The Building Blocks: What We Invest Your Money In

Three building blocks, everything disclosed — ISIN, costs, domicile, as-of date.

By Thierry Borgeat · Reviewed by Patrick Rissi, CFA and Florian Jauch, CFA · 9 minute read

01Why this page exists

Our articles usually say "a broad world equity index" or "roughly 12% emerging markets". That is the structure. This page is where the actual products live — with ISIN, costs and as-of date.

Two reasons for splitting it that way. First, you can verify everything in one place instead of collecting it across thirty articles. Second, building blocks can change: a cheaper share class, a fund that tracks better, a shift in index weights. Then this page changes — rather than thirty others that would otherwise go stale.

This page as of 23 September 2026. All figures are taken from the respective fund factsheets.

02The world equity portfolio: 88% and 12%

The equity part covers the world equity market, emerging markets included. We assemble it from two blocks:

Together that is the same composition as the MSCI ACWI, the index that covers both in one. The 12% is not an opinion of ours; it is the weight emerging markets currently carry in that index.

03Why two blocks instead of one

There are funds that cover developed and emerging markets in one. They cost more — how much more depends on the fund:

As of 23 September 2026. Product costs per provider disclosures.

Two things about that, and we state both openly.

First: there are ACWI ETFs that are just as cheap as our combination. But they track the index through a swap with a counterparty rather than through real shares. We do not use them, for the reason set out in Physical or Synthetic. Anyone who weighs that differently will reach a different conclusion here, and that is a legitimate position.

Second: against the cheapest physical single-fund solution we save 0.056% a year. That is less spectacular than a comparison against the most expensive provider would make it look:

Model calculation at 7% gross return a year and 0.12% product costs for the single-fund solution. Not a forecast.

On top come two points that no expense ratio shows: both blocks are bought in Swiss francs, and subscribing to the Swiss fund incurs no stamp duty. The price for all of it is one additional holding in the portfolio.

04How the weight is maintained

The emerging markets weight in the index is not fixed. Over recent years it has moved in a range of roughly ten to thirteen percent. Our target weight follows it.

What does not move the weight: price movements. If emerging markets outperform developed markets, their weight rises in our two blocks exactly as it does inside the index. There is nothing to adjust, and that is why we do not need to reallocate regularly.

What does move the weight: changes to the index. A country is reclassified from emerging to developed, new companies enter, inclusion factors change. That happens rarely and MSCI announces it in advance.

05Block 1: Developed market equities

Why Ireland: fund domicile determines how much withholding tax is deducted from US dividends before the fund receives anything. An Irish fund pays 15% instead of 30% under the double taxation treaty. Because US equities make up roughly seventy percent of a developed markets index, that is worth in the order of 0.15% to 0.19% a year. More in Irish ETFs: 15% Instead of 30%.

Why physical: the fund actually holds the shares. It does not track the index through a swap with a counterparty. The trade-off is set out in Physical or Synthetic.

One point for completeness: physically replicating funds may lend securities against collateral and earn from it. This fund may do so as well. That is a side income which offsets part of the product costs — and at the same time the one place where even a physical fund takes on counterparty risk. The amounts actually earned are disclosed in the fund's annual report.

06Block 2: Emerging market equities

This block is an index fund, not an ETF. The difference is technical, but it has two practical consequences.

It can be bought to the centime. An ETF share costs what it costs, and you cannot buy less than one share. With an index fund it goes to three decimal places. That is why the split between the blocks works for you from CHF 500 rather than from several thousand francs.

No federal stamp duty applies. Issuing new units of a Swiss fund is exempt from the 0.15% transfer tax that applies when buying a foreign ETF on an exchange.

This fund also does not lend securities. "NSL" stands for "No Securities Lending". That forgoes a possible side income and avoids the counterparty risk that comes with it.

07Block 3: Swiss franc bonds

This block is used in the Defensive and Balanced profiles. It holds Swiss franc bonds of good to very good credit quality. Its job is not return but dampening: when equities fall, this part usually falls less, or not at all.

Like every bond fund it reacts to interest rates. When rates rise, the prices of existing bonds fall. Over the past five years this block returned slightly below zero. It is also subject to a subscription charge on entry; the current terms are in the fund's factsheet.

How much in bonds suits you depends mostly on when you need the money. See How Much to Invest Each Month.

08The three profiles — and what they cost

You choose the profile, the building blocks implement it. The management fee is the same in every profile; product costs differ slightly because the blocks cost different amounts.

The emerging markets weight refers to the equity part: 12% of a 30% equity allocation is 3.6% of the total portfolio.

When our articles quote 0.45% all-in, they refer to the Growth profile, because it is the most chosen one in the savings plan. The full scale is here.

09How we buy

We invest weekly. Two of the three blocks are index funds and can be subscribed to the centime; only the developed markets ETF is bought in whole shares. That gives a simple rule:

Balancing always happens through new contributions, never through sales. So no stamp duty and no spread arise from keeping the weights in line.

The mandate starts at CHF 500. From that amount the split can be represented sensibly — with small deviations in the first weeks that close by themselves with every contribution.

10What is actually inside emerging markets

Most people picture commodities and low-cost manufacturing. The largest block is something else:

As of 31 August 2026. Source: fund factsheet.

More than four tenths of the emerging markets part is technology — semiconductor manufacturers, electronics, internet groups. That is the honest flip side: this block is heavily concentrated in one sector. It diversifies more broadly across geographies than a developed markets index, but not necessarily across industries.

11What these blocks are not

They are not a return promise. How much emerging markets swing is shown by their own record over recent years, measured in Swiss francs:

Fund performance in Swiss francs as of 22 September 2026, before charges at investor level. Over five years that is 6.25% a year. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

A year at almost minus nineteen percent and a current one at plus thirty — both within five years. If you cannot live with that swing, choose a lower equity allocation rather than dropping emerging markets.

And to be explicit: we are not adding emerging markets because they have run well lately. We are adding them because they are part of the world market. Had we written this page three years ago, the same split would be in it, only with different numbers in the table above.

They are also not an active selection. An index buys what is large. It asks no questions about valuation. For most investors that is the right choice — but it is a characteristic, not a badge of quality. How this relates to our active approach is covered in Passive, Active or Both.

12Frequently asked questions