Investments and returns

In recent years, Suva has generated sufficient returns from its financial investments to cover all of its legally required services. What's more, the gains it has made on its investments have generated excess funds that have been reimbursed to insurees through lower premiums.

Short and succinct

In order to generate the returns required by law, Suva follows an investment strategy that

is tailored to its special requirements regarding required yield and solvency demands;
is invested in a range of asset classes in order to benefit from the specific risk/return profiles of these classes;
is focused on the long term and can therefore benefit from investment opportunities countercyclically.

Suva's performance since 2000

Due to its public mandate, Suva invests its financial resources long-term. This enables a high rate of investment in less liquid assets and a countercyclical approach to the capital markets. The investment strategy is designed in such as way as to ensure the required yield is achieved under various inflation scenarios with the lowest possible risk. For this reason, the investment strategy is not directly comparable with those of other institutional investors (e.g. pension funds).

Suva follows an investment strategy that is tailored to its special requirements regarding required yield and solvency demands. It invests the majority of its financial resources in loans and bonds that represent a low risk, and therefore generate a comparatively low return. Around a quarter of its funds are invested in shares. Suva also invests in real estate throughout Switzerland and commissions new construction projects.

Since 2000, Suva has generated considerable added value by carefully selecting its individual investments and positioning in the markets, as opposed to a passive implementation of the investment strategy. Insurees have benefitted from this as returns on investments it does not use in the provision of its statutory services are refunded to insurees through lower premiums.