SNB Hawkometer — Swiss National Bank Speech Sentiment Tracker
Where the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank sits on the hawkish-dovish spectrum
Governing Board composition
The Swiss National Bank’s Governing Board comprises three members: the Chairman, the Vice Chairman and a Member. All three are voting members at every quarterly Monetary Policy Assessment. The small size of the Board makes the SNB the most concentrated of the central banks tracked by the Hawkometer — every individual reading carries weight.
The current Board tracked by the index is led by Chairman Martin Schlegel, alongside the Vice Chairman and Member.
Beginner read: The SNB Board is small, so every speech matters. A hawkish score means the Board sounds more concerned about inflation or currency weakness; a dovish score means it sounds more concerned about low inflation, weak demand or franc strength.
Expert read: The SNB score is low-sample and high-concentration by design. Individual language should be interpreted alongside quarterly inflation forecasts and FX guidance because rate-policy and currency-policy signals can point in different directions.
Where the Board sits right now
How to read the chart: The SNB line may move less often than other central banks because the Board is small and meets quarterly. When it does move, focus on whether the whole Board is shifting rather than one speech standing out.
How to read the chart: Short-term swings have lower resolution than at high-speech-volume banks. The useful signal is sustained Board-level drift around Monetary Policy Assessments, especially when it lines up with changes in inflation forecasts or franc commentary.
Speaker-by-speaker scores
Speaker guide: Because there are only three Board members, the speaker chart is compact. A small move by one person can change the average, so look for repeated messages across appearances.
Speaker guide: The scatter is best used as a concentration check rather than a dispersion map. A parallel shift across Board members is more informative than ranking the members from hawkish to dovish.
The SNB scatter is the most compact of any central bank tracked here. Variance is small and individual readings move together. The signal value of the Hawkometer at the SNB is therefore concentrated in shifts rather than absolute levels: when the entire Board moves a quarter-point in one direction, that is a meaningful signal.
Recent speeches and current shifts
| Date | Speaker | Title | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 2026 | Antoine Martin | Financial Stability Report 2026 (background briefing) | Speech | +1.00 |
| Jun 24, 2026 | Petra Tschudin | Weltwirtschaftliche Entwicklungen und die Geldpolitik in der Schweiz | Speech | -3.00 |
| Jun 18, 2026 | Martin Schlegel | Introductory Remarks – June 2026 Monetary Policy Assessment | Speech | -1.50 |
Upcoming Board appearances
Set-piece events that move the SNB Hawkometer:
- Quarterly Monetary Policy Assessment press conference.
- Annual General Meeting of Shareholders speeches.
- University and chambers-of-commerce lectures in Zurich, Bern and Geneva.
- Money Market Event in Geneva and Zurich.
How this connects to rate decisions
The SNB has a unique policy framework: the Swiss policy rate is set with reference to inflation in the 0-2% range, and FX intervention is an explicit policy instrument alongside the rate. The Hawkometer is best read alongside the SNB’s published guidance on FX, since dovish or hawkish language about the policy rate frequently coexists with information about the willingness to intervene in currency markets.
Bottom line: Use this page as one part of the SNB picture. The Swiss franc matters a lot, so rate-language and currency-language should be read together.
Bottom line: The Hawkometer captures rate-policy language, not the full FX reaction function. The strongest SNB signal appears when policy-rate wording, forecast revisions and franc-intervention guidance all move in the same direction.
Limitations specific to the SNB
- Smallest sample. With only three Board members and a quarterly meeting cadence, the SNB Hawkometer has the lowest resolution of any bank tracked here. Treat short-term swings cautiously.
- Multilingual delivery. The Board frequently speaks in German, French or Italian. We score the English version when published; small idiomatic effects are unavoidable.
- FX channel is not in the index. The Hawkometer scores rate-policy language only. SNB language about the franc and FX intervention is informative but is not captured here. See the SNB country page for a richer picture.
For the full scoring methodology and phrase library, see the Hawkometer methodology page.
Committee speaker scores
| Speaker | Role | Voter | 90d score | 30d shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Schlegel | Chairman of the Governing Board | Voter | -1.50 | — |
| Antoine Martin | Vice Chairman | Voter | +1.00 | — |
| Petra Tschudin | Member of the Governing Board | Voter | -3.00 | — |
Recent speeches
| Date | Speaker | Title | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 2026 | Antoine Martin | Financial Stability Report 2026 (background briefing) | Speech | +1.00 |
| Jun 24, 2026 | Petra Tschudin | Weltwirtschaftliche Entwicklungen und die Geldpolitik in der Schweiz | Speech | -3.00 |
| Jun 18, 2026 | Martin Schlegel | Introductory Remarks – June 2026 Monetary Policy Assessment | Speech | -1.50 |