Investors put off by slowing growth and lackluster yields in Europe are finding havens in companies that sell cancer drugs and baby food.
They aren?t only safe, they?re Swiss, with investors pouring a record amount into an exchange-traded fund tracking the country?s shares. Expectations for stock swings in the Swiss Market Index (SMI) are 28 percent lower than those for Europe.
?Switzerland offers a defensive equity play for investors who are looking at European fundamentals and worried about lack of growth,? Baring, who helps oversee $500 million at B-Capital in Geneva, said in a phone interview. ?The health-care and food sectors that dominate the SMI are quite resilient to a downturn. Swiss companies have good cash flows, and the dividend yields are attractive.?
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