Weekly Report 03/2026

Lots of good news

The new trading year began with lots of positive news. There was also some negative news, for example from Nestlé (-4% since the beginning of the year): the food company’s recall of infant formula is spreading beyond Europe to Africa, America, and Asia. At least 37 countries are affected by certain batches. The reason is possible contamination with a toxin that can cause nausea and vomiting.

Back to the positive: In Switzerland, inflation at the end of December 2025 remains virtually zero at +0.1% compared to the same month last year. Those who did not hold gold directly benefited from indirect exposure through our Swiss National Bank (SNB). For 2025 as a whole, it generated a profit of around CHF 36 billion on its gold reserves: around CHF 4,000 per inhabitant. The federal government and the cantons benefited from this profit – one of the highest in the SNB’s 119-year history – through a generous distribution.

The building materials group Holcim (+3%) completed the acquisition of the French manufacturer of precast concrete elements Alkern, which will have an impact on earnings in the first year. The attractively valued building materials group Amrize (+3%) is expanding through an acquisition in the US growth region of West Texas. This secures reserves for more than 50 years to meet long-term demand, which is currently being driven strongly by investments in infrastructure, energy projects, and data centers.

In ophthalmology, Alcon (+1%) recently withdrew an offer to acquire Staar Surgical, which was considered expensive, due to shareholder discipline. As a result, the share price of the supposed takeover target fell 25% below Alcon’s offer. This opens up the possibility of a clear recovery for the Swiss stock in the medium term.

Insurance stocks got off to a bad start this year. In Europe, the sector index recorded the worst performance among the 20 sectors (-2.6% since the beginning of the year). In some cases, primary insurers such as Zurich (-4%) took a beating. The share price performance of reinsurers was significantly worse than average, although Swiss Re (-4%) fared better than its competitors. Premiums for new business fell significantly for reinsurers (between -10% and -20% compared with the previous year), but should still cover capital costs.

And yet they do exist: globally coordinated rules, albeit with serious loopholes. Last week, 147 countries agreed on an amendment to the 2021 global minimum tax agreement. This is intended to reduce the incentives for multinational companies to shift profits to low-tax havens. Now, exceptions have been created for US corporations. China and India are not implementing the rules anyway. The new package of measures preserves the framework for a global minimum tax of 15%, as announced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD – of which Switzerland is also a member). This is to ensure that large multinational companies pay a minimum tax wherever they operate.