SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Nicolas Béguin, Joseph Merhai, Thomas Pasquier and Benjamin Vignieu, Aegis
According to the Asset Management Study 2024 published by AMAS, pension funds represent the largest client segment. Other common types of investors in AIFs in Switzerland include institu - tional investors such as insurance companies, private banks and other financial intermediaries, which often invest on behalf of their clients both in Switzerland and abroad. High net worth individu - als and their family offices also represent a signifi - cant portion of investors in Switzerland, investing either directly or through financial intermediaries. Swiss regulations limit access to AIFs for retail investors, as these products are predominantly reserved for qualified investors. 2.2.2 Legal Structures Used by Fund Managers Please see 2.1.1 Fund Structures for detailed information on Swiss legal structures used by fund managers. 2.2.3 Restrictions on Investors In theory, open-ended funds and SICAFs are open to all investors (Article 10, para 2 CISA). In practice, many open-ended AIFs focus exclusive - ly on qualified investors, particularly when seek - ing exemptions from specific provisions of CISA from FINMA (see notably Article 10, para 5 CISA). Only qualified investors are permitted to invest in LPCIs and L-QIFs (Article 98, para 3 and Article 118a, para 1, lit a CISA). CISA distinguishes between qualified and non- qualified investors (also referred to as retail cli - ents). The following investors are deemed to be qualified investors (Article 10, para 3 and 3ter CISA): • supervised financial intermediaries, which include in particular banks, central banks,
securities firms, fund management companies, managers of collective assets, portfolio man - agers, CIS and foreign financial intermediaries subject to similar prudential supervision; • supervised insurance companies and foreign insurance companies subject to similar pru - dential supervision; • public entities, institutions and foundations with professional treasury operations, occu - pational pension schemes with professional treasury operations, companies with profes - sional treasury operations, large companies and private investment structures with profes - sional treasury operations created for high net worth retail clients; • high net worth retail clients and their private investment structures that have opted to be treated as professional clients under FinSA; and • retail clients to whom a financial intermediary provides portfolio management or investment advice in accordance with FinSA within the scope of a permanent portfolio management or investment advisory relationship. Clients that are not listed as qualified investors are considered to be non-qualified investors. 2.3 Regulatory Environment 2.3.1 Regulatory Regime Regarding open-ended funds, the investment limitations of AIFs depend on the classification of the funds. “Other funds for alternative investments” offer the broadest range of investments and strate - gies. Such funds are permitted to invest notably in securities, precious metals, real estate, com - modities, derivatives, units of other collective investment schemes, money market instruments and sight and time deposits with a term of up to 12 months (Article 69 CISA and Article 99 CISO). They may carry out investments that:
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