Swiss foundation assets have risen from CHF 70 billion to around CHF 100 billion within six years. This is reported in the newly published Foundation Report 2018. One reason for this is the steadily increasing number of foundations. One could say that a new foundation is established every day. In addition, larger institutions that previously had a different legal form were converted into foundations. These include nursing homes and museums. Also noteworthy is the fact that the increase in the value of real estate held by foundations has contributed to this increase in assets. It is noteworthy that around four-fifths of Swiss foundations have assets of less than CHF 5 million.

Lukas von Orelli, President of Swiss Foundations, believes that there is still significant upside potential in Switzerland. In an interview in the Foundation Report, he is quoted as saying that 60 billion francs will be bequeathed annually in the coming years. This is a great opportunity for the sector. Of course, the framework conditions must be kept favourable. He dreams of seeing the current funding volume of an estimated 2 billion francs/year doubled in the next two decades.

Geographical distribution of charitable foundations in Switzerland

Source: Foundation Report 2018

The largest assets with 40 billion Swiss francs, divided among 4362 foundations, are supervised by the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations. This is followed by the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Land, whose foundations have total assets of almost 17 billion francs. On average, the balance sheet total of a Swiss foundation amounts to 8.2 million Swiss francs.

Around 70% of all charitable foundations are regionally anchored and support charitable initiatives and projects locally. However, the sector is not only growing, but is also becoming increasingly professional. The complete Foundation Report can be found here.

Posted in Foundations Switzerland