How Swiss Foundations Put CHF 159.6 Billion To Work
With Swiss interés tarifas en zero, fundamentos debe decide cómo mucho efectivo a keep, cómo a invest su remaining activos y cómo mucho ellos puede afford a spend en charitable work.
Switzerland’s 13’782 charitable fundamentos hold a combined CHF 159.6 billion en assets, según a el Swiss Foundation Report 2026. El money supports medical research, education, cultural institutions y social programmes, often through commitments that extend más allá de several years. How fundamentos manage su money determines not solo ¿qué? ellos puede distribute today, pero whether ellos puede continuar funding these activities en el future.
El financiero challenge has become mayor as interés tarifas have fallen as the Swiss National Banco conservado su política tasa en 0% en septiembre 2026, al salir little opportunity a earn interés en ordinary Swiss-franc deposits. Foundations still necesidad ready acceso a money para grants y operating expenses, pero keeping más efectivo que necessary puede reduce su inversión income.
Professional fundamentos have generally responded by investing most de su assets. According a el SwissFoundations Benchmark Report 2026, participating fundamentos held un average de just 5% en cash, con el remainder invested primarily en equities, bonos y property. Su portfolios returned un average de 7.2% en 2025.
El findings show cómo established fundamentos manage su money, although el survey covers solo 55 organisations. It cannot establish cómo mucho efectivo el entire Swiss charitable sector holds o whether más pequeño fundamentos receive competitive banca terms.
Switzerland’s CHF 159.6 Billion Foundation Sector
El Swiss Foundation Report 2026, published by el Center para Philanthropy Studies en el University de Basel, SwissFoundations y el University de Zurich, puts el sector’s activos en CHF 159.6 billion. Foundations supervised by federal authorities account para CHF 85.7 billion, mientras que esos under cantonal supervision hold CHF 73.9 billion.
These organisations have very different financiero needs. Some manage large endowments y employ professional inversión managers. Others operate con limited staff, depend en donations y rely en volunteer trustees a make financiero decisions.
A foundation established a fund scientific research indefinitely debe manage su money differently de un organisation financing a five-year programme. El primero needs a preserve enough capital a apoyo futuro grants, mientras que el segundo puede que deliberately spend su activos as projects son completed.
These differences affect cómo mucho money fundamentos debería keep en cash. Operating expenses, approved grants y payments due within el coming months require readily available funds. Money committed a projects más allá de el next few years puede que ser invested más cautiously, con inversiones maturing cuando payments son due. Funds that será not ser needed para a long time puede generally ser invested a lo largo de a wider range de assets, provided el foundation puede withstand losses sin cancelling su commitments.
Foundations además necesidad a decide whether su efectivo reservas have become unnecessarily large. A foundation con CHF 10 million en su accounts y annual spending commitments de CHF 1 million has different needs de one preparing a distribute el igual amount más allá de twelve months.
Keeping sufficient money available es part de responsible management. Participación substantially más que planned expenditure requires a claro reason, particularly cuando deposits earn little income.
What Swiss Foundations Earn From Su Investments
El SwissFoundations Benchmark Report 2026 muestra cómo professionally managed charitable inversiones performed. The study examined 55 fundamentos holding CHF 15.1 billion en combined assets. They earned un average inversión volver de 7.2% en 2025, compared con 8.1% en 2024. Su cumulative average volver since 2021 reached 23.9%. The average participating foundation invested 49% de su activos en equities, 20% en bonos y 16% en property. Efectivo accounted para 5%, con el remainder held en other investments.
El cifras show that fundamentos en el survey invested most de su money en financiero markets mientras que keeping a relatively small share en cash. They do not establish whether every foundation held enough readily available money para su planned spending.
Inversión returns además varied según a cómo mucho riesgo fundamentos accepted. Those con más que la mitad su activos en equities achieved average cumulative returns de 29.6% más allá de el five-year period, compared con 23.9% a lo largo de el completo sample.
Más alto equity allocations puede improve returns más allá de time, pero ellos además expose fundamentos a más grande losses during mercado downturns. An organisation that has promised substantial grants cannot necessarily wait para share prices a recover antes de making payments.
Foundations debe therefore judge inversión rendimiento alongside su spending commitments. A negrita annual volver increases el valor de a portfolio, pero gains en inversiones that have not been sold do not automatically provide el efectivo needed para grants. Foundations puede que receive dividends y bond interest, draw en reservas o sell inversiones a meet esos payments.
El amount available para grants depends en el portfolio’s total return, el foundation’s spending política y cómo mucho capital trustees intend a preserve.
What Zero Interest Rates Mean Para Foundation Efectivo
El Swiss National Bank’s decision a maintain su política tasa en 0% en septiembre 2026 has conservado returns en ordinary Swiss-franc deposits low. Banks set su own deposit tarifas y fees, so fundamentos puede que receive different términos depending en el institution y el size de su balances. Miembros del consejo de administración puede negotiate esos terms, pero switching bancos cannot guarantee mucho más alto returns cuando short-term interés tarifas a lo largo de el mercado son close a zero.
Even small differences en interés tarifas puede add up. A foundation holding CHF 5 million en efectivo would earn CHF 25’000 annually en un interés tasa de 0.5%, antes de fees y taxes. At 0%, eso would receive no interest. El comparison es illustrative, rather que a measure de ingresos currently lost by Swiss foundations, y earning a más alto volver puede que require accepting different conditions o risks.
Sector bancario costes además deserve attention because account fees, custody charges, investment-management fees y transaction costes reduce el amount fundamentos keep de su investments.
A 0.25% annual management fee en a CHF 20 million cartera amounts a CHF 50’000. At 0.5%, el annual charge rises a CHF 100’000, assuming el fee applies a el completo cartera value. Foundations necesidad a assess ¿qué? services ellos receive en volver y whether ellos podría obtain better términos elsewhere.
Lower fees do not necessarily produce better inversión results si cheaper services fail a provide el oversight o expertise el organisation needs. Miembros del consejo de administración debería compare costes alongside cartera performance, riesgo y el quality de reporting.
El available Swiss research does not establish that charities generally pagar excessive banca fees. It does show why costes deserve attention alongside inversión returns, particularly para fundamentos that depend en su portfolios a finance grants.
¿Por qué? Foundations Cannot Invest Every Franc
Foundations have financiero obligations that make acceso a efectivo as important as inversión performance. Many approve funding several years antes de el money es paid. A foundation supporting a university research programme puede que commit a annual payments regardless de cómo financiero markets perform. Others necesidad money available para salaries, property maintenance o urgent charitable projects.
Miembros del consejo de administración debe account para these commitments antes de deciding cómo mucho money a invest. Cash puede ser divided into three broad categories según a cuando eso será ser spent: operating funds para immediate payments, reservas para commitments más allá de el next few years y long-term capital intended a finance futuro charitable work.
El amounts en each categoría depend en el foundation’s activities y sources de income. An organisation receiving predictable annual donations puede manage su efectivo differently de one that relies almost entirely en inversión returns.
Inversión riesgo además matters. Money needed within months debería not ordinarily ser exposed a el igual mercado fluctuations as un endowment intended a apoyo charitable trabajo para decades.
A foundation that invests short-term reservas en equities podría ser forced a sell during a mercado downturn a honour existente commitments. Even relatively safe inversiones puede que perder valor si ellos debe ser sold antes de maturity.
Foreign-currency deposits introduce another risk. Más alto interés tarifas en euros o dollars puede que appear attractive cuando Swiss-franc deposits oferta little income, pero un adverse exchange-rate movement puede reduce el amount available para grants paid en francs.
Participación foreign currencies puede que make sense where a foundation has corresponding spending commitments abroad. Otherwise, trustees debe assess whether el adicional interés justifies el possibility de losses cuando converting el money back into Swiss francs.
What Foundation Boards Should Expect From Su Banks
Swiss fundamentos permanecer responsible para su inversión policies incluso cuando ellos appoint bancos o external asset managers. The Swiss Foundation Code recommends that boards manage activos professionally, keep costes under control y consider security, diversification, returns y acceso a efectivo cuando setting su inversión strategy. It además calls para regular reviews y measures a prevent conflicts de interest.
These responsibilities involve practical decisions because trustees necesidad a know cómo mucho money el foundation expects a distribute, which activos puede ser sold cuando payments fall due y whether inversión managers son tomando riesgos consistent con esos requirements.
Sector bancario agreements debería clearly state ¿qué? el institution charges para custody, transactions, inversión management y other services. Foundations debería además understand el términos attached a deposits y cuando ellos puede withdraw su money.
Comparing bancos becomes particularly pertinente cuando a foundation has accumulated substantial balances through donations, inversión proceeds o delayed spending. Accounts opened years earlier puede que no longer oferta el most suitable terms.
El inversión política además needs regular review. If mercado gains increase el equity share de a cartera beyond el de acuerdo allocation, trustees puede que necesidad a adjust su holdings. If a foundation approves a large nuevo programme, eso puede que necesidad a raise efectivo antes de el primero pago becomes due.
Banks y inversión managers puede advise en these decisions, pero foundation boards debe decide cómo mucho riesgo ellos puede accept en pursuit de returns.
How Inversión Decisions Affect Charitable Spending
An organisation that spends too mucho de su capital during negrita mercado years puede que struggle a maintain grants after losses. Another that keeps most de su riqueza en efectivo puede que protect el nominal valor de su reservas mientras que earning too little a maintain su purchasing power más allá de time.
Even modest inflation puede affect el amount a foundation puede fund. At annual inflation de 1%, CHF 10 million held sin interés would conservar su nominal valor pero perder roughly CHF 100’000 en purchasing power más allá de one year.
Foundations established a operate indefinitely debe account para inflation cuando deciding cómo mucho ingresos a distribute y cómo mucho a reinvest. Those intending a spend su activos más allá de a defined período puede take a different approach, gradually spending su capital según a su remaining commitments.
El SwissFoundations benchmark suggests that muchos established fundamentos already use diversified portfolios a apoyo long-term funding. Su returns en 2025 eran positive, pero futuro grants cannot ser based en el assumption that financiero markets será deliver similar gains every year.
Boards debe consider ¿qué? happens cuando returns fall short de expectations. They puede que necesidad sufficient reservas a maintain de acuerdo funding, revise futuro grants o adjust cómo quickly ellos spend su capital.
Switzerland’s CHF 159.6 billion foundation sector holds enough money para inversión decisiones a have substantial financiero consequences. El appropriate approach differs de one organisation a another, depending en su purpose, spending obligations y ability a withstand losses.
With Swiss interés tarifas en zero, efectivo alone ofertas limited income. Foundations still necesidad enough de eso a meet su commitments, mientras que investing money ellos será not necesidad immediately según a a claro financiero plan. Regular reviews de banca costs, efectivo reservas y inversión rendimiento help trustees determine cómo mucho ellos puede distribute sin colocando futuro charitable trabajo en risk.
ROTHARIA/Philantropy/The Practical Guide
How To Structure Your Charitable Giving In Switzerland
Wealthy individuals planning substantial donations should decide how much to give, how the money will be managed and who will oversee its distribution before transferring assets to a charitable organisation.
1. Choose how you want to give.
Direct donations suit those who want to support existing charities without taking on administrative responsibilities. Donors seeking a long-term programme can establish their own charitable foundation or create a named fund within an existing umbrella foundation. The latter allows donors to recommend projects while the host foundation handles administration and retains final legal responsibility.
2. Check the tax treatment before transferring assets.
Qualifying donations to Swiss tax-exempt charitable organisations are generally deductible up to 20% of net income for federal income-tax purposes, subject to statutory conditions. Cantonal rules may differ. Large donations, particularly those involving shares, property or foreign assets, warrant specialist tax advice before the transfer.
3. Agree on how the money will be invested.
Ask how much the organisation keeps in cash, which assets it holds and what it pays in management, custody and transaction fees. If the donation is intended to finance grants over many years, establish how the investment policy will support those payments without taking excessive risks.
4. Decide how much control you want to retain.
Establishing an independent Swiss foundation involves irrevocably dedicating assets to a charitable purpose. Donors who use an umbrella foundation can retain an advisory role, but they do not own the donated assets or have unrestricted authority over distributions.
5. Require regular financial and grant reporting.
Ask for annual information on investment returns after fees, grants distributed, cash reserves and progress against the agreed charitable objectives. Where family members participate in decisions, define their responsibilities and how future generations will become involved.
Before committing a substantial sum, compare the full costs of running an independent foundation with those of a hosted charitable fund. The Swiss Foundation Code provides guidance on investment oversight, governance and the responsibilities of foundation boards.
