The Best-Performing Swiss Stocks of the Past 20 Years

There are some Swiss stocks which, over the past 20 years, have been genuine cash cows for investors. Others have not paid off for investors at all. A study by online comparison service moneyland.ch analyzed the individual performance of stocks tracked by the Swiss Performance Index (SPI). The results show which companies have proven to be the best investments over the past 20 years.

For the study, moneyland.ch used historical performance data published by Morningstar for a 20-year period ending on February 28, 2022. The stocks included in the analysis are those which presently make up the SPI – which is seen as representative of the Swiss stock market. The analysis accounted for capital gains, dividends, and other returns.

On average (arithmetic mean), the analyzed SPI stocks delivered a return of nearly 509 percent to their owners over the past 20 years. In concrete terms, that means stocks bought for 1000 francs 20 years ago are worth more than 6000 francs today. Half of the analyzed stocks (median) delivered returns of around 274 percent or more.

These averages only apply to companies which are still quoted on Swiss stock exchanges. The stocks of companies which either went bankrupt or were otherwise delisted over the past 20 years are not accounted for in the analysis.

6400 percent returns

14 percent of analyzed SPI stocks reached four-figure performance across the 20-year period, as a look at the top 20 stocks (table 1) shows. Those who invested in these stocks could grow their capital by more than ten times. Swissquote was the best-performing stock, bringing its shareholders a return of 6394 percent over 20 years. That means if you had invested 100 francs in Swissquote stock in 2002, that stock would have been worth nearly 6500 francs 20 years later.

“A look at the top performers makes it clear that the overall high average performance is driven by a relative handful of companies which delivered exceptional returns,” observes moneyland.ch analyst Felix Oeschger, who headed up the study. Without the top five best-performing stocks, the total average performance over the past 20 years would be just 353 percent instead of 509 percent. “That is a good argument for diversifying investments,” says moneyland.ch CEO Benjamin Manz, “because no one can predict ahead of time which stocks will bring the best returns.”

Table 1: Top 20 Swiss Stocks

In total, 34 percent of the stocks grew in value by five times over 20 years – accounting for dividends. Two-thirds of the stocks doubled in value, at the least. 88 percent of SPI stocks for which data is available yielded a positive return to shareholders between February 2002 and February 2022.

Some of the stocks which can still be traded today experienced major losses (table 2). The worst performer was aeronautics company Perfect Holding: Investors who held shares in this company for the 20 years leading up to February 2022 lost nearly the full value of their investment. Other stocks have been completely delisted, so they could not be included in the evaluation.

Table 2: Worst-performing Swiss stocks

Seven percent of listed stocks lost at least half of their value over the 20-year term. But in total, only 12 percent of the stocks included in the analysis lost value over the past 20 years.

Investment horizons: Timeframes are the deciding factor

How does performance look over shorter timeframes? moneyland.ch also analyzed gains and losses over the past ten, five, and three years, and for the past 12 months. “Even some of the biggest winners experienced losses over shorter terms,” observes study leader Felix Oeschger.

Table 3: Performance of top 20 Swiss stocks across different timeframes

On the other hand, some stocks which lost value over the long-term delivered returns over shorter terms (table 4). Investors who bought and sold these stocks at the right times could achieve notable returns, even though average performance across 20 years was poor or even negative. 

Table 4: Performance across different timeframes (biggest losers)

Manufacturing wins, banking suffers

A look at different industry sectors shows that basic materials, manufacturing, and consumer goods yielded high returns, on average, over the past 20 years. In the case of the relatively niche Swiss basic materials sector, it is important to note that Sika’s exceptional performance weighs strongly in figures for the sector. While average performance over the 20-year term was 900 percent, around half of the stocks in the basic materials sector only gained by 174 percent or less. “That is still nearly a three-fold return for shareholders, but it pales when compared to returns in other industry sectors,” notes Oeschger.

The lowest returns are seen in the financial services and communications sectors. Half of the analyzed financial stocks returned 164 percent or less, and the performance of half of stocks in the communications sector did not surpass 70 percent over the past 20 years.

Shares in major banks like Credit Suisse and UBS, in particular, have performed poorly over the past 20 years. But the average return for the financial services sector has also been propped up by successful cantonal banks, the Swiss National Bank, and highfliers like Swissquote.

Table 5: Overview by sector

An interesting observation is that only stocks in three industry sectors – namely basic materials, manufacturing, and consumer goods – were able to deliver returns above 500 percent, on average. The averages for each of the remaining five industry sectors all fall under the average return for all analyzed SPI stocks combined, which is 509 percent over 20 years.

Banks drag the SMI down

In addition to the broad SPI, moneyland.ch also conducted a separate analysis of the stocks listed on the Swiss Market Index (SMI). The results are shown below (table 6). Nearly all of the 20 biggest Swiss companies which are tracked by the SMI have at least doubled in value over the past 20 years. Shareholders of Credit Suisse and UBS are the odd ones out: These are the only two SMI stocks with negative returns over the 20-year term.

However, shareholders who bought UBS stock more recently could experience gains. Credit Suisse, on the other hand, had negative returns across all timeframes. The best-performing SMI stock is construction material manufacturer Sika, which also took second place among top-performing SPI stocks.

Table 6: SMI stock performance

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