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Even if the most important stock exchange barometer for Swiss shares loses 17 percent within a calendar year, …
The Swiss Market Index (SMI) lost 17 percent in the past year. The worst performance since 2008, when the real estate bubble burst and the financial crisis ushered in.
The “NZZ” speaks of a “pitch black stock market year”. The “Frankfurter Allgemeine” thinks that things couldn’t get any worse in 2023, and the Tamedia newspapers state that the year that has ended “mostly brought losses” to investors.
Pitch black stock market year? Who do business journalists write for? Probably for CFOs, asset managers or pension fund managers. Stock market losses can really get on your mind. Your actions will be measured by performance. Those investment advisors who recommended buying securities at the beginning of the year despite the gathering black clouds and record-high prices also have nothing to smile about.
For private investors, on the other hand, performance comparisons per calendar year make little sense. You should therefore not be intimidated by gloomy buzzwords. Book losses even have their good side: lower wealth taxes and the opportunity to get hold of securities at lower prices, provided one was able to take advantage of the fallen prices.
So let’s look at what it means for private investors if the most important stock market barometer for Swiss shares has lost 17 percent within a calendar year. First of all, it means something different for everyone – depending on the composition of the portfolio. Anyone who also holds foreign titles in their portfolio is likely to have suffered even larger book losses, also because of the weaker euro. Note: book losses, not losses.
The Gopfried Stutz is based on the Ishare Swiss Dividend. The fund that invests in Swiss stocks with above-average dividends and is not mentioned here for the first time. His largest positions are Zurich Insurance, Novartis, ABB, Nestlé and Roche.
At the end of 2021, the share of this fund cost 163.90 francs, at the end of 2022 it was 142 francs. The fund lost a good 13 percent. But now the Ishare Swiss Dividend has paid out lavish dividends in the so-called “pitched stock market year”, namely CHF 4.94 per share. Measured against the price at the beginning of 2022, this results in a dividend yield of at least three percent.
But these three percent are actually irrelevant. An estimated 99 percent of investors didn’t buy the shares in early 2022. You bought them sometime a few years ago or maybe this past summer after the course correction.
To take an example: At the end of 2018, a share in the aforementioned dividend fund cost CHF 103.50. Based on this figure, the dividend yield for the past year was 4.77 percent. Not a bad value for a pitch-black stock market year.