Swiss 30

The Swiss 30 index or Swiss Market Index (SMI) showcases the 20 biggest companies in Switzerland - both in terms of liquidity and capitalisation.

Introduced on June 30th 1988, the SMI represents 90 per cent of all trading volume and 90 per cent of total capitalisation on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SWX). However, the SMI is used as the underlying index for derivative financial instruments such as options, futures and index funds.

Acceptance criteria for the Swiss 30 are strict and include a minimum free float characteristic of more than 0.45 per cent, while the firm must represent at least 50 per cent of the issues of the entire SPI capitalisation.

Rankings are reviewed quarterly, with volume and capitalisation key in determining placing. While an annual examination of the index is always carried out on the third Friday in September each year.

Constituents of the Swiss 30 currently include such businesses as specialty chemicals developer and manufacturer Givaudan, oil equipment and services provider Transocean, insurance firm Zurich Financial, pharmaceuticals developers Roche and Novartis, as well as confectioner Nestle.

Total market capitalisation for the index currently stands in the region of €780 billion and while reviews of the index take place every three months, updates to the value of SMI are carried out in real-time - meaning every time a transaction occurs, these values are updated for investors to see.

Market trading hours for the SMI are between 09:00 and 17:30 CET each day, with the SWX based in Zurich, Switzerland and being the main stock exchange for calculating SMI fundamentals.

Investors may also be interested to note the SWX was the first exchange in the world to implement a fully automated trading, clearing and settlement system, which it achieved in 1995.