Swiss Institutional Investors
Working Group:
Swiss Investment Standards for Private Market Investments (“ISPMI”)
Practice has shown that Swiss institutional investors, in particular pension funds and insurance companies often encounter various challenges when selecting private market providers and when negotiating and implementing private market investments in the form of commingled funds, co-investments, single investor accounts and similar mandates.
These challenges mainly arise due to the lack of uniform Swiss investment standards, different provider profiles and fee models, widely varying commercial, legal and operational terms and the integration of several jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands, Delaware, Luxembourg and Ireland, which make the comparability of providers and products as well as the implementation and monitoring of global private market investments considerably complex.
To jointly address these challenges, several Swiss asset owners have initiated a working group with the aim of developing practical “Swiss Investment Standards for Private Market Investments”. The standards are intended to be established by Q1 2026.
Main Benefits of ISPMI:
- Clear guidelines for providers to submit requests for proposals (RFPs) and conduct negotiations for investors efficiently;
- Enhanced comparability of providers and their products;
- Transparent benchmarks for fees and governance;
- Efficient due diligence standards;
- Strengthening the negotiating position of Swiss institutional investors;
- Simplified pooling of investments through harmonized investment standards;
- Creation of a Swiss benchmark as an alternative to “market standards” cited by providers;
- Creating sufficient flexibility for investors and providers through a “comply-or-explain” approach.
The working group will be chaired by CapstoneLaw, a Zurich based law firm specializing in private market investments, which supports a number of Swiss institutional investors in their private capital investment activities.
The first working group meeting will take place on 17 September 2025 from 14 h to 17 h at the office of PKE Vorsorgestiftung Energie, Freigutstrasse 16, 8027 Zurich. Participation is free of charge and is available for Swiss pension funds and insurance companies only.
Kind regards,
Hans Moritz
Dr. Hans Moritz, LL.M.Eur.
Partner, Attorney-at-law
CAPSTONELAW
Registration
To participate in the working group please register by not later than 23 July 2025.