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 %).

December 16, 2022
A credible sustainable financial centre without greenwashing

Today, the Federal Council published its Sustainable Finance Strategy for the Swiss financial centre until 2025 and defined fields of action for measures to be developed. The Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS) welcomes this strategy update and, together with the other Swiss financial associations, supports the common goal of establishing a leading sustainable financial centre.

Switzerland needs a holistic climate strategy

AMAS is convinced that this goal, and in particular the net zero target, can only be achieved in line with the long-term Swiss Climate Strategy 2050, which includes all parts of the Swiss economy. We do not see isolated national sectoral agreements for the financial industry as being conducive to achieving this goal.

New product category for impact investments

Among the further measures for a leading sustainable financial centre, the Federal Council has identified the mainstreaming of impact investments. A working group with industry representatives is to examine the introduction of a new product category oriented towards the characteristics of a Long-Term Investment Fund (LTIF). AMAS considers the integration of the distribution perspective to be central, as such products have a higher degree of complexity and are associated with additional risks compared to traditional investment products.
Previous experience with the European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) has shown that a corresponding effect is only achieved with private investors if the threshold for the minimum investment is set correspondingly low (for example at CHF 10,000).

Financial products must show sustainability impact

Today, the Federal Council also defined the further procedure to avoid greenwashing in the financial market. Like the Federal Council, AMAS also takes the view that there needs to be a clear and general understanding of when a financial product or service can be offered as sustainable. AMAS has already set this out comprehensively in its self-regulation and will contribute to the working group set up to prevent greenwashing.

AMAS welcomes the fact that the Federal Council advocates differentiated communication to investors on the sustainability impact of investment products. Products that only include sustainability indicators or exclude certain companies lack a direct link to sustainability goals.

Effect of self-regulations to be seen

In its self-regulation on transparency and disclosure for collective assets with sustainability reference published last September, AMAS no longer classified such products as "sustainable". The binding requirements contained in the self-regulation serve the goal of establishing high quality standards for sustainability-related financial investments in the Swiss asset management industry.

Both the self-regulation and the self-regulation of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) continue to pursue the goal of preventing and combating greenwashing at the organisational and product levels specified by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). AMAS is convinced of the subsidiary role of the state communicated by the Federal Council last year. The implementation of the two self-regulations and the development of their effect remain to be seen.

December 15, 2022
Celebrating 30 years

Our association is turning 30! And this is how our members and board members celebrate the anniversary.

December 14, 2022
ASIP ESG-Reporting 2022

Der ASIP verfolgt daher das Ziel, über ein regelmässiges, ganzheitliches Reporting die Transparenz bezüglich ESG-Umsetzung zu erhöhen. Im Fokus steht eine transparente Offenlegung von ESG-Informationen, mit welchen alle involvierten Stakeholder nachverfolgen können, wie die Pensionskassen investiert sind und welche Entwicklungsschritte bezüglich Nachhaltigkeit realisiert werden. Dazu soll der heute publizierte ESG-Reporting-Standard dienen. In ein ESG-Reporting gehören qualitative Aussagen zur Art und Weise, wie die Pensionskassen mit diesem Thema umgehen, und auch quantitative
Angaben zu einzelnen Anlagen.
Der vorliegende Standard wurde in Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Verbänden - u.a. der Asset Management Association, Swiss Sustainable Finance und den Anlagestiftungen - erarbeitet.

November 24, 2022
Pacta Climate Test 2022: Potential for climate-friendly financial flows

In the PACTA Climate Test published today, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has again taken stock of the climate compatibility of financial flows. While the FOEN identifies potential for further development in the report, AMAS points out that Swiss asset managers provide their clients also with other transparent methods for the differentiated assessment of the climate compatibility of a portfolio.

After 2020, Swiss financial institutions have again been invited by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) to participate in the voluntary "PACTA Climate Test 2022" in 2022. The "Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment" aims to create transparency in an internationally coordinated manner in the financial flows and portfolios of the various financial sectors regarding their alignment with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. This has the goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

The report published today sheds light on and provides important insights into the progress made by the Swiss financial sector regarding the climate compatibility of financial flows. The Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS) had - as in 2020 - supported its members to participate in the "PACTA Climate Test 2022". The creation of comparable transparency, as intended by the PACTA methodology, as well as measurable bases to support climate-friendly investment decisions is an important concern for AMAS. However, PACTA is only one of numerous methodologies for measuring climate impact and is not applied across the board in the industry.

AMAS is focusing on Swiss Climate Scores

Since asset managers act on behalf of their clients, implement their investment objectives and thus fulfil their fiduciary duty, it is highly relevant that the methods used for a differentiated assessment of the climate impact of a financial product and portfolio also meet the needs and information requirements of the clients so that they can make qualified investment decisions.

For this reason, AMAS and the Swiss asset managers are currently focusing on the implementation of the Swiss Climate Scores. Thanks to six indicators, these provide statements on the transition towards net zero and thus on the effective impact of a financial product, in addition to transparency regarding climate compatibility.

In the current year, AMAS has also introduced the environmentally relevant indicators for Swiss real estate funds, which are binding for AMAS members through the self-regulation on transparency and disclosure for collective assets with sustainability relevance published in September 2022. Furthermore, by joining the Net Zero Asset Manager Initiative a year ago, AMAS has committed itself to the net zero goal and to promoting this important initiative among its members.

AMAS supports all methodologies to create and increase transparency on the climate impact of portfolios. Currently, it recommends the use of Swiss Climate Scores to increase the significance and transparency of the climate impact of financial investments and financial flows.