Swiss social insurance pension fund drops paper claims, takes gold bars instead

* * *

Swaps Swapped: Switzerland's AHV Moves into Physical Gold

By Barbara Ottawa
Investment Pensions & Europe, London
Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Switzerland's AHV/AVS fund is shifting to physical gold for the commodity exposure in its SwFr35.2 billion (E30.5 billion, $35.6 billion) portfolio.

At the end of last week the first pillar buffer fund tendered a custodianship and storage for SwFr700 million ($707 million) in gold bars via IPE Quest.

The bars are to be stored in Switzerland either collectively or individually, the tender (QN-2447) states.

The tender marks a shift in the investment strategy for AHV/AVS, as it previously only invested in gold and silver via swaps.

"The supervisory board has decided we are to invest in physical gold bars from now on," the fund told IPE in a statement.

In 2016 the supervisory board of the buffer fund decided to raise its the commodities exposure from 1 to 2 percent while divesting from energy-related commodity exposure.

The fund explained last year that gold was better suited to add "diversification and hedging in certain situations (inflation or recession)" than the previously preferred energy commodities.

In March the investment committee confirmed the decision to change the precious metal mandate from swaps to physical gold. ...

... For the remainder of the report:

https://www.ipe.com/news/mandates/swaps-swapp...-ahv-moves-i...

* * *