Swiss fund market: Performance puts pressure on volume

Basel, 26 October 2022 - While the Swiss fund market continued to suffer from negative performances in the 3rd quarter of 2022, the sustainability sector provided a ray of hope thanks to sustained net inflows. In terms of volume, the entire fund market has fallen back to the level of two years ago.

The negative performance on the stock markets in the 3rd quarter of 2022 left further traces on the Swiss fund market. The volume thus shrank in the first nine months of the current year from CHF 1,516,884 million (year-end 2021) to CHF 1,274,926 million, which corresponds to a decline of 15.9% or CHF 242 billion. The volume of the fund market thus fell back to the level of around two years ago. In the 3rd quarter, the decline amounted to CHF 59 billion.

At -15.3% since the beginning of the year, most of the decline was due to performance losses. Meanwhile, net outflows from the funds in the current year amounted to CHF 9.5 billion. In the 3rd quarter, the figure was CHF 5.1 billion. Apart from money market funds (+CHF 6.5 billion), all fund categories were affected, whereby the highest outflows in the 3rd quarter again took place in equity funds (-CHF 6.3 billion) and bond funds (-CHF 3.3 billion).

Sustainability funds bucked this trend. The statistical data on which this market is based also includes funds that do not qualify as sustainable in the future according to the self-regulation of the Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS). Accordingly, CHF 13.9 billion flowed into the sustainable market according to Morningstar in the current year. At the end of the third quarter, the volume in sustainability funds was nevertheless significantly lower at CHF 320,331 million than at the beginning of 2022 (CHF 368,871 million). The reason for this was the 16.9 % decline in performance in this fund market.

"The persistently uncertain mood on the financial markets is reflected in most asset classes and manifests itself in investors' higher risk aversion," says Adrian Schatzmann, CEO of AMAS. "Nevertheless, the low levels of net outflows show that investor confidence remains fundamentally intact."