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AIFMD – Switzerland’s Efforts have been positively acknowledged by ESMA

The Swiss Funds & Asset Management Association (“SFAMA”) advised its members on August 4, 2015 as follows:

On 30 July 2015 ESMA published its Advice in relation to the application of the AIFMD passport to non-EU AIFMs and AIFs (ESMA Advice) and its Opinion on the functioning of the passport for EU AIFMs and the national private placement regimes (ESMA Opinion).

ESMA Advice

In opting for a country-by-country assessment of the potential extension of the marketing passport, ESMA was of the view that there was only a sufficient level of information available on six jurisdictions; namely the US, Guernsey, Jersey, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Singapore.

ESMA concluded that no obstacles exist to the extension of the passport to Guernsey and Jersey, while Switzerland will remove any remaining obstacles with the enactment of pending legislation. No definitive view has been reached on the other three jurisdictions (Hong Kong, Singapore and USA) due to concerns related to competition, regulatory issues and a lack of sufficient evidence to properly assess the relevant criteria.

Therefore, ESMA advises the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission that there will be no significant obstacles impeding the potential application of the AIFMD passport to Switzerland, upon the enactment of the amendments to SESTA including the provisions on cooperation. The new version of SESTA adopted by the Parliament in June is due to enter into force on 1 January 2016.

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CH: Swiss Funds and Asset Management Association – Statistics update 28 Feb 2015

The Swiss Funds & Asset Management Association (“SFAMA”) announced that as at 28 February 2015, the volume of assets placed in the investment funds covered by the statistics compiled by Swiss Fund Data AG and Morningstar stood at just under CHF 870 billion, an increase of around CHF 44 billion month-on-month. The net inflows totaled more than CHF 8 billion.

The volume of assets entrusted by investors in Switzerland to the fund industry came to CHF 868.0 billion in February 2015 (January 2015: CHF 824.2 billion). “The marked gains on
the equity markets saw fund volumes increase by some 5.3% in the month under review. The net inflows of money also persisted, with virtually all fund categories profiting from this. Even bond funds continued to enjoy inflows. This is likely to change soon since the historically low interest rates can scarcely satisfy the return requirements of many institutional investors any longer,” explained Mr. Markus Fuchs, CEO of SFAMA.

By comparison, the figures for selected indexes in February 2015 were as follows (January 2015 in brackets): Dow Jones 5.64% (-3.69%), S&P 500 5.49% (-3.10%), EURO STOXX 50 7.39% (6.52%), and SMI 7.51% (-6.55%). The CHF lost 2.71% against the EUR, and 0.21% against the USD.

Net new money totaling some CHF 8.1 billion was invested in funds in February 2015. Equity funds posted the strongest inflows (CHF 4,211.4 million), followed by bond funds (CHF 3,144.8
million), and asset allocation funds (CHF 1,238.4 million). The only categories to record net outflows were money market funds (CHF 911.5 million), and commodity funds (CHF 217.3 million). There were no changes in the ranking of the most popular asset classes: equity funds 40.92%, bond funds 30.91%, asset allocation funds 12.45%, and money market
funds 7.01%.

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