While the worth of assets in Swiss funds nosedived by billions of euros in October as poorly-performing equities hit valuations, there was also an acceleration of the move out of cash according to latest data form Lipper. October saw a fall of nearly CHF8 billion (€5.25 billion) in total assets, triggered by the drop in equity valuations. Outflows accounted for €662 million of the reduction. Equity funds also suffered because they received inflows of only €370 million - which was far less than the total outflows in the sector. Nonetheless, equities remain the largest single asset class with €113 billion under management. Another €3.3 billion was extracted from money market products, as Swiss investors migrated funds into high yield bonds, but also other more risky asset classes like hedge funds. There was also a substantial move into commodities by Swiss investors, who were lured, in particular, by gold-backed ETFs – which received a total of €860 million, the bulk of the liquidity. Credit Suisse was a major winner because its newly-launched physically-backed gold ETF attracted more than €662 million of the total share of the inflows into commodities this month. The ETF offers to replicate the return from gold on the spot market and allows investors to hedge in Euros or Swiss Francs to avoid being subject to fluctuations in the US dollar exchange rate.

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