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1994-07-17
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THE SWISS FRANC:
ROCK SOLID PILLAR OF FINANCIAL SECURITY
The Swiss franc is more than a paper currency --
it is backed by gold. Swiss law requires a minimum 40%
gold reserve for every franc in circulation. Actual
gold reserves amount to 56% and are valued at the old
Central Bank price of US$42.22 per ounce. At today's
market price the actual gold reserves would amount to
many times the amount of Swiss francs in circulation.
There is no other currency in this position.
Switzerland's political and economic stability has
contributed to the Swiss franc's superior level of
performance. The Swiss franc has steadily increased in
value against all other currencies. Long term, the
Swiss franc has been the world's best investment
currency.
There is no question that the Swiss franc has been
the best managed currency in the world. Others have
been rising stars -- the German mark and the Japanese
yen for example -- but they rose as part of a
speculation on the rapid growth of their underlying
economies, not because the currency was well managed.
And they didn't remain rising stars. The yen has been
affected by severe Japanese economic problems, and the
mark by the high cost of reunification of Germany -- a
cost that may go on for decades yet.
Historically, the Japanese yen has been a heavy
loser of monetary value against the Swiss franc. The
Japanese paper and debt crisis may turn out to be worse
than the American one.
The German cost of reunification has already been
vastly more than the politicians estimated. Taxes and
deficit spending are sharply on the rise. The reasons
are understandable, but understanding doesn't change
the economic result and the effect on the strength of
the mark, which may become a far weaker currency than
many economists expect.
For many, Swiss interest rates seem low, yet
viewed historically, the total long term return has run
higher than 10% when measured in U.S. dollars. So many
investors make the mistake of comparing yields
expressed only in the currency of the investment, and
fail to calculate the relative yields including the
currency fluctuations.