How do Swiss independent wealth managers implement their strategic asset allocation: active or passive? Free Webinar

Swiss wealth managers are preparing for the future, not an easy task. To better understand trends in the industry, we conduct the annual «VSV-ASG Investment Pulse». In the new 2023 report, we studied how the players implement their strategic asset allocation, and the results are surprising! Not only have many wealth managers recently changed their asset allocation – but their implementation approaches also differ substantially from what they had planned in 2022. (1)

Authors: Manfred Stüttgen/Nadine Berchtold

Register for a free webinar on wealth managers’ asset allocation

Back in 2022, Swiss independent wealth managers expressed a preference for actively managed Swiss and European equities. Similar preferences had been observed for U.S. and European corporate bonds. On the other hand, passive investments had been a preferred implementation approach for Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific incl. Japan equities as well as government bonds. (Figure 1)

Furthermore, in 2022 we also had asked wealth managers for their implementation approach going forward (more active vs. more passive). In 2022 they had indicated that existing active and passive approaches might be slightly reinforced in the future. A quarter of wealth managers had planned to increase the active share of their allocations to Swiss equities while moving more towards index strategies for government bonds (see arrows in Figure 2).

In 2023, wealth managers have adapted their asset allocation – and their implementation approach (active vs. passive)

A surprisingly new picture emerged when we asked wealth managers again in March 2023 about their preferences for active versus passive investments. Our survey shows that wealth managers did not stick to the plans they had anticipated in 2022. For instance, while originally wealth managers intended to increase their share of active investments for Swiss and European equities, we observe a decrease in active investments. On the fixed income side where they had planned to keep the share of active and passive investments, we observe substantial shifts in one of the two directions, depending on the type of bond investment (government vs. corporate). There is reason to believe, that the recent market developments and an increase in interest rates have led wealth managers to significantly adjust their last year’s asset allocation. Consequently, wealth managers have chosen to implement their updated asset allocations in a way they had not anticipated in 2022.

Free Webinar on Swiss Wealth Managers’ Asset Allocation and their ESG preferences

Do you want to learn more about Swiss wealth managers’ asset allocation, their use of active/passive implementation approaches, and their attitude towards sustainable investments? Then join our free webinar on May 11^th, 2023, hosted by Vanguard. Manfred Stüttgen, Professor of Banking at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Roger Bootz, Head of Switzerland and Liechtenstein at Vanguard Switzerland, and Patrick Dorner, CEO of the Swiss Association of Wealth Managers VSV-ASG will present the results of this year’s study. Register here for the free webinar.

(1) The study “VSV-ASG Investment Pulse” is carried out in cooperation with Vanguard and the Swiss Association of Asset Managers VSV-ASG as a facilitator. The full report of the «VSV-ASG Investment Pulse 2022» is available here.