The Economic Significance of the Swiss Financial Centre

Value added of the financial sector (2010)	Absolute (in CHF bn)	Contribution to overall value added
Total value added banking sector	36.7	6.7%
Retail banking	13.7	2.5%
Wealth management	15.5	2.9%
Asset management	4.5	0.8%
Investment banking	3.0	0.5%
Total value added insurance sector	21.9	4.0%
Total value added financial sector	58.6	10.7%

Sources: Calculations SBA, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO

The financial sector accounts for 10.7% of value added in Switzerland (CHF 58.6 billion). At CHF 260,000 per employee, productivity is almost two times the Swiss average.

The banking sector alone accounts for CHF 36.7 billion of value added, corresponding to 6.7% of GDP. The corresponding amount for the insurance sector is CHF 21.9 billion respectively 4.0%. Including indirect effects, the added value of the whole financial sector increases from CHF 58,6 billions to nearly CHF 90 billions, which is equivalent to approximately one fifth of the Swiss GDP.

Number of employees (2010)	Financial sector	Banking sector
Employees working in Switzerland	195,045	141,900
Employees working abroad	177,000	104,000*
Total employees	342,045	245,900

* Figures as at the end of 2009
Sources: Swiss National Bank, Federal Statistical Office

More than 195,000 people or 5.7% of the entire Swiss workforce are em-ployed in the financial sector. Of these,

• 108,000 work for banks and securities dealers,
• 33,900 work for other financial services providers (e.g. independent as-set managers, etc.), and
• 53,145 work for insurance companies.

Swiss banks also employ around 104,000 staff abroad (branches and sub-sidiaries).

In 2010 banks train over 3,800 commercial apprentices or more than 12% of all commercial apprentices in Switzerland.

The financial centre (including staff and shareholders) pays an estimated CHF 14-18 billion each year overall in direct and indirect taxes. This equates to 12-15% of all federal, cantonal and municipal tax receipts. In 2010 CHF 11.2 billion or nearly 10% of all tax receipts can be attributed to the banking sector (as of 2010).

¹ Taxes on earnings and capital, income tax and taxes on dividends are direct taxes; withholding tax, stamp duty and VAT are indirect taxes. Exact figures for the insurance industry are not available and have therefore been estimated.

Number of banks and total assets (2010)	Number of banks	Total assets in CHF billion	Proportion of total assets
Big banks	2	1,482	54.6%
Cantonal banks	24	421	15.5%
Foreign banks	154	338	12.7%
Raiffeisen banks*	1	147	5.4%
Asset management banks	47	123	4.5%
Regional and savings banks	69	96	3.5%
Private bankers	13	46	1.5%
Other banks	10	61	2.3%
Total	320	2,714	100.0%

* The Raiffeisen banks consist of 339 affiliated banks.
Source: Swiss National Bank “Banks in Switzerland 2010”


As of year-end 2010 there were 320 banks, 3,442 branches and 5,555 ATM’s in Switzerland. In addition banks in Switzerland dispose of 284 branches abroad.

Wealth management is a core business for Swiss banks.

In wealth management, a distinction must be made between ‘banks in Swit-zerland’ and ‘Swiss banks’. The designation ‘Swiss banks’ also includes sub-sidiaries in other countries and therefore covers a broader base.

There is no standard definition of the term “assets under management” (AUM). According to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), assets under management comprise all invested assets held under a discretionary or advisory asset management mandate. Consequently, the following positions are deemed assets under management: securities held in client portfolios, fiduciary deposits, amounts due to clients in savings and investment accounts, as well as other amounts due to clients from time de-posits.

Assets under management in Switzerland (2010)	Assets under management (CHF bn)	Share in %
Domestic clients	2,650	48%
Foreign clients	2,850	52%
Total	5,500	100%

All figures are rounded.
Sources: Calculations SBA, Swiss National Bank

Swiss banks rank amongst the world leaders in wealth management: Three Swiss banks can be found in the top ten in a ranking of the world’s biggest wealth managers.

At year-end 2010 assets under management in Switzerland total around CHF 5,500 billion.

Swiss banks are market leaders in cross-border private banking, with a market share of 27%.²

About 29,000 employees work in the segment of wealth management for foreign clients. They generate a value added of around CHF 8 billion.

² According to The Boston Consulting Group’s “Global Wealth Report 2011“ Switzerland’s international private banking amounts to about USD 2,100 bn. Private Banking in der Schweiz Ende 2010 USD 2’100 Mrd.

Direct foreign investments are investments made by Swiss companies outside Switzerland with the purpose of establishing a strategic long-term relationship with the company in which they invest. Direct foreign investment subsumes a variety of transactions such as opening non-independent branch offices, establishing subsidiaries, or mergers and acquisitions.

By international comparison, Swiss direct investment abroad is quite substantial. This is also reflected in the ratio of the cumulative Swiss direct investment abroad to the nominal GDP, which was 161% at the end of 2009. Banks and insurance companies account for roughly one-quarter of these direct investments.

Capital held abroad by banks and insurances

CHF bn	2007	2008	2009
Bank capital	86.8	80.0	82.9
Insurance capital	81.8	96.8	116.1
Total Swiss capital held abroad	734.2	780.9	865.5
Percentage share of the financial sector (in %)	22.9	22.6	23.0

Source: Swiss National Bank “Direct Investments 2009”