Brick-and-mortar investments make up a rising share of Swiss pension funds’ assets as they try to avoid the central bank’s charge, according to economists at Credit Suisse Group AG. In a bid to make the francs less attractive, the Swiss National Bank has imposed a deposit rate of minus 0.75 percent for two years. “Large institutional investors that are charged negative rates in Switzerland clearly shifted their asset allocations toward real estate investments as negative interest rates took hold,” Credit Suisse said.
