According to the last ranking of the Economist Intelligence unit, Switzerland is the best country in the world in the “whereto-be-born” index. Geneva, a town of just 185,000 inhabitants:
has more than 120 banks, 870 independent asset managers and more than 3’000 financial intermediaries;
is the 1st ranking city in the world for the finance of commodity trading with 500 international trading and shipping companies, 35% of worldwide traded crude oil and oil products, 50% of world traded coffee and 33% of world traded sugar.
41% of Geneva’s population is international and 30% speak English at work;
the city ranks as number 13th in the Global Financial Centers Index and 3rd in Europe.
Geneva also benefits from having access to diverse type of investors: there is institutional money, retail and high-net-worth. While Swiss private banks have been early adopters of hedge funds and alternative investments, the Swiss pension funds still offer huge growth opportunities as the average allocation to alternatives is only 5%. This will include commodities, private equity, ILS, hedge funds and now because of new regulations, convertible bonds with CoCo features or bank loans.
However, what is coming into the industry’s way is the fact that pension funds are now required to publish their Total Expense Ratio (TER). For example, if a pension indexes completely its entire portfolio and you add 5% to alternatives, then the pension’s TER will verily likely double. “Of course, it’s the right focus, but the wrong logic. You should not focus on the absolute amount but on the risk/adjusted return you get vs. the fees you have to pay. I am convinced that we will be able to make that argument with investors, but it will take a long time”, says Cédric Kohler, Head of Advisory at Fundana.
Another major impediment is that Swiss pension boards are now subject to the new 2012 LPP regulation which basically makes every board member 100% liable to everything the board does. That essentially means unlimited liability which you cannot delegate. Going into a hedge fund strategy which has had very bad press reviews and bad reputation is very demanding for the volunteers on those boards who usually have no training in finance.
However, many investors have no other choice to look for additional sources of returns. A classical allocation will now yield about 2.5% in Swiss Franc. This is below the rate they have to achieve to stay funded. So, institutional investors do now invest more in alternative strategies. Classic funds of hedge funds who direct their services towards institutions were able to grow assets by 50% over the last two years.
The Opalesque 2015 Geneva Roundtable was sponsored by IDS and Eurex and took place in Geneva with:
Cédric Kohler, Head of Advisory, Fundana
Fabio Alessandrini, CIO Alternative and Quantitative Investments, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise
Hasan Aslan, Co-head Alternative Investments, Reyl & Cie
Ian Hamilton, CEO, Investment Data Service Group (IDS)
Jerome Berset, Senior Investment Counsellor & Head of Hedge Funds Research, EFG
Markus-Alexander Flesch, Head Sales and Marketing, Eurex Zurich
Michel Dominicé, Founder, Dominicé & Co.
Roland Dominicé, CEO, Symbiotics SA
Steven Markovitz, Director of Research, Lake Geneva Partners
The group also discussed:
How do Swiss banks select external managers today? And why do Swiss private banking clients use more external managers than ever before?
Which client segments offer Swiss managers the most growth?
Experiences with tail hedging
Can CTA exposures be timed?
The evolution and benefits of alternative risk premia
How comes certain investors seem to prefer to lose money with a large established manager than consider a smaller manager, even when the smaller manager presents products with attractive track records, in vehicles that are widely accepted, and who hold the necessary licensing?
Microfinance “made in Switzerland”
A theory why hedge fund correlations stayed high even after the financial crisis
Why investors and managers must fight the pull towards beta, which also means to stop comparing hedge funds to equity indices
Regulatory update from the perspective of Swiss asset managers
When do Swedish investors show you the door without giving you coffee?
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