From a niche Swiss innovation to a $1–2 trillion global market. The pivot of the whole story: the shift from bank-issued (on-balance-sheet) to SPV-issued (off-balance-sheet).
AMC Summit 2026
Section 2 — Bianchi
Era 1
Bank-issued · On-balance-sheet
Pivot
Basel III
Era 2
Independent SPV · Off-balance-sheet
Late 1990s
The first AMCs
Swiss private banks begin offering tracker certificates. The basket goes discretionary.
~2005
Regulatory certainty
FINMA proposes reclassifying AMCs as collective investment schemes. The market pushes back; FINMA withdraws.
2008
Issuer risk becomes real
Lehman Brothers collapses. The counterparty exposure of bank-issued structures is no longer theoretical.
The pivot
Basel III
Capital charges on illiquid bank-held assets make on-balance-sheet issuance expensive. Issuance moves into independent SPVs.
2011–12
Growth accelerates
A wave of relationship managers leaving the big banks drives new demand. AMC growth accelerates strongly.
2020
FinSA & FinIA in force
All asset managers now require a FINMA licence regardless of AUM. The market absorbs the change; the structures remain intact.
Now →
Convergence & tokenization
Active ETPs and AMCs converge. Tokenization opens. Stablecoins emerge as the next frontier.