Economy in motion. Research publications.

In the 2021 edition, we review and update our universe of companies and analyze the progress made to improve the profile of gender diversity. The study suggests that an assessment of trends in executive positions rather than just the boardroom is key to forming a holistic judgment on success.

The twelfth edition of the Global Wealth Report, published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute, shows continued wealth growth. Total global wealth grew by 7.4% and wealth per adult reached another record high of USD 79,952. Overall, the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have not fared worse in terms of wealth creation. 

This report, published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute, throws a spotlight on the global food system. It provides an assessment of the challenges and some of the potential solutions associated with the need to make the global food supply system more sustainable.

This year's summary edition of the GIRY 2021, produced in collaboration with the Credit Suisse Research Institute by Elroy Dimson, Paul Marsh and Mike Staunton, focuses on emerging markets as a special topic and offers an extended dataset by adding nine new emerging markets. The full version is available in hard copy only upon request.

The tenth edition of the Credit Suisse Research Institute's Emerging Consumer Survey is set against the backdrop of the era defining the COVID-19 global pandemic and the unique economic, financial and public health challenges it has brought. It provides timely insights into consumers' mood and likely long-lasting changes in consumption patterns.

The Credit Suisse Research Institute's report on 'What will last? The long-​term implications of COVID-​19' suggests that rather than radically changing the world as we know it, the pandemic has accelerated existing trends.

The CSRI Collectibles report, published in collaboration with Deloitte Luxembourg, provides an overview and a first look at some popular collectible assets that have fueled the imaginations of investors over the years. The publication also takes a look on the impact of the COVID-19 to the high-end collectibles market.

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered the worst global economic crisis since the Second World War and affected human life in boundless ways. This year's Global wealth report 2020 examines the impact of the outbreak on wealth and the distribution of wealth.

The latest edition of the report provides an updated analysis of family-owned companies, suggesting that the "family alpha factor" remains intact. On a long-term view, research to date has shown that family-owned businesses deliver higher levels of profitability and stronger revenue growth in all regions, particularly in Asia, mainly as they pursue a longer time horizon in their investment strategy. The study also reviews family businesses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the findings indicate their business models to be fairly robust. Finally, the report examines family-owned companies against the backdrop of their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and it appears even these have slightly better outcomes than non-family-owned companies.

Climate change and the energy transition are key topics with far-reaching microeconomic, macro and political implications, as governments and companies around the world rethink mobility, shipping, materials and packaging, urbanism and energy consumption and how to ensure more responsible consumer habits. In view of the changing landscape, the Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI) organized a forum bringing together a dozen renowned specialists and members of Credit Suisse's top management to discuss these defining and current issues.

Rising life expectancies and falling fertility rates have led to aging populations becoming a reality in many countries across the globe. What has so far primarily been an issue in developed countries is also becoming a concern for the developing world. Governments worldwide will have to address questions associated with aging societies: how to ensure financial security for a growing number of retirees and how to establish a sustainable pension system for future generations. The "Rethinking retirement" report, published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute, takes an in-depth look at the most important pension and retirement-related questions and trends.

The tenth anniversary edition of the Global wealth report published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of information on global household wealth. Global wealth grew during the past year by 2.6% to USD 360 trillion and wealth per adult reached a new record high of USD 70,850, 1.2% above the level of mid-2018 with Switzerland topping the biggest gains in wealth per adult this year.

The US, China, and Europe contributed the most towards global wealth growth with USD 3.8 trillion, USD 1.9 trillion and USD 1.1 trillion respectively. This year's report also provides a deep dive into wealth in the 21st century. While the century began with a "golden age" of robust and inclusive wealth creation, wealth growth collapsed during the financial crisis and never recovered to the level experienced earlier.

Accompanying databook to the Global wealth report 2019.

Since 2012, the Credit Suisse Research Institute has been researching gender diversity within the governance and executive leadership teams. This unique contribution analyzes executive teams of over 3,000 companies comprising 30,000 executive positions from 56 different countries. The 2019 edition's findings show an increase of gender diversity in the boardroom but not in executive positions. Globally, less than 5% of the analyzed companies have female CEOs and 15% in CFO roles. Looking at the different regions, the USA and APAC reflect greater management diversity than Europe, with Europe retaining the greatest tailwind of government policies seeking to address gender diversity within supervisory boards. The report also presents new themes and analysis to complement prior work looking at family owned businesses, a discussion around the macro economic impact of increased female labor participation and fertility rates as well as the gender pay gap.

The digital revolution is beginning to make its presence felt and promises to make healthcare more efficient and safer. The "Healthcare transformation" report, published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute, looks at the improvements Artificial Intelligence and Big Data could bring into people's lives but also examines potential policy and regulatory risks in the more developed economies. In addition, as national healthcare models are being disrupted by soaring costs, the report discusses a number of solutions which are currently up for debate. There is a focus also on China as an example, providing insight into a country facing an aging population and a rapidly growing health service industry.

The ninth edition of the Credit Suisse Research Institute's Emerging Consumer Survey examines eight major emerging economies with Thailand added as a new market replacing South Africa. The report provides unique bottom-up insights into specific end-markets, products and brand preferences, alongside overall barometers of confidence. With Asia at the center of the emerging consumer theme, India still tops our "scorecard" retaining a bright structural outlook, whereas global political tensions appear to be weighing on Chinese consumer behavior. Latin America's largest economies Brazil and Mexico show a newfound optimism among consumers in the aftermath of political ruptures whilst the continuing economic fallout from weak currencies and political risks in Russia and Turkey have led to reduced consumer confidence.

This report is a summary edition of the Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2019. Examining the industrial transformation that has taken place since 1900, the authors Prof. Elroy Dimson, Prof. Paul Marsh and Dr. Mike Staunton of London Business School derive potential implications for future economic and financial market developments. This year's edition also takes a closer look to the rise of emerging economies and of the expansion of emerging financial markets. The full version is available in hard copy only upon request (details are available in the online version).

The "AI & The Future of Work" report looks at the impact of artificial intelligence not only to business models but also to labor markets in the future. An enormous change is predicted in the skill sets needed to thrive in the new landscape, for organizations as well as for employees. Investing in appropriate artificial intelligence initiatives, providing economic security for those in the growing gig economy and understanding the legal and ethical challenges posed by new technology are all discussed.

Global debt has reached almost three times global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and international financial institutions as well as other observers are issuing warnings about the potentially unsustainable accumulation of debt in the economy. In this report, the Credit Suisse Research Institute takes an in-depth look at the most important debt-related trends.

Credit Suisse Research Institute's (CSRI) latest 'Asia in Transition' report analyzes the changing nature of Emerging Asia. Emerging Asian economies are changing rapidly with the region's share of global economic output set to reach 55% by 2050. The region's equity and corporate bond markets are on course to assume close to a 30% global share by 2030. Economic and investment activity is undergoing a period of multifaceted, swift and exciting transition. The publication highlights the key economic, social, technological and political changes taking place in the region.

The ninth edition of the Global wealth report published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of information available on global household wealth. During the twelve months to mid-2018, aggregate global wealth rose by $14.0 trillion (4.6%) to a combined total of $317 trillion, outpacing population growth. Wealth per adult grew by 3.2%, raising global mean wealth to a record high of $63,100 per adult. The US contributed most to global wealth adding $6.3 trillion and taking its total to $98 trillion. This continues its unbroken run of growth in both total wealth and wealth per adult every year since 2008. Unsurprisingly, China is now clearly established in second place of the world wealth hierarchy. The country overtook Japan with respect to the number of ultra-high net worth (UHNW) individuals in 2009, total wealth in 2011 and the number of millionaires in 2014.

This year's report also provides new insights on female wealth holdings. Women now account for an estimated 40% of global wealth overall and their share of wealth has grown considerably throughout the 20th century. The report explores global variations in female wealth accumulation, along with differences in portfolio composition, risk aversion and the impact on female Millennials.

Accompanying databook to the Global wealth report 2018.

The report "The Credit Suisse Family 1000 in 2018" reveals family-owned businesses outperform broader equity markets across every region and sector on a long-term basis, although the relative performance during the first half year of 2018 has been weaker. It appears that family-owned companies underperform non-family-owned businesses during periods in which economic conditions or sentiment improve. Nevertheless, on a long-term view, family-owned companies deliver stronger revenue growth in all regions and higher levels of profitability which in turn support the relative strong share-price appreciation seen since 2006. While multiple factors play a role when it comes to company performance, one of the key factor appears to be that Family-owned businesses have a longer term and conservative focus. For the first time the report also assesses the best performing family or founder owned companies for each of the key regions on a 3,5 and 10 year basis and reviews their commonalities. The report furthermore indicates regional differences among returns by generations. In emerging countries, such as Latin America and Non-Japan Asia, almost half of the companies are first generation family or founder owned, whereas family-owned businesses in Europe and the USA tend to be older, for example 30% of the European companies are fifth generation family-owned or even older.

In the report "The Future of GDP", the Credit Suisse Research Institute together with leading experts discuss the benefits and drawbacks of gross domestic product (GDP) as a core measure for growth and social well-being, as well as alternatives worth pursuing. The power of GDP as an indicator of economic health and performance is based on the assumption that it adequately reflects the state of the respective society. However, as the world is becoming increasingly complex, interconnected and digitalized, GDP does not accurately reflect these changes and their impact on society.

While India and China continue to top our country scorecard, there are significant improvements in Brazil, Mexico, Russia and Turkey, where consumers are growing increasingly optimistic about their income prospects. In its eighth edition, the CSRI examines the savings behaviour of consumers across our eight emerging countries, looks at the role of the young and increasingly wealthy consumer further lays out how the structural drivers behind consumer development in emerging countries differ from those across the developed world and explores the impact of the connected economy, which clearly facilitates growth in emerging economies.

This publication is a summary version of the Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2018, examining the industrial transformation that has taken place since 1900, alongside the parallel transition in markets as countries have moved from emerging to developed status. The authors, Prof. Elroy Dimson, Prof. Paul Marsh and Dr. Mike Staunton of London Business School, assess the returns and risks from investing in equities, bonds, cash and currencies in 23 countries and three different regions. This year's edition also analyzes the investment performance of non-financial assets such as housing, collectibles and precious metals. The full version is available in hard copy only upon request (details are available in the online version).

In this "2018 Davos Edition", the Credit Suisse Research Institute takes a closer look at several topics in relation to addressing extreme poverty. It examines two demographics that deserve particular attention in relation to extreme poverty and its elimination: First, investing in women's health and education, and second, identifying effective policies to break the link between poverty and disability. The report also explores how investor interest in social impact has developed over time and shows that new forms of social entrepreneurship and social finance can make a significant difference to the challenge of extreme poverty.

In this "2018 Davos Edition", the Credit Suisse Research Institute commissioned some of the world's foremost academics and political experts to examine the outlook for global politics. The report finds that while the global economy and financial markets have emerged from an almost decade-long recession, liberal democracy is struggling. Contributions include current analysis and opinion pieces from former UK Prime Minister Sir John Major, former US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, Professor Francis Fukuyama and Professor Michael M. Ting, as well as the CSRI's Michael O'Sullivan.

According to the eighth edition of the Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global wealth report, in the year to mid-2017, total global wealth rose at a rate of 6.4%, the fastest pace since 2012 and reached USD 280 trillion. This reflected widespread gains in equity markets matched by similar rises in non-financial assets, which moved above the pre-crisis year 2007's level for the first time this year. Wealth growth also outpaced population growth, so that global mean wealth per adult grew by 4.9% and reached a new record high of USD 56,540 per adult. This year, the report includes a focus on Millennials' wealth position and provides a comparison with earlier generations.

Accompanying databook to the Global wealth report 2017.

The report "The Swiss Family Business Model" published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute, reviews the financial performance of publically listed family-owned companies and reveals that the Swiss family-owned businesses have outperformed their local non-family-owned peers by 9% per year since 2006. Further, they also outperformed family-owned peers in Europe and globally. In this report the CSRI draws upon the conclusions from the accompanying analysis in "The CS Family 1000".

In the report "The CS Family 1000", the Credit Suisse Research Institute extends its assessment of family-owned businesses by analyzing financial and share-price performance on a regional, sector and size basis, as well as on a global level. To test the findings and conclusions, the authors of the report performed comprehensive interviews with over 100 family-owned companies across ten countries. While multiple factors play a role when it comes to company performance, the report establishes a positive correlation with family ownership.

The Credit Suisse Research Institute's report "Switzerland: A financial market history" revisits the past century of financial market performance. The authors, Elroy Dimson, Paul Marsh and Mike Staunton, present a distinct comparison between the 117-year performance of Switzerland and 22 selected markets, covering stocks, bonds and Treasury bills, as well as the development of the nations' inflation rates and currencies. The report draws upon the global datasets of the annual Global Investment Returns Yearbook, one of CSRI's flagship publications.

In this special edition of Credit Suisse Research Institute's Emerging Consumer Survey 2017, we focus on the consumer in China and the results of the circa 2,500 respondents that we surveyed. The message is one of robust spending. China remains at the forefront of growth in the emerging world and remains ranked in the top three of our survey, with consumers displaying a shift toward discretionary categories of spending.

The top three of this year's Emerging Consumer Survey are India, Indonesia and China. On the other end of the spectrum are Russia, Turkey and Mexico. On top of providing a close look at the emerging markets, the report examines current trends of particular relevance to them, such as e-commerce, aware consumerism, and the growing popularity of domestic brands.

This is a summary edition of the Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2017. The full version is available in hard copy only upon request (details are available in the online version). The typical long term perspective to current events the study brings is particularly timely at present as investors question whether the 30 year bull market in bonds is now turning. This year's edition also provides fresh analysis of factor investing strategies.

The Credit Suisse Research Institute's "Getting over Globalization" report examines the end of globalization as we know it. It lays out the passage from globalization to multipolarity, i.e. the rise of regions that are distinct in terms of their economies, laws, cultures and security networks.

The Credit Suisse Research Institute's "The Future of Monetary Policy" looks at the transformative changes central banks in advanced economies have undergone since 2008. The report concludes that the key issue for decision-makers globally remains to consider which fundamental direction monetary policy ought to take next, assessing two alternative scenarios that may evolve: a return to a pre-crisis "normal", or fiscal dominance.

The Next Frontier published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute explores the diverse investment region of frontier markets and introduces the Credit Suisse Frontier Markets group of 30 countries, which collectively account for USD 3.7 trillion of economic output equivalent to 15% of the USD 24.4 trillion GDP generated by emerging markets.

The Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global wealth report is the most comprehensive source of information on global household wealth. It provides complete estimates of wealth, covering all regions and the entire wealth spectrum. In its seventh edition, the report gives a special focus to the poorest billion.

Accompanying databook to the Global wealth report 2016.

Credit Suisse Research Institute's 2016 Global wealth report confirmed Switzerland's globally leading position in terms of the nations' wealth. In this special report, we take a closer look at the Swiss data and assess the drivers behind Switzerland's impressive performance.

In this report, the Credit Suisse Research Institute analyses Switzerland's progress in relation to representation of women on different levels of corporate leadership. The assessment covers 78 Swiss corporations and compares their gender diversity levels with European and global peers.

A key message from our 2014 study "The Credit Suisse Gender 3000: Women in Senior Management" was that gender diversity – or the greater representation of women – in senior roles was not just "nice to have" but linked to excess stock market returns and superior corporate profitability.

With investor sentiment now showing signs of improvement after a challenging period in emerging markets, our sixth edition of the CSRI Emerging Consumer Survey provides investors timely insights with which to revisit the theme of a fast developing consumer culture shaped by technological innovation. The countries that top our ECS Scorecard are India, China and Saudi Arabia with a key demographic accent on the role of the youthful consumer.

Against the backdrop of the first interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve in almost a decade, the Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global Investment Returns Yearbook examines similar episodes since 1900 and derives potential implications for future economic and financial market developments.

This report by the Credit Suisse Research Institute explores several important aspects of the connection between sound governance and improved business performance. It provides new data to support the growing investor interest in governance-related rules and practices and introduces innovative ways to assess corporate performance.

In its sixth edition, the Credit Suisse Global wealth report offers a comprehensive portrait of global wealth, covering all regions and countries, and all parts of the wealth spectrum, from the very base of the wealth pyramid to ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs).

Accompanying databook to the Global wealth report 2015

This report adds to the CS Globalization Index that we introduced in the CSRI 'Success of Small Countries' report by developing a 'Multipolarity Index' and a 'Globalization Clock' and by examining specific trends in financial markets, trade, governance and corporate activity.

This study follows on from our 2013 report "Sugar: Consumption at a Crossroads" in examining another key component of nutrition and dietary make-up. We scrutinize the ecosystem of "fat", looking at the five types of fats, the main fat-rich foods and who produces them, the medical research on fat and the perception of doctors, consumers and health officials.

Entrepreneurship is borne of opportunity and necessity. With increased deregulation and decreased involvement of the State, we have seen that family owned businesses are not just key drivers of economic growth, but are also key employers

Small countries provide an indication of the future for large coun-tries, and a test bed as to what works and what does not. One innovation in this report is to measure the way in which small countries lead larger ones in terms of economic performance.

2015 has begun with a series of apparent contradictions and dramatic reversals. In the developed world, both equity and bond markets are at record highs. The price of oil has collapsed and the Swiss franc has jettisoned its link with the euro.

Our fifth Emerging Consumer Survey reflects a challenging environment for consumer activity. The prevailing weakness in currencies and commodity prices provides for other sources of concern. However, there are clear winners and losers.