Foreign Investments at a Discount

Article Excerpt

SWISS HELVETIA FUND $17 (New York symbol SWZ; CWA Rating: Conservative) invests mainly in large-capitalization Swiss stocks. The manager of the fund is Hottinger Group, which, as Banque Hottinger, dates back to 1786. Swiss Helvetia Fund will gain along with a pick-up in the U.S., one of Switzerland’s largest markets. Continued growth in the U.S. will help the export oriented Swiss economy, particularly if it stimulates growth in Europe, its largest market. Switzerland is showing positive growth again in 2006, and it stands to further benefit from a continued global economic rebound. The fund’s top holdings are Roche Holdings (pharmaceuticals) at 13.5%; Nestle SA (food & beverages), 12.4%; Novartis AG (health care and pharmaceuticals), 12.2%; UBS AG (banking), 9.9%; Swiss Life Holding (pension and life insurance), 5%; Credit Suisse Group (financial services), 5%; Basilea Pharaceutica (biopharmaceuticals ), 4%; BKW FMB Energie (Swiss electricity generator), 3.9%; Adecco (human resources), 3.7%; and Zurich Financial (insurance- based financial services), 3.1%. The industry exposure of the stocks…