The Swiss franc and the Japanese yen, despite traditionally being viewed as safe haven currencies, have failed to outperform during the year-long credit crunch, says Mansoor Mohi-uddin, currency strategist at UBS.

Instead, the Australian dollar has been the strongest major currency so far this year, he says, while gold has outshone above all. A range of other currencies, including the Polish zloty, Brazilian real and Swedish krona have also beaten the yen and the Swissie.