the analysis of the provider is particularly important. The Investment Committee opted for the product of the well-known US fund company WisdomTree, which has an impeccable reputation, high profitability and a healthy balance sheet.

June 2024 – 4th meeting

Decisions

The investment committee has decided not to make any changes to the investment solutions findependent investment solutions.
The stock price gains since the start of the year reflect the positive mood among investors, with three factors standing out:

Firstly, the economic trend worldwide is encouraging. The US economy in particular is showing hardly any signs of fatigue.

Secondly, the first interest rate cuts have taken place in the largest economic areas and are more likely than interest rate hikes in the future.

Thirdly, artificial intelligence applications offer the potential to make many work processes more efficient.

All three factors can support the development of profits at many of the leading companies. This should make long-term investors optimistic, as rising corporate profits are “the” factor for performance in the long term.

Furthermore, the following additional ETF for Swiss equities is now available for findependent clients who put together their own ETF investment solution:

• iShares Swiss Dividend (CH)

The ETF fulfills the strict selection criteria, complements the existing offering and is suitable for investors who want to invest in Swiss equities with a focus on high-dividend companies.

The ETF is being added in response to many customer requests. It is important to emphasize at this point that private individuals pay tax on dividend distributions as income. Higher distributions can lead to higher after-tax charges, which can result in a relatively lower total return in the long term.

Other

The committee also discussed the possibility of including crypto assets in the investment solutions. It decided against it. Two reasons:
Firstly, crypto assets are a young asset class with a short and very volatile track record. In their opinion, it is unclear whether they are suitable as an asset class for capital accumulation or preservation over several decades.
Secondly, there are currently no valid listed instruments (yet). Should the latter change, however, an offer for clients who put together their own ETF investment solution will be considered.

December 2023 – 3rd meeting

Introduction of the investment solution Careful

The committee decided on the securities and their weighting for the new Careful investment solution. The aim is to preserve the invested capital in the long term after deduction of all transaction and administration costs as well as the increase in Swiss consumer prices (“inflation”). Its equity component is 20%, which offers a certain return potential. The majority of the assets, on the other hand, are invested in defensive Swiss investments such as medium-term CHF government bonds, investment-grade CHF corporate bonds and Swiss property funds. The focus is clearly on stability. A 10% allocation to gold rounds off the cautious profile. The gold price is not a “common commodity”. However, its track record for long-term value stability goes back thousands of years. Overall, 92% of the investments are held in Swiss francs, which also greatly reduces the foreign currency risk.

Decisions for existing investment solutions

The committee also decided to make the following changes to the existing range:

• Cautious: New 5% gold and 15% medium-term CHF government bonds at the expense of fewer CHF corporate bonds and USD emerging market bonds

• Balanced: New 8.4% CHF medium-term government bonds at the expense of fewer CHF corporate bonds and USD emerging market bonds

• Brave: 1.6% more USD emerging market bonds at the expense of fewer CHF corporate bonds

The changes to Cautious and Balanced in particular provide additional long-term stability without investors having to forego too much yield potential. In particular, the credit and duration risk of the bonds is reduced. The gold component in the “Cautious” investment solution also offers a certain insurance character: gold remains stable or even increases in value, especially in times of crisis.

Additional ETFs for your own investment solution

Furthermore, the following ETFs are now also available for clients who put together their own ETF investment solution:

• UBS ETF Gold

• iShares Swiss Domestic Government Bond 3-7 ETF

• iShares MSCI World SRI

All ETFs fulfil the strict selection criteria and complement the existing range.

June 2023 – 2nd meeting

Decisions

The committee decided not to make any changes to the investment solutions. In our view, the price gains since the start of the year reflect two developments. On the one hand, market sentiment has brightened noticeably. More and more investors are assuming that no additional interest rate hikes will soon be necessary in the most important currency areas in order to reduce the still high inflation rates. Secondly, the track record of many leading companies is also impressive in the current environment. Many have underpinned their continued respectable growth rates with an unbroken capacity for innovation. The second reason in particular should make long-term investors optimistic.

Furthermore, the following additional ETF for Swiss equities is now available for customers who put together their own ETF investment solution:

• UBS ETF SPI ESG

The ETF fulfils the strict selection criteria, complements the existing range and is suitable for investors who want to invest in Swiss equities and do not want to forego the inclusion of ESG criteria.

Other

The committee discussed at length what a conservative investment solution worthy of the name should look like. Two imperatives take centre stage. Firstly, a conservative investment solution focuses on long-term real value preservation. In other words, assets should grow in line with the cost of food, rent and other goods and services. Secondly, a conservative investment solution should also exhibit fewer fluctuations in value. Findependent is planning to introduce one by the end of the year. Interested parties can look forward to it.

December 2022 – 1st meeting

Founding

On December 14th, the committee met for the founding meeting in Aarau. The agenda was broad and included the investment year 2022, the current ETF list, as well as gold and Chinese bonds.

Decisions

The most important decision made was to «do nothing». The committee sees no reason to change the investment solutions. The losses in 2022 mean that the expected future returns increase. It is best to «ride out» the downturn.

In addition, the following additional ETFs are now available for customers who want to create their own ETF investment solution:

• UBS ETF SLI (Swiss equities)

• iShares Digitalisation UCITS ETF (equities with a thematic focus on digitalization)

• iShares Core Euro Corp UCITS ETF (corporate bonds in euros)

All three ETFs strictly meet the strict selection criteria and complement the existing offer.

Other

The committee also discussed the possible use of gold as an additional asset class. However, it decided against it. There are two reasons for this: First, gold has a high «insurance character», meaning it can hold its value in times of crisis. However, the Swiss franc also fulfills this function. The findependent investment solutions all have a high value of the Swiss franc. Second, income-generating investments, especially equities, are better suited for building long-term wealth due to their higher potential returns.