Swiss National Bank’s US stock portfolio hits record high in Q2

Switzerland’s central bank just had the kind of quarter most hedge fund managers dream about. The Swiss National Bank’s US equity portfolio climbed more than 10% in the second quarter of 2026, reaching its highest recorded value and helping drive a massive profit swing that turned last year’s painful loss into a headline-grabbing gain. The SNB reported a Q2 profit of CHF 25.7 billion, roughly $31.84 billion. A year earlier, the same quarter produced a CHF 22 billion loss, making this a nearly CHF 48 billion reversal in fortune. What drove the turnaround Profit on foreign currency positions alone hit CHF 39.9 billion for the quarter, fueled by a combination of dividends, interest income, and capital gains from equity holdings. The MSCI World Index gained 13% during the April-through-June period, providing a powerful tailwind. Equities made up 28% of the SNB’s total foreign exchange reserves as of June 30, 2026, a figure that held steady from the prior quarter. Not everything in the portfolio cooperated, though. Gold holdings suffered a valuation loss of CHF 14.1 billion on the SNB’s 1,040-tonne stash. The SNB as a stock market whale The Swiss National Bank isn’t a typical central ba...