          
          
          
                  Using Switzerland For Financial Privacy
          
          
               Over the past 20 years world capital markets have
          grown rapidly in size and importance.  In 1970 total
          world stock market capitalization was $935 billion, but
          by 1992, world stock market capitalization was $9,320
          billion.  Markets in a number of countries have
          delivered high-return performances recently.
               International diversification provides more
          investment choices than investing solely in any one
          country.  If you invest exclusively in one market, you
          miss the opportunity to share in the potential growth
          of some of the leading companies in the world.
               A principal advantage of investing overseas is
          diversification.  A diversified portfolio gives you the
          opportunity to enhance your overall return while
          reducing risk.  Trends in foreign stock markets
          generally do not always correlate highly with bull or
          bear market cycles in the U.S. stock market.  While one
          or more foreign stock markets may at any time be moving
          in the same direction as its U.S. counterpart, longer-
          term correlations are low.  This means that
          diversifying beyond a single market should reduce the
          overall volatility of your stock portfolio over time.  
               Taken as a group, foreign stocks will generate
          higher returns than U.S. stocks in some years, but not
          in others.  The important point is that U.S. and
          foreign markets do not often mirror each other. 
          Therefore, combining U.S. with foreign stocks cushions
          the investor's overall stock portfolio against the full
          impact of potential down markets in one country or
          another.
               Switzerland has long served as a magnet for the
          money of wealthy foreigners who perceive the world as
          buffeted by over-taxation, over-regulation and
          political turmoil.  They are attracted, of course, by
          the confidentiality and discretion that have been a
          hallmark of Swiss bankers since the French Revolution,
          when they offered financial refuge to French
          aristocrats. 
               The principle of neutrality in Switzerland
          protects all wealth, equally.  This principle of
          neutrality is important toward understanding why the
          Swiss excel at the preservation of individual wealth. 
          Your wealth simply cannot, and will not, be held
          hostage in Switzerland.  By staying out of
          international conflicts and maintaining strict
          neutrality, Switzerland has become a refuge for capital
          from all over the world.
               Switzerland combines political stability with
          political neutrality.  This in turn has led to economic
          neutrality.  Switzerland has never imposed exchange
          controls on capital outflows.  No one who has invested
          in Switzerland has ever been prevented by government
          measures from taking it out again.
               The strong Swiss franc is another reason for Swiss
          financial stability.  The Swiss franc is more than a
          paper currency -- it is backed by gold.  Swiss law
          requires a minimum 40% gold reserve for every franc in
          circulation.  Actual gold reserves amount to more than
          that, and at today's gold prices are actually many
          times the value of the currency in circulation.  There
          is no other currency in this position.
               In the 1930s, many other nations were creating a
          distinction between deposit banks and investment banks,
          and the Swiss legislature refused to follow that trend. 
          The Swiss opted to retain "universal" banking, or full-
          service type banking, which means that your Swiss bank
          can be a deposit bank, a checking account bank, a stock
          broker, a commercial lender, an investment bank --
          everything you need.  
               A new Swiss product, BankSwiss, combines a
          brokerage account with a tax-free money market account,
          allowing the investor to use the account to manage a
          global portfolio.
               SwissGold is a gold purchase program, allowing
          investors to purchase and store gold through a Swiss
          bank, obtaining the bank's best wholesale prices.  Such
          accounts may be used either for large one-time
          purchases, or for monthly purchase programs which
          provide the investor with the advantages of cost
          averaging.  Gold accumulation programs allow the
          investor to enjoy all the benefits of investing in gold
          without the responsibilities and costs of handling and
          storage.
               An accumulation plan is an organized method of
          buying gold purely for the investment and inflation
          insurance aspects of gold, and does not involve
          gambling on coin collecting values, or other gimmicks. 
          It is designed to be more efficient and more economical
          than buying gold coins for their bullion value.  
               Insurance companies belong to one of the most
          important sectors of the economy in Switzerland.  They
          are also extremely conservative and safe.  In 130 years
          none have failed, a record that even Swiss banks cannot
          match.  Unique tax advantages combined with
          conservative money management cause Swiss insurance
          products to perform much better than one might expect.  
          
               A new Swiss annuity product (first offered in
          1991), Swiss Plus, brings together the benefits of
          Swiss bank accounts and Swiss deferred annuities,
          without the drawbacks -- presenting the best Swiss
          investment advantages for non-Swiss investors.  Swiss
          annuities are exempt from Swiss withholding taxes. 
               Swiss Plus offers instant liquidity, a rarity in
          annuities.  All capital, plus all accumulated interest
          and dividends, can be freely accessible after the first
          year.  During the first year 100% of the principal is
          freely accessible, less a SFr 500 fee, and loss of the
          interest.  
               Upon maturity of the account, the investor can
          choose between a lump sum payout (paying capital gains
          tax on accumulated earnings only), rolling the funds
          into an income annuity (paying capital gains taxes only
          as future income payments are received, and then only
          on the portion representing accumulated earnings), or
          extend the scheduled term by giving notice in advance
          of the originally scheduled date (and continue to defer
          tax on accumulated earnings).
               Although called an annuity, Swiss Plus acts more
          like a savings account than a deferred annuity.  But it
          is operated under an insurance company's umbrella, so
          that it conforms to the legal definition of an annuity,
          and as such, compounds tax-free until it is liquidated
          or converted into an income annuity later on.  That
          annuity income is tax-free in Switzerland, and in the
          U.S. it is taxed in the same way as any U.S. annuity
          would be, which defers all taxes during the
          accumulation period.
               U.S. purchasers of Swiss annuities are not
          required to report them as foreign accounts on their
          U.S. tax returns.
               Information on all of the Swiss investment
          products mentioned can be obtained from:  
                    Mr. Jurg Lattmann 
                    JML Swiss Investment Counsellors 
                    Baarerstrasse 53,  Dept. 212 
                    CH-6304 Zug 
                    Switzerland 
          
                         telephone: (41) 42 26 55 00 
                         fax: (41) 42 26 55 90; attn: Dept. 212. 
          
               Since 1974 JML have specialized in Swiss franc
          insurance, gold and selected Swiss bank managed
          investments for overseas and European clients.  The
          group has nearly 16,000 clients worldwide with
          investments through JML of more than 1 billion Swiss
          francs.  
          
          
          
