The currencies that protect you: CHF and SGD

TL;DR — Most currencies slowly lose value over time because governments inflate them away. A few countries have decades of proof they do not do that. Keeping 10 percent of your portfolio in one of these currencies is not a bet. It is the last line of defense when everything else falls.

Here is something most beginners do not realize. Your home currency is not as stable as it feels. The euro, the dollar, the pound: all of these have lost purchasing power over the decades. Governments spend more than they earn, central banks print money to cover the gap, and the value of the currency slowly erodes. It happens gradually enough that you barely notice year to year, but significantly enough that it matters over a decade.

The solution is to keep a portion of your savings in a currency that does not have this problem.

Swiss Franc (CHF) is the default choice for most portfolios. Switzerland runs a budget surplus. The Swiss National Bank is conservative and does not print money the way other central banks do. The country is politically neutral, so during every global crisis, investors from around the world move money there for safety. In 2022, during the European energy crisis, CHF went up. During COVID, CHF went up. During the 2008 financial crisis, CHF went up. It does not generate exciting returns. It just does not collapse when everything else does.

For most portfolios, around 10 percent held in CHF short-term government bills (T-bills) is the standard. You are not speculating on currencies. You are keeping a fraction of your wealth in a place that holds its value.

Singapore Dollar (SGD) is the alternative when the Asia opportunity is live. Singapore has zero net government debt, a current account surplus, and a central bank that explicitly manages its currency to hold purchasing power. SGD tends to move with the Chinese yuan against other currencies, but without the risks of investing in China directly (capital controls, political risk, currency intervention). You switch from CHF to SGD when two things are true at once: Chinese interest rates are rising (the Asia growth engine is turning on), and SGD is cheap relative to CHF. When those conditions are met, SGD gives you indirect exposure to Asia's growth while staying in a stable, well-managed currency.

You hold these currencies through short-term government bills in that currency, not through complex currency products.

Example — A French investor who kept 10 percent of their portfolio in CHF T-bills between 2021 and 2024 would have seen that portion appreciate roughly 8 percent against the euro. Meanwhile, their euro savings account was earning near zero in real terms. The CHF sleeve did not require any active management. It simply held value while the euro eroded.