Investing and growing your money

Finding the right balance between saving, investing and spending requires a well-thought-out strategy. Here are some steps that might help you:

1. Create a budget: Define your monthly fixed costs and expenses to know how much you have available.
2. Build up an emergency reserve: Start by saving for unforeseen expenses, e.g. three to six months of your living expenses.
3. Set long-term goals: Prioritize long-term savings goals such as retirement provision and major purchases.
4. Invest: Regularly invest part of your income to increase your assets.
5. Don't forget to enjoy yourself: Plan a budget for personal expenses so that you can enjoy the present without jeopardizing your financial goals.

You can achieve a balance by consciously planning your expenditure, making provisions for the future and investing in your quality of life at the same time.

The most common investment opportunities include:

• Equities: high returns, but also higher risk.
• Bonds: more stable interest payments with lower risk.
• Investment funds and ETFs: offer diversification, but with management fees.
• Real estate: high initial investment, less liquid.
• Commodities: hedging against inflation, but volatile prices.
• Pillar 3a and 3b: tax-privileged pension accounts.

The right investment depends on your goals, your personal situation, your risk tolerance and your investment horizon.

Further information can be found on our pages on investment advice and asset management.

The greater the profit opportunities, the higher the risks. Or: The lower the investment risks, the smaller the profit opportunities.

• Money market investments receive fixed interest and have a term of 12 months at most. Because they are invested for a short, defined period, fluctuations are low. If money is invested for longer than 12 months, we speak of a capital market investment.
• Bonds are more risky than savings accounts but less risky than shares. By buying or subscribing to a bond, you grant a company or state a loan that is paid back after the end of the term. You receive interest in return. Bond prices may fluctuate, for example if interest rates increase, but generally do so less than share prices.
• Shares provide a stake in a company and allow the shareholder to share in their success. Share prices fluctuate, depending on the company's success, but also on market developments, changes in interest rates and the economy, and political events. Successful companies pay dividends to shareholders as a profit share. 
• Real estate is a material asset. You can invest directly or indirectly, for instance in real estate funds or shares in real estate companies. Real estate is subject to fluctuations in value, triggered by demand and changes in interest rates in particular. 
• Alternative investments include investments in commodities, hedge funds or infrastructure funds, which do not belong to a traditional asset class. They are not usually very liquid and have a complex structure. Alternative investments enable you to make better use of investment opportunities and to diversify your assets more broadly.
• Derivative instruments are options on underlying assets, such as shares. Their price depends on the underlying asset. With a share option, you can, for example, buy (call option) or sell (put option) a share at a specified price. Derivative instruments are complex. They are only suitable for investors who understand the mechanisms and can shoulder the risks (total loss).

Diversification means the distribution of risk. A beach vendor who only sells sunglasses will do good business on sunny days, but will sell very little when it rains. Had they supplemented their range with umbrellas, they might also make sales on rainy days. This principle also applies to investments: If, for example, you invest in just one company, the danger of total loss is greater than if you had invested in many companies. Or in one share fund that invests in many companies and so spreads risk broadly. Diversification costs hardly anything and is most easily realized with investment funds.

Stay calm and don't act rashly based on fear or panic. In times of uncertainty, it is important to stick to your investment strategy with discipline. Ups and downs are part of the stock market. In a long-term comparison, investments pay off.

Price corrections are an opportunity to get on board. That is why you should continue investing in uncertain times with regular deposits (from 1000 francs upwards). If you leave your money in a savings account, it will keep on depreciating in value due to inflation.

In "Investing in times of uncertainty", you can read what Zurich experts are recommending now.

Even investment professionals do not catch the right entry point. That's why discipline is more important than the timing. Studies show that despite unfortunate purchase timing, positive returns are possible in the long term, as the stock market always recovers in the long run. Uncertainty and falling prices should not therefore deter you from entering. What's more, such phases are often particularly suitable for long-term investments, because you benefit from lower entry prices.

Zurich Invest Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zurich Insurance Company Ltd, is a licensed "collective investment manager" supervised by FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. We manage more than 40 billion Swiss francs for our customers. These fund assets are protected against insolvency as special assets. In the extremely unlikely event of the bankruptcy of Zurich Invest Ltd, the fund assets belong to the investors, and do not therefore form part of the bankrupt's estate. This means the loss of your capital through bankruptcy is excluded at all times.

Biometric benefits (death, disability, and incapacity for work), maturity guarantees, and the equivalent value of the underlying financial assets are secured by the tied assets of Zurich Life Insurance Company Ltd. In the event of insolvency of Zurich Life Insurance Company Ltd, the tied assets are protected from access by third-party creditors.

The certificates are issued on behalf of Zurich by top-tier and carefully selected banking partners. The benefit is ensured by the issuer of the certificate. In the event of insolvency of the issuer (or its guarantor), the investment is not protected.

CapitalFund offers two Zurich sustainability funds from the "Zurich Climate Focus World Equity Fund" category.

The Zurich Climate Focus World Equity Fund tracks the performance of the "MSCI World Climate Paris Aligned Ex Select Business Involvement Screens Index". This index focuses on companies that have committed to the climate targets of the Paris Agreement to reduce CO₂ emissions. In this way, the fund contributes to climate protection and the promotion of sustainable investments. The index is broadly diversified and focuses on US technology companies such as NVIDIA, Microsoft and Apple. The risk currency is US Dollar. 

The Zurich Climate Focus World Equity Fund tracks the performance of the "MSCI EUR IG Corporate Bond Index". This index focuses on globally distributed companies that have committed to the climate targets of the Paris Agreement to reduce CO₂ emissions. The risk currency is the euro with a hedge in Swiss francs. The index focuses in particular on bonds from France, the USA and the Netherlands.

With life insurance as an investment solution, you combine the protection and tax advantages of life insurance with a return-oriented investment in funds:

With the CapitalFund single premium product, the single premium is invested in funds. A guaranteed death benefit is included in the event of death, so that the next of kin would receive at least the amount paid in. The costs for this protection are generally low, but ensure that the maturity benefit and thus all dividend and interest income are exempt from income tax.

A guaranteed maturity benefit can be included as an option.

On the one hand, you don't have to look into the economy, the markets and your investments every day or make difficult investment decisions, and you can sleep soundly at night. On the other, you benefit from a systematic and structured investment process that leads to higher investment returns in the long term. In addition to this, you avoid typical (and often costly) investor mistakes - a professional asset manager makes decisions based on facts and is not guided by emotions such as greed or fear when prices rise or fall.

The ideal time to start financial planning is NOW – regardless of your age or financial situation. The earlier you start, the better you can build up long-term assets and achieve your goals, such as optimizing your retirement provision or buying your own home.