Investing in and outside of Switzerland | by David B. Pinkerton | 27.05.2016

Q1: Before we focus on Switzerland, could you give us a short heads-up on your view on the global market? A1: ⦁ Fed rate hike in June? ⦁ Brexit decision (end of June) ⦁ US economy doing fine (tight labor market), but slowing growth globally ⦁ Oil prices have recovered from their lows ⦁ No immediate risk for a China hard landing Q2: Moving on to Switzerland: the Swiss equity market has lagged the US and Europe in USD terms on a year-to-date basis. What are the reasons? A2: ⦁ The Swiss equity market is dominated by three big names ⦁ Large caps have performed worse than small and mid caps YTD, total return ⦁ Industries: health care, consumers, financials ⦁ Weak financials ⦁ Weak consumers, weak watchmaking exports Q3: The performance of the Swiss equity market is relatively weak, but valuations are still elevated. Yet you are overweight Switzerland in your portfolios. A3: ⦁ Yes, we are currently overweight Swiss equities ⦁ Catch up potential ⦁ Attractive dividend yield. Large caps 3.8% and small/mid 2.5% ⦁ Global champions Q4: So there are still interesting opportunities in Switzerland in your view. But where can local investors find additional yield in the current market environment? A4: ⦁ Warming towards emerging markets ⦁ Small allocation to gold ⦁ Bottom-up rather than index approach ⦁ Special deals