When Vladimir Putin launched his war of aggression in Ukraine, share prices plummeted everywhere – including in Switzerland.

However, the minus in the Confederation has not been quite as strong as elsewhere.

The German share index (Dax) and the Euro Stoxx 50 have both fallen by around 9 percent since the beginning of the year.

At the same time, the Swiss Market Index (SMI), which lists the 20 most important Swiss companies, lost "only" 5 percent.

A good two weeks after the beginning of the war, prices began to recover.

According to Lorenz Reinhard, senior investment manager at the Geneva-based private bank Pictet, this has to do with the nimbus of the Confederation as a place of refuge in uncertain times: "More money flowed into the safe haven of Switzerland and thus also into the stock market."

This development also has a dark side.

The Swiss currency appreciated and even briefly reached parity with the euro at the beginning of March.

One euro currently costs 1.03 francs.

This is not good news for Swiss companies, as Reinhard notes: "The strong franc is putting pressure on the profits of listed companies, which generate around 90 percent of their sales abroad." Nevertheless, Reinhard points to the stability and predictability of the Swiss stock market confidently looking forward: "The SMI should make up for the losses it suffered in the first three months by the end of the year."

The analyst derives this optimism from the above-average quality of the stocks in the SMI.

“There are many Swiss companies that play a dominant role in their respective fields.

This means that they can pass on rising prices to their customers.” Especially in times of high inflation, this so-called pricing power is an important indicator for assessing a company's earnings prospects.

In this context, Reinhard positively emphasizes the food manufacturer Nestlé, the chocolate producer Lindt & Sprüngli and the pharmaceutical company Roche.

For these three companies, he predicts a trend towards rising prices.

Technology stocks with losses

The same applies to ABB.

The Siemens rival benefits from the trend towards electrification, which is additionally fueled by the high oil price.

And rising wages combined with difficulties in finding workers at all would stimulate ABB's robot division.

This confidence is not reflected in the current share price.

At CHF 31.20, this is 12 percent below the level at the beginning of the year.

Investors reacted coldly to the Management Board's recent decision not to decide on the spin-off of the turbocharger business until the middle of the year due to the uncertainty caused by the Ukraine war.

The technology stocks VAT, Comet and Temenos have recently been badly hit on the stock exchange.

Since these manufacturers are still in high demand, there are now good entry opportunities here, says Reinhard, who also thinks Straumann is worth buying.

As a leading supplier of dental implants, Straumann is not very sensitive to the economy - and is currently available comparatively cheaply: the share has lost a quarter of its value since the beginning of the year.

The scandal-plagued Credit Suisse (CS) has also had to lose a lot of feathers this year.

The second largest bank in Switzerland is listed well below book value and only brings just under 20 billion francs to the stock market scales.

Nevertheless, Reinhard advises against buying the shares.

The recent warning of a court ruling that could cost the bank up to half a billion dollars isn't doing much to restore investor confidence.

Reinhard also thinks it's very unlikely that Credit Suisse will become a takeover target.

The risks and hurdles are too high for that.

If, for example, a well-funded American investor came, the bank would lose many customers who very consciously wanted to be with a Swiss address.

Reinhard also advises caution with a view to the luxury goods suppliers Richemont and Swatch.

After the strong price surge last year, Putin's campaign is now slowing down development.

The proportion of Russian customers in the luxury goods industry is only 2 to 3 percent.

But in the current war situation, the general feel-good factor that is conducive to the purchase of expensive watches and fine jewelry is missing.