Those who invest know more: Deep divisions split Switzerland when it comes to financial literacy

Press release

Zürich, September 28, 2026

The gender gap, the «Röstigraben,» and a huge divide between those with and those without investments: These are the key findings of the True Wealth Financial Literacy Index released today. The third edition also shows that the population’s financial literacy remains stable at a moderate level – French-speaking Switzerland is falling behind, women are slowly catching up, and young people are most familiar with ETFs.

On average, the Swiss population answers just 5.5 out of 10 questions correctly regarding interest rates, inflation, risk, and investing. This is shown by the third True Wealth Financial Literacy Index, for which GfK Switzerland conducted a representative survey of 2'019 people between the ages of 16 and 74. The overall level thus remains stable: in 2024, the percentage of correct answers was just under 52 percent; in 2025, it was a little over 54 percent; and in 2026, it was 55 percent. A new question this year asked whether respondents themselves own financial investments. This question proved to be one of the strongest differentiating factors in the entire study.

The investment divide: A 24-point difference

About 57 percent of respondents own at least one form of financial investment, while just under 39 percent do not. Those who hold their own investments answer just under 66 percent of the questions correctly – those who do not hold any answer only about 41 percent correctly. The difference of about 24 points is greater than that between men and women (15 points) and between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland (12 points). Only between the lowest and highest income groups does the gap widen even further.

«The divide runs not only along lines of income and education, but also between those who invest and those who do not,» says Dr. Michael J. Kendzia, an economist at the ZHAW School of Management and Law, who provided scientific guidance for the study.

The gap is evident across all ten questions – and it grows the closer a question is to actual investment practice. On the topic of compound interest – a classic concept taught in school – there is a 15-point gap between investors and non-investors. In contrast, nearly 46 percent of investors are aware of the main advantage of ETFs, but only about 16 percent of non-investors are. When it comes to herd behavior in the markets, the gap is 31 points; regarding the use of cash during a stock market crash, it is 26 points.

Those who don’t invest are less likely to feel confident enough to answer

Gaps in knowledge also affect self-confidence: 36 percent of those who don’t own investments answer «Don’t know» to the questions. Among investors, that figure is only 9 percent. «Once you start investing, you learn quickly. Knowledge grows with experience,» says Felix Niederer, CEO of True Wealth. «The biggest hurdle is therefore often not a lack of knowledge, but taking that first step.»

The most exciting developments in a three-year comparison

• Women are catching up – slowly. Men answer nearly 63 percent of the questions correctly and lead on all ten questions. However, women have improved year after year: from just under 45 percent (2024) to 46 percent (2025) and on to around 47 percent. The gender gap has thus narrowed to 15 points. For the first time, the study offers an explanation: a good two-thirds of men have their own investments, compared to just under half of women. Part of the knowledge gap is therefore likely less about gender and more about unequal investment practices.
• The «Röstigraben» is widening. German-speaking Switzerland improved to 58 percent correct answers, while French-speaking Switzerland fell back to 46 percent (2025: 47 percent). On basic concepts such as compound interest, both parts of the country are almost neck and neck. The gap widens when it comes to investment topics: Just over a third in German-speaking Switzerland are aware of the benefits of ETFs, compared to just over a fifth in French-speaking Switzerland.
• Young people are most familiar with ETFs. The ETF question is the only one showing a clear improvement: nearly 33 percent answered correctly, up from about 29 percent the previous year. This increase is driven by 16- to 29-year-olds, whose correct response rate rose from 26 to about 38 percent, surpassing all older age groups. Younger people also perform better on questions about herd behavior – while older people do better on the relationship between risk and return. Across all questions, age plays hardly any role: there is a difference of just over two percentage points between the youngest and oldest groups.
• The foundation is crumbling slightly. The scores are declining for the two questions with the highest response rates: 79 percent still correctly understand compound interest (2024 and 2025: over 82 percent), and about 67 percent understand the effect of rising earnings expectations on stock prices (previous year: 71 percent).
• Bonds remain a complete mystery. Only about 21 percent know the key fact that the price of a bond rises when interest rates fall – a figure that has remained virtually unchanged across all three surveys. Even among investors, the figure is only 27 percent.
• The income gap continues to widen. No factor distinguishes the results as clearly as income: from about 40 percent among households earning less than 4'500 francs to 72 percent among those earning over 15'000 francs. The highest income group has improved by just under six percentage points since 2024, while the lowest has stagnated. Education also remains a reliable predictor: around 64 percent for those with higher education compared to 40 percent for those with lower education.

«Do you have to invest in order to have financial literacy – or do you need financial literacy to invest? The data shows that a basic understanding of interest rates, inflation, and diversification is widely established. However, this understanding becomes shaky as soon as things get concrete – when it comes to bonds, ETFs, or the role of liquidity in a crisis. It is precisely at this threshold between theory and practice that personal investment experience makes the biggest difference,» says Dr. Michael J. Kendzia.

The representative survey was conducted by the market research institute GfK Switzerland on behalf of True Wealth in collaboration with the ZHAW School of Management and Law.

You can find out more about the True Wealth Financial Literacy Index and the complete study results here.

Accompanying the study is an interactive online quiz that allows interested parties to compare themselves with the Swiss average.

Methodology:

Representative survey (GfK eBUS®) conducted in June 2026, sample size 2'019 respondents aged 16 to 74, representative of the population of German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland.

Ten questions with closed-ended answers were asked on the topics of interest rates, inflation, diversification, risk tolerance, risk/return ratio, herding effect, stocks, bonds, cash, and ETFs.

About True Wealth

True Wealth was founded in 2013 by Oliver Herren, co-founder of Digitec Galaxus AG, and Felix Niederer, a physicist and portfolio manager. The online platform has consistently automated all processes of modern asset management and offers customers domiciled in Switzerland a cost-effective wealth management solution starting from an investment amount of 8'500 or 1'000 Swiss francs for children's portfolios and investments in pillar 3a.

The company manages client assets of more than 3 billion Swiss francs, spread over more than 50'000 clients.

The annual all-in asset management fee is 0.25 to 0.50%, depending on the investment amount. The management fee for pillar 3a is 0%.

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