Open-end collective investment schemes |
As it pertains to open-end collective investment schemes, a differentiation is made between contractually
based investment funds and investment funds that are based on corporate law.
Contractually based investment funds are governed by a collective investment agreement (fund contract), by
which the fund management company undertakes the obligation to allow investors to participate in the fund
assets and to administer those assets independently and in its own name in accordance with the terms and
conditions of the fund contract. An additional contractual party is the custodian bank, which performs the
tasks delegated to it by law and the fund contract.
Investment funds established under corporate law
(investment companies with variable capital, SICAV) are companies whose sole purpose is collective capital investment and
whose equity capital and number of shares are not determined in advance. The company's assets alone are
liable for the payment of its debts.
Investment funds (stand-alone funds/umbrella funds)
With investment funds, a differentiation is made between stand-alone funds and umbrella funds (in the terminology
of CISA, "collective investment schemes with subfunds").
An umbrella fund represents a legal entity, but its subfunds in which investors participate (i.e. the individual
investment funds it holds) are segregated and separately administered from a legal and accounting point of
view. These sub-funds are also occasionally referred to as segments. In the case of stand-alone funds, there
is no breakdown into individual subfunds; they consist of a single pool of assets.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are publicly tradeable investment funds for which the issuance and
redemption of units, a feature that is attractive only to large investors is of little relevance
in comparison with their trading on a securities exchange. ETFs replicate an index and, as a
special characteristic, have an unlimited term; thus, in contrast to classic investment funds,
they can be continuously traded during normal market hours just like shares. As with conventional
investment funds, their net asset value (NAV) is recalculated daily on the basis of closing market
prices. In addition - also in contrast to other investment funds - they have an exchange-based price
that is recalculated every 15 seconds.
Arts. 105 ff Listing Rules
govern the listing of units of investments funds as well as of ETFs.
In terms of the listing requirements, ETFs differ from classic investment funds in that no minimum
capitalisation requirements apply to them. It is, however, required that one or two market makers
commit to posting firm bids and asks, the spread between which does not exceed a predefined percentage
of indicated net asset value (iNAV). Units of foreign-based investment funds may only be listed if they
have been approved by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority
(FINMA) . However, they need not produce a separate listing
prospectus, provided their own existing prospectus has been approved by the FINMA and contains
additional, listing-specific details.
Exchange Traded Structured Funds (ETSFs)
Exchange Traded Structured Funds (ETSFs) are collective investment schemes; they mirror various types of
underlying securities such as structured products, provided they are approved as underlying securities
within the framework of CISA.
ETSFs represent the latest product category in the family of collective investment schemes, the listing
of which is possible on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
The provisions of Arts. 105 ff Listing Rules
also apply to the listing of ETSFs.
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