The Swiss prefer savings to risky investments
Money is sitting in Swiss accounts. At least, that's what one might think based on the results of a survey conducted by the online comparison site moneyland.ch, which questioned 1,500 people in German- and French-speaking Switzerland about their financial habits.
According to the study, 82% of respondents keep part of their wealth in a private account, and 79% in a savings account. Even cash (68%) remains more widely used than traditional investment products. However, private accounts earn no income, and savings accounts very little. This doesn't stop more than a third of respondents from stating that they invest a large portion of their money in this type of account. "Having sufficient cash reserves in a savings account is generally wise, for example, to build up an emergency fund," suggests Dan Urner, investment expert at moneyland.ch.
Despite this general reluctance, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are becoming increasingly popular. 38% of respondents now say they own them, compared to just 17% in 2020. "ETFs are no longer a foreign concept for many investors," explains Dan Urner. These funds track global indices such as the MSCI World or the FTSE All-World. However, individual stocks remain more widespread (42%), as do traditional investment funds (40%), which are often more expensive than ETFs.
The study also highlights significant gender disparities. Men invest more than women. The gap is clear for stocks, with a difference of 20 points, but it is also marked for ETFs (18 points) and cryptocurrencies (17 points). Another observation: the higher the wealth, the more varied the investments. For example, only 28% of people with less than 20,000 francs invest in stocks, compared to 80% of people with more than 500,000 francs.
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