Regular investing through exchange-traded index funds is becoming increasingly established in Switzerland. From January to July 2026, the volume of ETF savings plans executed via BX Swiss was 44,6 percent higher than in the same period of the previous year, according to an analysis published by the Swiss exchange on Thursday.

Investors are not only investing more, but are also diversifying more broadly. The average number of instruments used per execution date increased by 27,9 percent.

Global Diversification Beats AI and ESG

The composition of the savings plans is particularly noteworthy. Despite the boom surrounding artificial intelligence and technology stocks, broadly diversified investments dominate.

The three ETF savings plan products with the highest volumes all track the FTSE All-World Index. Among the 50 products with the highest turnover examined, four FTSE All-World ETFs accounted for 45,2 percent of total savings plan volume. By comparison, nine strategies explicitly focused on the United States or technology accounted for just 13,4 percent combined.

ESG is not a dominant factor either. Products clearly classified as sustainable or ESG-oriented accounted for 12,7 percent of the volume analysed. Two of them nevertheless ranked among the ten products with the highest volumes.

David Kunz, capital markets expert at BX Swiss. (Image: provided)

«What is striking is that short-term trends are not leading the rankings,» said David Kunz, capital markets expert at BX Swiss. Investors are primarily opting for broadly diversified global ETFs. This suggests that savings plans are increasingly being used as a long-term building block for wealth accumulation.

Switzerland Still Has Room to Catch Up

Switzerland is thus following a trend that is already more advanced elsewhere in Europe. Germany remains the most important European market for ETF savings plans thanks to its large and well-established range of products. However, Swiss banks and digital financial providers have also expanded their offerings in recent years.

According to the «European Saving Plan Study» cited in the statement, around 15,1 million ETF savings plans were executed each month in continental Europe in 2025. Annual savings volume increased by 29 percent compared with 2024 to 22,7 billion euro.

Nevertheless, Switzerland still offers considerable growth potential. According to an ETF investor study by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts cited by BX Swiss, only 9 percent of investors currently use an ETF savings plan. At the same time, 48 percent of ETF investors said they were interested in such a savings model.

No Longer Just at the Beginning of the Month

Investment behaviour is also changing. ETF savings plans were traditionally executed predominantly at the beginning of the month. According to BX Swiss, however, the middle and end of the month are now also gaining in importance. Savings activity is therefore becoming increasingly spread across the entire month.

The ranking of the most popular products is led by the Invesco FTSE All-World UCITS ETF Acc, ahead of two other products tracking the same global index. An explicitly AI-focused fund appears only in fifth place, with the Xtrackers Artificial Intelligence & Big Data UCITS ETF.

The data should not be regarded as representative of the entire Swiss ETF market. BX Swiss analysed only ETF savings plan transactions executed through its own exchange between January and July 2026.