Managing funds in Switzerland involves two different licences, and choosing the wrong one is an expensive mistake.
Manager of collective assets
This licence covers managing the assets of collective investment schemes, Swiss or foreign, and of Swiss pension funds. It is the natural step up from portfolio manager. FINMA supervises you directly.
There is a threshold: as long as the collective assets you manage stay below certain limits (CHF 100 million in general, or CHF 500 million for unleveraged funds whose investors cannot redeem for five years), and investors are qualified, a portfolio manager licence can be enough.
Fund management company
The fund management company runs Swiss investment funds in its own name: it sets up the fund, manages it or delegates the management, calculates the net asset value and handles the fund’s administration. It is a heavier licence, with higher capital and organisational requirements, and it is used by groups that want to issue and run their own Swiss funds.
The Limited Qualified Investor Fund
Since 2024, Switzerland also has the Limited Qualified Investor Fund (L-QIF): a fund for qualified investors only, which does not need FINMA approval itself, provided it is managed by an institution supervised by FINMA. For many promoters, it changes the economics of launching a Swiss fund.
What nobody tells you
Many people ask for a fund licence when what they need is a fund. If you want to launch one fund, partnering with an existing fund management company, or using an L-QIF managed by a licensed institution, is often faster and cheaper than building your own licensed structure.
Launching a fund, or deciding which licence fits your strategy? Contact FintechLex · insight@fintechlex.com
Last updated: October 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice.
