September 21, 2023
Iwan Deplazes and Charlotte Baenninger confirmed as AMAS President and Vice-President respectively

At the AMAS Board of Directors meeting on 21 September 2023, Iwan Deplazes and Charlotte Baenninger were confirmed as President and Vice-President for a further three years. The Board of Directors had already constituted itself at the meeting of 2 June 2023 prior to the ordinary General Assembly. Mirjam Staub-Bisang, Christel Rendu de Lint, August Benz, Alexandre Meyer and Filippo Rima had been confirmed as members. Sébastien Eisinger, Yves Schneller, Dagmar Kamber Borens and Stefan Mächler were newly elected to the Board.

September 21, 2023
Welcome, Michel Bossong!

Michel Bossong has joined AMAS as our new Senior Pensions Expert. He has more than 20 years’ experience in asset management for pension funds, his most recent position being regional head of institutional clients at a Swiss private bank. Having served on several pension foundations’ boards of trustees, he knows the priorities and challenges in this field. Michel has a degree in economics from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland and is currently training to become a federally certified occupational pension actuary.

June 28, 2023
SSF publishes Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study 2023

Sustainability-related investments have faced a challenging environment over the past year. The negative market performance of 2022 hit sustainable investors just as much as their mainstream peers. Furthermore, many banks and asset managers chose to take a more conservative approach in reporting their sustainable offerings in order to manage greenwashing risks and rising regulatory complexity attributable to the absence of commonly agreed definitions. As a result of these and other factors, volumes saw a decline in 2022.

June 26, 2023
Swiss Financial Centre actors unite to help develop Net Zero Data Public Utility

On 26 June 2023 at the Point Zero Forum, the Swiss State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) and four influential associations representing Swiss financial institutions announced the first national-level initiative bringing together public and private institutions to contribute to the development of the Net-Zero Data Public Utility (NZDPU). As part of this agreement, leading Swiss financial institutions will test the platform – an important step towards the launch of a centralized repository to provide free access to verifiable, foundational climate-transition-related data. This marks the first public-private initiative to test emergent climate data platform on a national scale.

Iwan Deplazes, Chairman of the Asset Management Association Switzerland commented: “NZDPU is the logical and necessary consequence of the Swiss climate strategy to stop emitting greenhouse gases after 2050 and to become a Net-Zero society. The Asset Management Association Switzerland is convinced that NZDPU is the right tool to document the Net Zero transition by creating transparency and providing accessible as well as reliable data on the progress of CO2 emission reductions. The asset management industry has an important role to play in the Net Zero transition and is well aware of its responsibilities. We therefore encourage our members to test the new platform and to help spread its use.”

June 9, 2023
Welcome, Kátrin Schweren!

Kátrin Schweren has joined AMAS Public Affairs Manager. She has over 20 years’ experience in regulatory and public affairs, having worked at the European Parliament and the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) in Brussels and later represented the interests of Swisscom, Swissgrid, Swisscom Energy Solutions/tiko, and the Association of Swiss Cantonal Banks vis-à-vis regulators and politicians in Brussels and Switzerland. Kátrin has a PhD from the University of Fribourg.

April 17, 2023
We're hiring!

AMAS is looking for a Legal Counsel 80-100% (Financial Services). We look forward to receiving your application!

April 3, 2023
Swiss investment funds are safe even in bankruptcy cases

In the wake of the events surrounding Credit Suisse and continuing uncertainties in the international financial system about the possible scenarios and their consequences, the question also preoccupies us: How safe are investment funds in the event of the bankruptcy of a custodian bank or a fund management company?

March 17, 2023
Broadening of SFC Membership base

The Swiss Finance Council (SFC) and its founding members Credit Suisse and UBS are pleased to announce that the Association of Swiss Private Banks (ABPS), the Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS), the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) and the Association of Swiss Asset and Wealth Management Banks (VAV) are joining the SFC. This will strengthen further the collaboration in representing the interests of internationally active Swiss banks and asset managers with EU stakeholders.

March 15, 2023
Motion "Secure pensions": Missed opportunity to strengthen the BVG

The Council of States has rejected the motion "Secure pensions thanks to comprehensively competent management of pension fund assets". It has thus missed an opportunity to professionalize occupational pension provision. AMAS continues to advocate measures to strengthen the 3rd contributor - i.e. the investment return - in occupational pension provision.

Pension fund assets are the largest saved assets for many Swiss people. Therefore, the boards of trustees, who are responsible for the main investment decisions, have an enormously high fiduciary responsibility. It is therefore imperative that these decision-makers have the appropriate investment knowledge.
The motion was aimed at three important adjustments to strengthen the fitness of Swiss pension funds: Improving investment competence in the (Art. 33 BVV 2), ensuring comprehensive risk management (Art. 50) and abolishing category limits to better reflect different risk structures (Art. 55 BVV2).

The Swiss pension fund system urgently needs modernisation in the central areas of investment competence and risk management in order to better exploit the return potential in the individual pension funds. For some time now, the investment return on Swiss pension fund assets, the so-called 3rd contributor, has contributed more to asset growth than employee and employer contributions. In concrete terms, the 3rd contributor has contributed an average of around CHF 30 billion per year (i.e. a cumulative CHF 450 billion) to pension fund asset growth over the past 15 years. The 3rd contributor is a supporting pillar of occupational pension provision with considerable potential. Implementing the motion would have made a significant contribution to further strengthening the pension funds. A comprehensive professionalisation of the investment management of pension fund assets has a positive effect on the exploitation of existing return potential, taking into account the risk capacity. In addition, increased investment competence in the boards of trustees also has an effect on the cost efficiency of investment management. This also has a positive effect on the net return on investment assets.

For AMAS, strengthening Swiss pension funds and individual pension provision through Pillar 3a remains a strategic priority. The association will continue to advocate strengthening the 3rd contributor and thus the occupational benefit scheme.

February 23, 2023
Join our team

To strengthen our competent and active team, we are looking for an open-minded and committed Sustainability Analyst (Internship 80-100 %).