🫡 Neutral, Durable, and Now Rich
Switzerland builds boring champions, France gives speeches.
EY publishes a ranking of the world’s 100 most valuable listed companies twice a year, and everyone reads it the same wrong way. The headline is Nvidia at $4.8T, which is roughly the GDP of Germany trapped inside a single chip designer, and the top 100 collectively swelling to $62T, up 18% in a year, a number so large it stops meaning anything. Fine. Everyone knows the American tech story. Six of the top ten are American, half the list is American, and the other half spends its evenings wondering how to become American. That is not news. That is the weather.
The actual news, buried where actual news usually goes, is that ABB dragged itself from 143rd to 99th, squeaking into the club at $196.6B like a man who catches the train doors at the exact second they close. And with that, Switzerland now has four companies in the global top 100, alongside Roche, Novartis and Nestlé, for the first time since 2010. Cumulative value of the Swiss headline names crossed $1T. Fifth place in the world. Behind Britain. Ahead of France.
Ahead of France. France is a country of 68M people with a state that employs roughly a fifth of them and a president who gives speeches about industrial sovereignty the way other men order coffee. Switzerland is 9M people, a militia army, and a parliament most Swiss couldn’t name three members of. One of these countries talks constantly about building champions. The other one just has them. Guess which is which. (The France comparison is slightly unfair, since these are headquarters rankings and a lot of French value hides inside LVMH and TotalEnergies, but I did not make the rules and I am enjoying them too much to stop.)
Now, EY’s own Swiss partner said the quiet part, which is that no Swiss company made the AI top tier, and that this reflects « not a lack of quality » but the sheer scaling gravity of American tech. Sure. That is the polite version. The impolite version is that Switzerland builds things that are boring and durable and priced on cash flows rather than on a narrative about artificial general intelligence arriving around the heat death of the universe. Pharma valuations rose 11% this year. Tech rose 30%. One of those numbers is a business. The other is a mood. Europe went from 46 companies in the top 100 in 2007 to 16 today, the kind of decline you’d normally need a war to produce, and Switzerland floated straight through it clutching cough syrup and chocolate. ABB caught the doors. Roche didn’t move a single place. It just sat there at 45th, worth $328B, doing nothing anyone could turn into a keynote.
M. Hantale 🧀
- 🇮🇷 Conflict. Iran struck American bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Qatar in retaliation for US strikes, escalating the confrontation around the Strait of Hormuz and threatening the provisional agreement aimed at reopening the maritime passage.
- 🇪🇺 Policy. The European Parliament has approved a reform: cross-border unemployed persons will be compensated by the state where they worked, not by their country of residence, a measure which could, if confirmed, entail costs of 600-900 million Swiss francs for Switzerland.
- 🇨🇠Security. Switzerland and 8 other countries are asking the European Commission for the possibility of suspending the Entry/Exit System (EES) at airports for extended periods, citing a risk of infrastructure overload.
- 🇨🇠Climate. Heat alert: authorities announce 31–34°C in the south and higher urban temperatures, possible water restrictions in the northern half of the Alps and very high fire risk in certain districts.
- 🇨🇠Diplomacy. Switzerland supports « minimal » international AI governance and calls on the UN to establish a minimum framework before the June 2027 summit.
Economy & Finance
- 🇫🇷 Inflation. The HICP confirms a slowdown to 2.0% year-on-year in June, after 2.8% in May, and falls by 0.3% month-on-month.
- 🇨🇠Growth. 86% of Swiss SMEs surveyed expect to still be in operation in 10 years, despite 43% who consider the sectoral situation uncertain.
- 🇨🇠Trade. After eleven days in North America, Switzerland has not secured a firm commitment from the United States. Berne says it has demonstrated its good faith and is awaiting respect for the 15% ceiling on customs duties.
- 🇺🇸 Trade. The trade deficit widened to $77.6bn in May, driven by record imports at $395.3bn (+3.3%) whilst exports fell to $317.7bn (-3.2%).
- 🇲🇽 Trade. The free trade agreement between Mexico and EFTA, including Switzerland, is to be updated after 25 years, confirmed minister Claudia Sheinbaum.
- 🇨🇠Budget. The canton of Zurich is investing 2.76m CHF initially and then 3.87m CHF/year to roll out AI across the administration via the SynerKI project, aiming to transfer testing into routine operations.
- 🇨🇠Budget. Geneva’s authorities estimate the costs linked to the summit at CHF31.6M (US$39.1M), of which ~CHF20M will be borne by the canton, whilst Berne considers French financial participation unlikely.
- 🇫🇷 Deficit. French public debt has reached €3,500bn (117.5% of GDP) and rising borrowing costs threaten to trigger a « snowball effect » that could push debt to 203% of GDP by 2050 if no primary surplus is achieved.
- 🇨🇠Shortcomings. FINMA has identified governance gaps and is demanding concrete action to protect communications, client data and transactions against threats from quantum computers.
- 🇫🇷 Insolvencies. Collective insolvency proceedings in France have reached a record with 34,322 insolvencies since 1 January, up 4.8% year-on-year, whilst deregistrations are up 17%.
Switzerland
- 🇨🇠Justice. One of the three prosecutors in charge of the investigation into the New Year’s fire in Crans-Montana has resigned and will leave her post at the end of the year, a position that will soon be advertised and the investigation will be conducted by the deputy director in collaboration with the interim director.
- 🇨🇠Defence. Armasuisse and Lockheed Martin finalise new offset projects linked to the F-35, including a training camp on the engine and the development of training ammunition to strengthen security technologies and Swiss industry.
- 🇨🇠Defence. Switzerland signs an agreement with Austria to coordinate the purchase of military equipment in order to make acquisitions, notably in air defence, more efficient and less costly.
- 🇨🇠Education. The canton of Nidwald maintains its rules: since 1 August 2025, mobile phones, computers and tablets are prohibited during lessons and breaks except for lessons or emergencies.
- 🇨🇠Real estate. The municipality of Albula/Alvra approves a loan of 82.6m CHF to rehouse those affected by the disaster in the village of Brienz, where 42 people and approximately 95 homes require relocation.
- 🇨🇠Real estate. Zurich ranks as the 2nd most expensive city in the world for the very wealthy, behind Singapore, according to the Julius Bär index, having gained 3 places in one year.
- 🇨🇠Energy. The WWF estimates that Switzerland has avoided 31 billion Swiss francs in oil and gas imports over 15 years thanks to efficiency and renewables, but transport remains the weak link with only 5% of electrified vehicles.
- 🇨🇠Energy. Swiss reservoirs are at 42.7% of their capacity, 15.1% below the 20-year average, creating a risk of electricity shortages if autumn and winter remain dry.
- 🇨🇠Science. The Gotthard fortress is being transformed into a lunar base: 10 astronauts in training from EPFL will spend 2 weeks in the tunnels to simulate life and conduct space experiments.
- 🇨🇠Culture. The Locarno Film Festival will present 103 world premieres and programme 17 films competing for the Golden Leopard during the edition from 5 to 15 August, with a total of 233 screenings.
- 🇨🇠Culture. Swiss cinemas recorded 5.3M admissions in the first half of 2026, the best half-yearly result since 2023.
- 🇨🇠Sport. President Guy Parmelin and Sports Minister Martin Pfister congratulated the national team following its elimination in the World Cup quarter-finals, highlighting the emotion stirred by an exceptional tournament despite the 1-3 defeat against Argentina after extra time.
- 🇨🇠Sport. 9,162 swimmers took part in the crossing of Lake Zurich over 1,500m, with the 9,000 tickets having sold out quickly and departures organised in waves.
Elsewhere in the World
- ðŸ‡ðŸ‡º Politics. Prime Minister Péter Magyar has launched a constitutional procedure to remove President Tamas Sulyok, Parliament will examine the amendments from 7 July onwards and Mr Sulyok could be replaced « around 20 July ».
- 🇵🇸 Politics. Hamas announces the dissolution of its governmental committee in Gaza to allow the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, led by Ali Shaath, to take over the management of the territory.
- 🇺🇦 Government. Less than a year after her appointment, Julia Sviridenko steps down as Prime Minister following Zelenski’s decision, who promises new faces to strengthen international relations and winter preparations.
- 🇰🇷 Justice. Four major refiners, including HD Hyundai Oilbank and SK Energy, have been indicted for price-fixing, with prosecutors citing 14.2T₩ in collusive sales (≈9.2G$) and an estimated total impact of 26T₩.
- 🇺🇸 Rights. San Francisco’s real estate market is tipping into a frenzy linked to OpenAI and Anthropic’s IPOs: wealthy buyers are sometimes paying $1M above the asking price and landlords are evicting tenants to sell.
- 🇳🇱 Defence. Secretary General Mark Rutte demands credible plans from allies to reach defence spending of 5% of GDP by 2035 (3.5% for core defence + 1.5% for infrastructure), following investment increases estimated at +$258bn over two years.
- 🇯🇵 Defence. Japan creates for the first time since 1945 a centralised intelligence agency and seeks assistance from the United States, Australia and Germany for technology and recruitment in the face of Russian espionage and Chinese and North Korean threats.
- 🇫🇷 Diplomacy. Paris refuses to participate in security costs linked to violence ahead of the G7 summit, leaving Switzerland to absorb a bill estimated at 30MCHF despite the deployment of 4,000 Swiss military personnel.
- 🇧🇾 Diplomacy. President Lukashenko claims that the Belarusian army will not participate in the war in Ukraine and that « no one » will be sent into this « bloodbath », despite Russia’s use of the territory since 2022.
- 🇺🇸 Diplomacy. Donald Trump threatens to withdraw « all » American soldiers from Europe, roughly 80k military personnel, to pressure allies and revive his claim over control of Greenland.
- 🇮🇱 Diplomacy. Israel confirms a new round of talks with Lebanon in Rome, scheduled for 15 and 16 July, to continue the framework agreement concluded less than two weeks ago.
- 🇫🇷 Disasters. Fontainebleau forest fire: 380 firefighters mobilised for a blaze that has already covered 800 hectares and continues to spread, the Interior Minister expected this morning.
- ðŸ‡ðŸ‡¹ Catastrophes. The death toll from the double earthquake on 24 June has been revised upwards to 3,685 deaths and 16,740 injured, whilst the government announces the activation of a plan to reopen the Simón BolÃvar international airport in Caracas to commercial flights « as soon as possible ».
- 🇪🇺 Energy. European gas stocks have fallen to 50.9%, well below the ten-year average of 66% and are expected to reach only 70% to 75% as winter approaches, making the network more vulnerable in the event of severe cold.
- 🇨🇠Pharma. The SIX will welcome Sandoz and Galderma on 21/09, accentuating the dominance of the healthcare sector already represented by Roche, Novartis, Alcon and Lonza.
- 🇨🇠Pharma. Novartis acquires British start-up Myricx Bio for 883MCHF upfront and up to 400MCHF in conditional payments, targeting antibody-drug conjugates against solid tumours.
- 🇹🇠Food and beverage. Nestlé🇨🇠is investing 563MCHF in a Nescafé factory in Thailand, scheduled for 2028 and intended to employ over 500 people.
- 🇨🇠Stock exchange. Infracore enters the SPI at CHF 54 per share, valuing the group at around CHF 826m, offering the first Swiss listed exposure to healthcare real estate.
- 🇨🇠M&A. Stoxx🇨🇠acquires Scientific Beta🇫🇷 and integrates its smart beta and climate indices offering, taking over the entity previously held by SGX since January 2020.
- 🇨🇠M&A. Geneva-based Givaudan is investing in Microcaps, a Zurich encapsulation technology used by luxury houses to develop alcohol-free perfumes.
SMI Index
| Name | Price | Mkt Cap | 7d Chg | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roche | 340.80 | 271.15B | â–² +0.8% | â–² +5.6% |
| Novartis | 124.36 | 237.33B | â–¼ -1.9% | â–² +18.1% |
| Nestlé | 83.35 | 214.57B | ▼ -2.1% | ▲ +13.5% |
| ABB | 83.62 | 151.79B | â–² +0.3% | â–² +38.6% |
| UBS | 41.99 | 137.67B | â–² +0.8% | â–² +13.7% |
| Zurich Insurance | 615.60 | 91.86B | â–² +0.4% | â–² +8.4% |
| Holcim | 73.72 | 40.80B | â–¼ -3.0% | â–¼ -3.4% |
| Lonza | 583.20 | 40.76B | â–² +1.5% | â–² +10.0% |
| Swiss Re | 133.65 | 39.42B | â–² +0.6% | â–² +9.2% |
| Swisscom | 626.50 | 32.48B | â–² +2.3% | â–² +12.4% |
| Givaudan | 3,414.00 | 31.48B | â–¼ -3.5% | â–² +12.9% |
| Alcon | 54.56 | 26.61B | â–² +0.6% | â–¼ -13.7% |
| Swiss Life | 936.00 | 26.13B | â–² +1.5% | â–² +4.8% |
| Sika | 160.05 | 25.67B | â–¼ -6.4% | â–² +0.6% |
| SGS | 94.58 | 18.71B | â–¼ -0.6% | â–² +5.6% |
| Partners Group | 690.40 | 17.81B | â–² +2.1% | â–¼ -29.4% |
| Geberit | 516.60 | 17.04B | â–¼ -2.8% | â–¼ -14.1% |
| Straumann | 104.45 | 16.65B | â–¼ -1.7% | â–² +12.0% |
| Julius Bär | 72.90 | 14.94B | ▼ -1.4% | ▲ +15.7% |
| Logitech | 81.60 | 11.72B | â–² +4.8% | â–² +2.7% |
📅 Data as of 2026-07-13 11:37
Forex CHF
| Pair | Rate | 7d Chg | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/CHF | 0.92 | â–² +0.37% | â–¼ -0.66% |
| USD/CHF | 0.81 | â–² +0.46% | â–² +2.12% |
| GBP/CHF | 1.08 | â–² +0.44% | â–² +1.51% |
📅 Data as of 2026-07-13 11:37
Who Holds the Meter
Ireland stopped taking new data centers in 2022 and won’t reconnect until 2028. The Netherlands banned anything above 70MW across most of the country. In America, 230 groups petitioned Congress for a national moratorium, New York passed a one-year pause, and a Gallup poll in March put opposition to a nearby data center at 71%, higher than opposition to a nuclear plant. Switzerland, meanwhile, runs roughly 120 of them, the densest footprint in Europe after the Netherlands, and generates almost none of the political theater.
The instinct is to explain that gap with consumption. Switzerland has cool air and clean power, so its servers are less offensive. That reading misses the fault line. The fight over data centers was never really about the megawatts a server hall burns. Every jurisdiction burns them. It is about cost incidence, about who holds the meter when the bill for the wire comes due. A data center needs a new connection to the grid, and someone has to pay to build it. The whole politics of the industry turns on that single question of address.
In Ireland, grid upgrades to feed the server farms added about EUR100 to the average household bill in 2024, and most of that new capacity got hoarded by developers rather than wiring homes or heat pumps. In the American PJM grid, which serves the US mid-Atlantic, capacity prices went from $28.92 per MW-day to $329.17 in two years, and the market monitor pinned roughly 63% of one year’s increase, $9.3B, on data centers. The consumer paid for the wire and got nothing on the other end of it. When your electricity bill funds someone else’s server hall, you show up to the town meeting.
Switzerland pointed the meter the other way. When the Beringen facility in canton Schaffhausen, one of the country’s 26 semi-sovereign states, needed a new substation, the operator paid for it. Not the canton, not the ratepayer. Same in Dielsdorf. The heat gets reused too: at the Meyrin campus near Geneva, waste warmth off the servers feeds neighboring buildings and the district grid, so the cooling problem becomes a municipal asset instead of a nuisance. Add 52% hydropower and 30% nuclear and each Swiss kilowatt-hour emits a fraction of the American equivalent. The economics work because someone decided, early, where the invoice would land.
None of this makes Switzerland immune. Activists tried to set up a protest camp at Beringen this summer, the cantonal police cleared it, and the group didn’t rule out militant tactics. Zurich’s parliament is asking pointed questions about power draw. Sector consumption sits around 7% of national electricity and could push toward 15% by 2030 on the most aggressive estimates, closer to 5% on the central one. The pressure is real everywhere. What decides whether pressure hardens into a moratorium is not how many megawatts flow, it is who is holding the meter when they do. Switzerland kept the citizen’s hand off it.
That is the export-grade lesson, and it has nothing to do with Alpine air. The AI buildout is coming for every developed grid. The winners will not be the countries that shout loudest for or against it. They will be the ones that decided, before the first rack went in, that the operator carries the cost of its own connection. Ireland is still cleaning up. America is holding public hearings and arresting people at them. Switzerland built the substation, sent the invoice to the right address, and piped the waste heat next door.