The allure of Swiss stocks has been bolstered by a weakening Swiss franc, which should help the country’s export-driven economy. The CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust (NYSEArca: FXF) is off 1.3% in the past month.
Switzerland ETFs also continue attracting investors due to a relative lack of volatility compared to other Europe offerings. For example, EWL, which attracted over $76 million in new assets in the week ended Sept. 2, has a three-year standard deviation of 15.8%, according to iShares data. That compares with 18.5% on the iShares Europe ETF (NYSEArca: IEV).
Volatility in Swiss equities is lower compared to other European nations due to the market’s hefty weights to consumer staples and health care stocks. Those sectors combine for almost 52% of EWL and over 27% of FSZ.
A combined 31.5% weight to Nestle (OTC: NSRGY) and Novartis (NYSE: NVS) helps drive a decent trailing 12-month dividend yield of 2.4% on EWL.
iShares MSCI Switzerland Capped ETF
