NEW YORK, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of The Swiss Helvetia Fund, Inc. , a closed-end investment company, announced today that it has increased the authorization for open-market repurchases under the Fund's 2008 stock repurchase program from 500,000 shares to 1,000,000 shares of the Fund's common stock during 2008. The principal purpose of the stock repurchase program is to enhance stockholder value by increasing the Fund's net asset value per share without creating a meaningful adverse effect upon the Fund's expense ratio. The Fund has repurchased 494,130 of its shares in open-market transactions during 2008.
About The Swiss Helvetia Fund, Inc.
The Fund (http://www.swz.com/) is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company seeking long-term capital appreciation through investment primarily in equity and equity-linked securities of Swiss companies. Its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SWZ."
The Fund is managed by Hottinger Capital Corp. For further information, please contact Rudolf Millisits, Executive Vice President of Hottinger Capital Corp., at 1-888-SWISS-00 or 1-212-332-2760, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 400, New York, New York 10020.
