Switzerland Hedge Fund Guide

Switzerland Hedge Funds

Guide to Hedge Funds in Switzerland

Here is a short collection of articles on the hedge fund industry in Switzerland. I am always looking for more valuable online tools and resources to add to these geographical hedge fund guides to the hedge fund industry. If you have a white paper or PowerPoint that I can include here please send me an email and I will post it for everyone's benefit.

Swiss Hedge Fund Resources:

• This KPMG Article discusses the process of how to set up a hedge fund in Switzerland. Some of the topics been touched on are: Authorization requirement and process, Regulatory capital requirement, Restrictions on marketing issues, and fund’s operational structures.
• Marketing of Hedge Funds in Switzerland. Given legal and regulatory constraints, hedge funds in Switzerland may only be distributed by way of private placement, without any public offering. Therefore, this article will provide readers a overview of Swiss collective investment structure, its legal and regulatory frameworks, and address the on-going revision of the Swiss mutual fund legislation that is expected to create additional flexibility in offering this type of investment opportunity to the Swiss market.
• Switzerland is slowly becoming a player in the hedge fund market, but it can do more to attract investors, says René Bösch. In comparison with other countries, until recently Switzerland did not play a significant role in the hedge fund industry, except that the Swiss banks manage a huge asset basis that also seeks investments in hedge funds.
• Hedge funds the Swiss way: The elusive Swiss private bank UBP is one of the few financial institutions to have emerged unscathed from the global credit crunch. "Globes" talked to the bank's Israel representative Elchanan Harel.
• Asset managers are said to be attracted to the Alps by tax advantages, but the picture is obscured by fudge and indecision. The creation of a Geneva-based hedge fund business by private bank Lombard Oldier Darier Hentsch has rekindled the idea of hedge funds moving to Switzerland from London en masse
• Geneva’s cantonal finance minister, David Hiler, tells local business leaders for the first time that he wants to attract foreign-based hedge funds to the region. The move is part of wider thinking about ways of keeping multinational companies based in Switzerland following pressure from the European Union for changes to company taxation.
• Hedge funds are `crucial` in Switzerland’s financial market says Harcourt`s MP, country in 3rd European position but could move up to 2nd, Opalesque Exclusive: Less taxes for hedge fund managers would be beneficial for Switzerland, but it won`t happen just yet, Hedge funds add complexity to existing restructuring laws in Spain, SocGen A.M. posts 7.3 bln euros net outflows in Q1
• This article suggests that you could say that this summer's credit crunch was a chance to see the hedge fund emperors without their clothes. As banks around the world tightened access to money, on concern that borrowers' collateral was impaired by exposure to subprime loans, some of the highest-profile upsets were reported in the $1.7 trillion hedge fund industry.
• Switzerland is the world's second largest market for funds of hedge funds, after the US, with most assets invested in offshore hedge funds.There are nearly 256 registered and supervised hedge funds in Switzerland approved for public distribution (up from 39 in 2001), with total assets of around US$9.4 billion in 2005 (compared with US$273.8 billion invested in all registered Swiss funds). Almost all these funds are structured as funds of hedge funds.
• Brevan Howard, one of London's biggest and most successful hedge funds, is considering moving its headquarters abroad, handing fresh impetus to sceptics of Britain's claim to be the world's leading global financial centre. The Pall Mall-based investment house, which manages $22bn of hedge fund assets and employs 250 people in London, has told the Financial Services Authority that uncertainty over taxation as well as the Government's attack on non-doms has caused enough concern among the partners to consider moving abroad.
• London’s Hedge Fund Managers Flee to Switzerland Over Tax Challenges. Dozens of London-based hedge fund managers are reportedly relocating to Switzerland to escape new tax rules affecting non-domiciled individuals residing in the UK. Many hedge fund managers have expressed alarm at the new tax rules and prepared to move their entire operation to Switzerland, with its favorable tax climate for wealthy investors, has emerged as the natural alternative for some managers.
• Switzerland hopes tax changes will win hedge funds from city. Private investors residing in Switzerland can earn tax-free gains from their hedge fund and private equity investments but the managers of those funds are stung if their own stakes, known as “carried interest”, are treated as income. Therefore, the way to attract more asset managers to Switzerland is to get the tax authorities to treat the carried interest as private capital.
• Zurich’s tax lure for hedge funds. Switzerland is mulling over plans for a special 10pc tax rate for hedge fund managers in a radical move to lure the booming industry away from London. The Swiss banking federation has proposed a 10pc tax on the elite managers, effectively cutting their marginal rate by 35 percentage point
• HSBC has enhanced its fund of hedge funds product range available in Switzerland, with the approval for distribution of the HSBC AdvantEdge range. The fund range, which provides investors with the option to build focused exposure to specific hedge fund strategies or geographic regions.
• Cayman Islands: Switzerland’s Cayman Connection. Switzerland is a particularly interesting jurisdiction when it comes to the alternative investments industry. Its legal and regulatory constraints largely prevent Swiss-based sponsors of FOHFs from setting up the fund within Switzerland. They therefore typically turn to the Cayman Islands as the jurisdiction to establish the fund vehicle, which will generally be a Cayman Islands company. Therefore, this article will explore the interaction between the two jurisdictions when it comes to funds of hedge funds.
• This article provides a brief overview of some regulations and constraints in conducting investment management services in Switzerland. It also give readers a overview of Switzerland’s banking and investment fund sectors.
• Swiss Banks call for relaxed immigration. Banker and fund managers in Switzerland are calling its government to relax its immigration laws enough to allow more skilled laborers from non-European Union countries to work in the banking industry. he banking industry today accounts for 6% of the country's jobs, 12% of GDP , and 16% of Swiss tax revenue.
• Swiss Financiers seek to tempt hedge funds. The Swiss finance sector has decided to increase pressure on the authorities to enact reforms that would help attract more hedge fund managers to Switzerland. The main focus of reform would be its tax and regulatory systems.
• This is an excellent comprehensive resource for anyone who is interested in exploring the business environment in Switzerland and its various laws and regulation.
• This article provides quantitative investigations into the potential for tax evasion by individuals in Switzerland’s offshore financial sectors. This article divides the huge Swiss financial sector into five parts: (1) on-balance-sheet bank business; (2) bank fiduciary deposits; (3) securities held in bank custody accounts; (4) insurance; and (5) investment funds (including mutual and hedge funds). It attempts to identify which of these assets are likely to be linked to tax evasion.
• Switzerland: Financial Sector Assessment Program – Factual Update – IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation. It presents a factual update of regulatory developments in the area of securities regulation and supervision in Switzerland and introduces some of regulations of its hedge fund industry.
• Switzerland: Searching an Edge On Hedge Funds. This article gives a brief overview of Switzerland’s hedge fund industry and its relevant laws and regulations. It also analyzes the future direction of the industry and how it stands against other financial powerhouses around the world, such as Britain and U.S.

Job Opportunities

• List a Switzerland based hedge fund job here by emailing Richard@HedgeFundGroup.org. Please see our current Job Listings for hedge funds looking to hire professionals right now.

Seminars & Conferences

• Please email Richard@HedgeFundGroup.org to promote a local conference within this region.

- Richard

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