The 2024 stock market year is heading slowly but surely into the finishing straight. There are just five more full weeks of trading left before many investors are likely to leave for their Christmas holidays. It is little wonder, then, that the words “end-of-year rally” can be heard around the stock market. November got off to a positive start, with share prices rising in many places following Donald Trump’s surprisingly clear win in the US presidential election. Nevertheless, the change of government in Washington also comes with many imponderables. In particular, the protectionist trade policy that Trump announced in his election campaign could put the brakes on Europe in the new year. That makes it all the more important for investors not to put all their eggs in one basket, but instead to spread their money around. One of the ways of covering as broad a spectrum of Swiss listed companies as possible is offered by the FuW Swiss 50 Index.
The “Finanz und Wirtschaft” editorial team launched this barometer a good two years ago as a deliberate counterpoint to the SMI. Not only does the FuW Swiss 50 Index contain 30 more shares than the well-known national benchmark, but the weighting of individual companies is also much more tightly controlled. The 25 largest stocks as measured by their free-float market capitalisation each make up 2.7% of the index, while the proportion per share in the bottom half is 1.3.%. The FuW Swiss 50 Index is reset to this allocation twice a year, thereby strangling any clustering risk almost at birth. On the subject of risk, it is possible to invest in the FuW Swiss 50 Index through an ETP+. For this investment vehicle FuW draws on the expertise of Leonteq. The issuer is responsible both for the technical realisation of the financial product and for its trading. To do so, the Zurich specialist uses a particularly robust structure, the ETP+.
To exclude the issuer risk as far as possible, Leonteq deposits a pledge with SIX SIS AG. The collateralisation is dynamic: as soon as investors put money in or the value of the ETP rises, the issuer tops up the pledge. SIX Repo AG is responsible for monitoring this mechanism on an ongoing basis. Should Leonteq enter into default, this specialist company will realise the pledge. In the next step, the equivalent value of the investment product would be paid out to the investors via the participating custodian banks. This extreme scenario is not particularly likely: in the middle of October, Fitch confirmed the investment grade rating of Leonteq Securities AG at “BBB” with a stable outlook. Leonteq AG, the listed parent company, enjoys an “AA” ESG rating from MSCI and at the end of 2023 had a strong capital base totalling around CHFmn 780.
HOn top of this, it is licensed as an investment firm by FINMA and can boast more than 15 years of experience in the market for structured investment products. The ETP+ on the FuW Swiss 50 Index combines this expertise with the know-how of Switzerland’s largest business editorial team. Investors can thus take an effective and diversified investment in what might be called the quintessentials of the domestic stock market landscape. Daily liquid trading on the SIX adds the necessary flexibility. Whether investors are counting on an end-of-year rally or want to follow a consistent buy-and-hold approach, the ETP+ makes both possible. The product also participates in the dividends of the 50 shares in the FuW Swiss 50 Index, with the payouts being reinvested net in the index. This attractive overall package comes with a management fee of 0.72% p.a.