Switzerland: Pensions and Investment News and Analysis
The country’s direct democracy has a lot to say about pensions in what is Europe’s third-largest pension market. A March 2024 referendum backed a higher state pension – the only issue is financing the hike, a problem the government is currently grappling with. A referendum on 22 September 2024 centres on a proposal to boost workplace pensions by maintaining benefits and protecting lower paid and part-time workers. It will lower pension accrual and increase contributions. The central motion has been backed by government, parliament, employers and the pension association ASIP, but not by unions.
Pension Funds in Switzerland - Country Report
Switzerland country report 2024: The trouble with Swiss second-pillar pension reform
Attempts to reform occupational pensions continue to fail, risking undermining public trust. But pension funds have already been making their own pragmatic changes
TOP SWISS PENSION FUNDS 2024
Pension fund/entity | Assets (€’000)
- Compenswiss/Swiss Federal Social Security Funds | 45,603,811
- PUBLICA | 43,640,320
- Kanton Zürich (BVK) | 42,843,506
- UBS Pensionskasse | 30,635,160
- Migros (MPK) | 30,597,045
©IPE Research; View the Top 1000 European Pensions Funds 2024 for a comprehensive market overview
IPE DACH Briefing: Swiss pension funds seek alternative source of returns
CPEG and PKG shift allocations to riskier assets
CPEG lifts equity exposure to 30% of CHF23bn portfolio
The asset allocation shift has led to a sharp increase in exposure to North American equities, which now represent 10.5% of total assets
Mercer refines private markets strategy for DACH institutional investors
The firm has partnered with Universal Investment to launch an AIF tailored to the needs of German institutional investors
Swiss pension funds brace for prospect of negative interest rates
Swiss National Bank urged to avoid policies that make pension funds collateral victims of strategy aimed at weakening Swiss franc
Swiss collective pension funds gain ground, but individualisation threatens solidarity
Consolidation trend among smaller schemes continues: number of Swiss Pensionskassen falls dramatically – from 4,000 in the 1990s to just over 1,300 today
TOP MANAGERS: SWISS INSTITUTIONAL ASSETS
Company | Assets (€m)
- Zürcher Kantonalbank | 259,829*
- UBS Asset Management | 257,813[1]
- Swiss Life Asset Management | 131,028
- Pictet Asset Management | 72,132*
- AXA Investment Managers | 66,904
- BlackRock | 55,609
- Record Currency Mangement | 53,436***
- Vontobel | 51,459*
- Mesirow Currency Management | 47,619**
- Baloise Asset Management | 38,295
As at 30.6.24, *31.8.24, **30.9.24 ***28.6.24
[1] Excludes Credit Suisse Asset Management AUM
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IPE BEST PENSION FUND IN SWITZERLAND AWARD WINNERS
- 2023 - Pensionskasse Manor
- 2022 - CERN Pension Fund
- 2021 - Pensionskasse Bosch Schweiz
- 2020 - Pensionskasse Manor
- 2019 - CPEG, Caisse de prévoyance de l’Etat de Genève
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Swiss pension funds reform second-pillar pensions from the bottom up
September’s referendum on the reform of second-pillar pensions demonstrates that comprehensive proposals engineered from the top down don’t always bring the expected results. The latest proposal was roundly defeated by two thirds of the electorate.
IPE DACH Briefing: Swiss pension funds seek alternative source of returns
CPEG and PKG shift allocations to riskier assets
CPEG lifts equity exposure to 30% of CHF23bn portfolio
The asset allocation shift has led to a sharp increase in exposure to North American equities, which now represent 10.5% of total assets
Mercer refines private markets strategy for DACH institutional investors
The firm has partnered with Universal Investment to launch an AIF tailored to the needs of German institutional investors
Swiss pension funds brace for prospect of negative interest rates
Swiss National Bank urged to avoid policies that make pension funds collateral victims of strategy aimed at weakening Swiss franc
Swiss collective pension funds gain ground, but individualisation threatens solidarity
Consolidation trend among smaller schemes continues: number of Swiss Pensionskassen falls dramatically – from 4,000 in the 1990s to just over 1,300 today
Nest Sammelstiftung hires new head of responsible investment from central bank
Marc Novara succeeds Ulla Enne, who spent a decade at the fund
PKG Pensionskasse appoints CIO to drive private markets expansion
The fund will look to increase its allocations to illiquid asset classes, including infrastructure, private equity and real estate
IPE DACH Briefing: Pension funds retreat from the US while looking at Asia
Corporate pension funds are lowering their exposures to equities, the dollar and US Treasuries, and hesitating to commit new capital to private markets in the US
Swiss pension fund boosts private assets in bid to lift returns
GastroSocial Pensionskasse has increased its private markets exposure to 33% of its portfolio, up from 25%
Swiss BVK to tender custodian mandate to global banks despite security concerns
The fund says it’s in the best interest of its members to maintain access to the global custody market, citing competitive pricing, service quality, and innovation
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