At the 22nd edition of Switzerland's largest financial fair, the around 100 exhibitors attracted a record number of 3'800 professional investors. A wide range of topics was covered, such as sustainable investments as well as digitalisation and new technologies in the financial world.
ESG as a future-oriented topic was also treated at the first panel of the Swiss Stock Exchange, which was moderated by André Buck, Global Head Sales, and addressed the question of how a portfolio can be optimized through structured products. The growth potential emanating from Swiss pension funds was also discussed: thanks to the recognition of the cost transparency concept of the Swiss Structured Products Association (SSPA) by the Occupational Pension Supervisory Commission (OPSC) in December 2019, pension funds now have additional opportunities to manage their assets of over CHF 800 billion.
The second panel discussed whether ETFs and structured products are competitors or an ideal complement to each other. The focus was on the choice of products – which on the Swiss Stock Exchange is very comprehensive in both cases –, how they can be used, how easy they are to understand and to trade, as well as on risks and tax aspects.
"Think Big – Think Beyond"
On the second day of FINANZ’20, SIX was represented by Daniel Dahinden, Head Innovation & Digital, on the panel "Technological Leadership and Digitalisation". Among the topics the panelists discussed were the strengths and weaknesses of the Swiss financial center on a global level. In this context, the role of SIX was acknowledged, which on the one hand promotes start-ups and on the other hand carries out large projects such as the launch of SIX Digital Exchange as part of building an ecosystem for digital assets.
At the booth of the Swiss Stock Exchange, visitors received information about its wide range of equities, bonds, ETFs & funds, ETPs and structured products. Also represented was the index team of the business unit Financial Information of SIX. They held numerous discussions, particularly about SARON and the planned SARON Compound. But they also discussed potential new strategies that SIX could cover with an index in the future.