In the first quarter of 2020, after a positive start stock exchanges came under great pressure from the eighth week onward due to the global spread of coronavirus. Fueled by sharp swings the trading volume on the Swiss ETF market reached a new record in Q1, as the latest edition of our ETF Market Report shows.
Compared to the already strong fourth quarter of 2019, trading turnover rose by another 23% in the first three months while the number of trades surged by as much as 105%. At 511'162, it reached more than half of the previous year’s figure already.
ETFs on the Swiss Stock Exchange: sustained momentum and a new issuer
The sustained momentum of the generally passively managed ETFs is unabated. The number of listings increased by two to 38 in the first quarter. At the end of March our offering amounted to 1'569 ETFs – including those of Credit Suisse who joined us in March as a new ETF issuer. In the report, you can read an interview on this milestone with Dr. Valerio Schmitz-Esser, Head of Index Solutions at Credit Suisse Asset Management in Zurich.
High demand for commodity ETFs
All asset classes posted double-digit growth in turnover compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. With an increase of 123%, commodity ETFs in general and those based on precious metals in particular saw especially strong demand.
An exceptionally large number of trades were recorded in the first quarter. Gold ETFs and ETFs on the Swiss equity indices SMI and SPI were particularly popular with investors. The highest number of trades was attributable to CSSMI, an ETF from iShares/BlackRock based on the Swiss blue-chip index SMI.
In the first quarter, the list of the most-traded ETFs was still led by ETFs based on broadly diversified market indicators. The highest turnover in the period from January to March 2020 was once again posted by ACWIU, an ETF from UBS. 14 of the 20 most-traded ETFs boosted their turnover against the previous quarter.
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