The financial markets have clawed back some of their lost ground, and the huge monetary and fiscal support packages have been rolled out more rapidly than in 2008/09 – for good reason, as the corrections to both financial markets and economic activity were more sudden on this occasion. Swiss equities are currently interesting for three reasons: 1. a stable currency thanks to Switzerland’s comparative political stability by global standards; 2. a price/earnings valuation that is once again attractive compared to the MSCI World; and 3. the defensive nature of many leading Swiss companies, i.e. the below-average beta of the Swiss stock market due to its relative income stability. 

The coronavirus crisis may appear to have peaked, but it is not over. Due to the longer-term consequences, a recovery phase could prove both weaker and shorter than after previous crises. After all, the cause of this crisis is obviously very different to that of other crises – such as in 2008, for example. This makes combating the crisis much more difficult this time, at least until a reliable vaccine is available in sufficient quantities. Defensive diversification remains the order of the day, as both bonds and gold are likely to be beneficiaries of the longer-term consequences of this unusual crisis.

The turbulent performance of Bitcoin over the last year has brought this cryptocurrency to the attention of the wider public. But this currency has actually been around for almost ten years, and an estimated 1,600 other alternative currencies have also sprung up in the meantime. The question is often asked whether these constructs – which only exist in the form of digital code – can really be considered currencies at all in a way that bears comparison with the dollar, euro or yen. We will return to this question later in this article. First of all it is worth establishing what actually lies behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether and Ripple.