BCV – a Solid Swiss Alternative

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  Susan Niederhöfer
  Chefredakteurin

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV) is a cantonal bank from French-speaking Switzerland – for some readers, maybe not the most obvious place for innovation in Actively Managed Certificates (AMCs). How did BCV come to embrace AMCs so early and so consistently?

We realized more than ten years ago that demand for AMCs would increase. Independent asset managers (IAMs) and banks were looking for products that would simplify their administration and let them implement their investment strategies flexibly and efficiently. We’ve been issuing AMCs for over ten years and this experience has made us one of Switzerland’s leading AMC issuers. Today, more than 50 investment managers across Switzerland with around CHF 2 billion under management trust us to issue, implement, and monitor AMCs. 

We regularly expand our range of products and have developed a a number of different online resources, including AMC Access360 – a web platform for managing AMCs – as well as product documentation and reporting. We have also developed a factor-based investment tool called AMC Select360, which helps asset managers to select titles for the investment strategy underlying their AMC. In my opinion, our strengths derive from our long-standing dedication to this business, our solid capital base, our high quality of service, and our pricing.

Do you think there’s a different AMC culture in French-speaking Switzerland than in German-speaking Switzerland – or have AMCs become established throughout Switzerland by now?

We see different needs in the two regions, but that is less due to cultural differences than to market structure. French-speaking Switzerland has a lot of private banks, which are highly interested in AMCs because they provide a flexible and efficient way for them to implement and market their investment strategies. By contrast, German-speaking Switzerland have a lot of cantonal, regional, and retail banks. These establishments are showing more and more interest in AMCs, particularly from Swiss issuers. Geneva is a major hub for IAMs, but more than two-thirds of the country’s IAMs are actually based in German-speaking Switzerland. BCV is, therefore, an attractive choice for clients who value Swiss products and well-capitalized issuers.

Which client segments are requesting AMCs from you: are they predominantly traditional IAMs, family offices, or are they institutional investors?

In today’s mature market, our role is to provide a reliable source of diversification for institutional investors, whether that means IAMs, private banks, cantonal and regional banks, or others. We are seeing growing interest in AMCs amongst IAMs, who increasingly want to streamline their operations and paperwork so they can focus on their core business of serving their clients and managing their assets.

And has the landscape shifted in recent years?

Given our strong position in French-speaking Switzerland, we are now focusing on expanding our business in German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. In the current environment, the fact that BCV is a well-capitalized Swiss bank is an advantage for two reasons: firstly, clients are taking issuer risk very seriously, and secondly, portfolio diversification is now not only an economic imperative but a regulatory one, under FINMA Circular 2025/2.

Your Access360 platform gives clients direct online access to their AMCs. How has it changed things? … for your clients?

We developed this platform from scratch and are continuously adjusting it to meet our clients’ evolving needs and to respond to their feedback. Managing the platform completely in-house gives us a great deal of agility and flexibility. We have made some major improvements to AMC Access360 since its launch; recently, we have enhanced the platform’s reporting and monitoring features. Reports now provide a better overview, and clients get even more precise monitoring of certificates that are actively managed on the platform. What we are seeing is that the quality of a provider’s platform has become a decisive factor. Of course, price is still a consideration but it is not the only variable taken into account – client experience is also important.

… and in-house, for BCV teams?

Access360 offers a huge advantage for our in-house teams. For our trading desk, the platform reduces operational risk by better centralizing information and streamlining the order rebalancing process. The platform also creates genuine added value for our sales teams by giving them more time for business development, client acquisition, and client support. Access360 is a strategic lever for us that enhances client experience, boosts operating efficiency, and increases the growth potential of our business.

Has the user profile changed over time? 

Our primary focus is on products and services for institutional clients, particularly IAMs and banks. That includes private, cantonal, and regional banks. The clients are basically the same. What has really changed are their needs.

Growth figures for Structured Products indicate that they are meeting a demand for financial instruments adapted to market conditions. Does this also apply to AMCs?

We are definitely seeing significant interest in AMCs. Our clients are seeking to consolidate their own clients’ portfolios under one roof in order to standardize and simplify the management process – all at a reasonable cost. AMCs also provide a way to implement a strategy or a specific investment theme and market it as a financial product. In addition, clients need to diversify their sources of risk; this is especially important for AMCs, which are long-term financial products. Since an AMC represents a relatively long-term liability for the issuer, the issuer’s credit rating is key for retail and institutional clients alike. As a reminder, BCV is rated AA by Standard & Poor’s and Aa2 by Moody’s. Since AMCs can be issued with low volume, new strategies can be implemented flexibly, cheaply, and quickly. If a product meets expectations, the investment manager can then replicate the same strategy in an investment fund. For all these reasons, the AMC market is likely to continue growing.

In this issue, we’d also like to provide insights into regulatory aspects and investor protection. What constitutes best practice at BCV in this regard, and is there anything other issuers could learn from your approach?

Our clients particularly like the key information document introduced under the Swiss Financial Services Act (corresponding to the PRIIP KID under European regulations), because it provides complete transparency on a financial product’s risks and costs. This enables clients to assess issuers more accurately (obviously, there is no such thing as zero risk) and compare costs across different products, which in turn guards against excessive fees. Changes in the law can also open up new opportunities. As we discussed earlier, the introduction of diversification requirements under FINMA Circular 2025/2 is giving rise to new market opportunities.

Many thanks for taking the time to talk, Mr Naescher!

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Erwin Naescher
Co-Head of Structured Products and Head of Structured Products Sales at BCV

Erwin Naescher is Co-Head of Structured Products at BCV. He is also head of Structured Products sales and coordinates sales teams in Lausanne and Zurich. He began his career at Leonteq Securities in Zurich. In 2017, he joined BCV in Lausanne, and in 2019 he opened BCV’s Structured Products desk in Zurich.

He holds a master’s degree in finance from the University of Neuchâtel and is fluent in German, French, and English.