Asset management has always had the same mission: to channel savings into productive investments that support innovation, businesses, infrastructure and pensions. This mission remains unchanged. It is the tools of the trade – tokenisation, artificial intelligence and new fund structures – that are being reinvented, and with them the very future of the Swiss financial centre.
The Swiss asset management industry currently enjoys solid fundamentals. However, changing investor expectations, technological advances and intensifying international competition are profoundly transforming the sector’s standards.
With assets totalling nearly 3,800 billion francs, Switzerland ranks among Europe’s leading asset management centres, having continually strengthened its position in recent years. However, this achievement cannot be taken for granted.
The Asset Management Study 2026, published by the Asset Management Association Switzerland, clearly shows that the operating environment is changing. International competition is intensifying, regulatory requirements are increasing, technological innovations are transforming value chains, and investors expect ever more flexible and personalised solutions. Swiss asset managers are therefore being driven to improve efficiency, innovate further and focus even more on the client experience. The challenge for Switzerland now is to maintain its appeal, both as an asset management centre and as an international distribution platform.
For the need for private capital – whether for businesses, infrastructure, innovation, economic transformation or pension provision – continues to grow. The future of asset management is therefore also a matter of economic competitiveness for Switzerland. It is this that will determine whether capital, innovation and growth flourish here or in other financial centres.
It is first worth returning to the very purpose of our sector. Asset management is often assessed in terms of its assets under management and the returns they generate. Its fundamental role, however, lies elsewhere. It consists, first and foremost, of channelling savings into productive investments in order to support innovation, growth and long-term value creation. The mission remains the same, but the tools for achieving it are being reinvented. It would therefore be simplistic to view the future of asset management solely through a technological lens. Technology is not an end in itself. Above all, it must enable the sector to become more efficient, through more effective processes and broader access to investment opportunities.
For AMAS, this challenge is set to be one of the key strategic priorities in the coming years. We must strengthen the competitiveness of Swiss asset management whilst creating the conditions that enable a greater number of investors to access the opportunities offered by the capital markets.
This development also calls for a shift in perspective within the sector itself. For decades, the focus has often been on financial products. In future, investors’ needs must serve as the starting point to a greater extent. The focus will no longer be on simply multiplying new solutions, but on developing intelligently structured investment approaches. The future belongs to investment concepts capable of integrating different asset classes, risk profiles and investment horizons, whilst adapting flexibly to changing life circumstances.
This trend is already taking shape. Direct mandates, new fund structures and fractional trading are broadening the possibilities for building bespoke portfolios.
At the same time, private markets are gaining in importance and becoming a strategic component of long-term portfolios, offering new sources of diversification and returns. The challenge now is to make this asset class accessible in a responsible manner to a wider circle of investors, without compromising its specific characteristics.
The challenge for the sector going forward will be to broaden the scope of possibilities. ETFs have profoundly transformed access to public capital markets. New structures and investment vehicles will enable us to go further, paving the way for solutions that are more flexible and better tailored to investors’ needs.
This development does not merely concern certain investment concepts or fund structures. It also affects the very infrastructure of asset management. In the coming years, the ways in which funds are created, distributed, managed, traded and settled will be rethought. This is precisely where one of the sector’s key strategic opportunities lies.
The tokenisation of fund units and digital registers can significantly simplify these processes and pave the way for more efficient and personalised asset management.
This ability to build more personalised solutions will be particularly important as investors’ needs become increasingly diverse. The digital representation of fund units and greater process automation will enable portfolios to be constructed with greater precision and tailored more effectively to individual expectations. Risk profiles, liquidity requirements, sustainability preferences and tax considerations can thus be integrated directly into the structure of investment solutions. This opens up a new avenue that will make personalised solutions economically viable beyond just large mandates.
This trend is already underway. Pictet and SIX Digital Exchange have, in particular, piloted the fractionalisation and digital settlement of securities. This work is underpinned by new infrastructures such as SDX and BX Digital, which enable the trading and settlement of tokenised assets within a regulated framework.
A new financial architecture is thus being built step by step, transforming the very nature of the business. Asset management will become more digital, more modular, and will align much more closely with investors’ needs. The way in which the sector builds the infrastructure of tomorrow will directly influence its ability to create value.
Artificial intelligence is also one of these new tools. It boosts productivity in asset management, particularly in research, risk analysis, portfolio monitoring, reporting and regulatory processes. It does not replace the expertise or responsibility of investment professionals, but complements their work by providing greater precision, speed and efficiency. In the competition between financial centres, the ability to integrate these technologies effectively is clearly becoming a key differentiator.
Sustainability remains a key issue, but with an approach that is now more pragmatic and more focused on the results achieved. The challenge is not to add new standards, new labels or new constraints, but to determine how capital can be allocated sustainably and contribute effectively to the financing of a productive economy. This requires rigorous risk analysis, active dialogue with companies and an in-depth understanding of business models capable of creating sustainable value. Sustainability and performance should not be seen as mutually exclusive. In the long term, value creation depends on companies capable of growing in a sustainable manner.
In recent years, there has been much talk of the democratisation of capital markets. The next step will be the democratisation of asset management itself. Thanks to new structures and a modernised infrastructure, professional investment strategies will become accessible to a significantly wider range of investors. As access to capital markets becomes easier, more investors can participate in economic growth and build long-term wealth. Asset management will thus become a key driver of personal financial responsibility.
All these developments ultimately serve the same objective: to make capital markets more efficient.
To achieve this, Switzerland needs the right framework conditions. Innovation does not arise in a vacuum. It requires regulatory openness, international connectivity, market access, and the recognition that asset management is a strategic component of the country’s financial and economic centre. The competitiveness of Swiss asset management therefore extends beyond the sector’s own challenges. It also determines the economy’s ability to mobilise the capital necessary for its development.
AMAS intends to support this transformation alongside its members, with a clear objective: to strengthen the international competitiveness of Swiss asset management and to drive innovation forward in a responsible manner.