Collective investment rules offer a flexible legal framework
Shelby R. du Pasquier and Fedor Poskriakov, Lenz & Staehelin
In the last few years, alternative investments and hedge
funds in particular have become part of the standard asset allocation process
in the Swiss private banking business as well as for many Swiss institutional
investors, including insurance companies and, to a certain extent, pension
funds. This is the case even though, given legal and regulatory constraints,
hedge funds still may only be distributed in Switzerland by way of private
placement exclusively to “qualified investors”. Notwithstanding the recent
overhaul of the Swiss legal framework applicable to collective investments, two
major obstacles remain in practice to the development of a domestic hedge fund
market.
The Swiss market
Introduction
Switzerland is an important player in the alternative
investment area, especially for hedge funds. By international standards,
Switzerland has only played a minor role...