Credit Research at Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) presented the Swiss Rating Guide for the 25th time a few days ago. The centrepiece of the annual compendium is the profiles of domestic issuers in the franc bond market, including a table of outstanding bonds. However, ZKB also used the anniversary edition as an opportunity to comprehensively revise the Rating Guide.
First, though, to what has remained more or less unchanged. As usual, the publication contains a brief analysis of the key developments in the Swiss capital market over the past year and statistics on rating changes.
Very high-quality borrowers continue to dominate the Swiss bond market.
This time, there are 165 issuers, corresponding to 98 per cent coverage of the domestic segment (a further 15 cantons and cities without profiles are included in the rating overview), a few more issuers than in the 2025 Rating Guide. Newly added are Cham Swiss Properties (BBB–), Energie 360° (A–), Siegfried (BBB–), Spital Männedorf (BBB), Stadler Rail (BBB–), Universitätsspital Basel (AA) and SRG SSR (BBB). Hirslanden, Autoneum and See-Spital have been removed from the universe because they no longer have any bonds outstanding.
From July 2025 to September 2026, 12 issuers were upgraded and only 3 downgraded. The upgrades concern Galderma Group (now BBB), Hilti (A+), Implenia (BBB–), Intershop (BBB), the Canton of Geneva (AA), Raiffeisen Schweiz (AA–), Services Industriels de Genève (AA–), SFS (A–), Straumann (A–), Sulzer (BBB+), Swiss Prime Site (A–) and UBS Group (A).
Swiss major bank as the year’s top upgrader
The major bank was the only issuer in this period to be upgraded by two notches.
Also among the rating changes are the now merged Helvetia Baloise and Primeo Energie Group. However, both (or rather all three) issuers had already been rated A– in the previous year; in the meantime, ZKB was nevertheless rating-wise “restricted” for legal reasons.
Berner Kantonalbank (now A+), Rieter (B+) and Clientis (BBB+) each received a rating one notch lower.
In retrospect, ZKB points out that 2025 was an exceptional year in the capital market. Domestic and foreign issuers placed 558 new bonds (+18 per cent compared with 2024) with a total volume of around CHF 124 billion (+15 per cent). Risk premiums (the difference between the yield and the swap rate, credit spreads) in the secondary market remained broadly stable despite geopolitical uncertainty.
Outstanding volume of franc-denominated bonds issued by domestic and foreign borrowers.
After the SNB cut the policy rate to 0 per cent in June 2025, the short end of the yield curve remained pinned down, whereas longer maturities fluctuated more strongly and moved higher, especially in 2026 in line with international interest rate developments, albeit to a much lesser extent.
Now to the conceptual changes to the Rating Guide: the profiles are no longer arranged alphabetically, but by sector. They contain considerably more information on each issuer, for example an overview of the strengths and weaknesses from a creditworthiness perspective, as well as more key figures and charts. This is reflected in the scope. The 2026 Rating Guide comprises 431 pages, more than twice as many as the previous year.
More up to date, but no longer in printed form
One downside, at least for the slightly older generation (to which the author of these lines belongs), is that the publication will now only be available electronically and therefore no longer in print. In return, ZKB says bond investors will be able to access issuer profiles via its Research Portal, which will be updated during the year whenever material events occur. The consolidated updates are to be made available quarterly.
According to ZKB, it remains open whether investors will also have to get used to a new publication date. Until now, the Rating Guide had always been presented at the ZKB bondholder event before the summer holidays. In July, the state bank announced at that event that this year the flagship publication of its Credit Research would appear later (September was mentioned) (finews reported).