BVK, the CHF45.8bn (€50bn) pension fund for employees of the canton of Zurich, is facing political scrutiny after distributing CHF384m to members to mark its 100th anniversary.
The scheme ended the latest financial year with a funding ratio of 113.6%, up from 109.3% a year earlier. However, critics have pointed to the fund’s past financial difficulties and the use of taxpayer money during a previous restructuring.
In 2013, BVK received a CHF2bn bailout from taxpayers after becoming underfunded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Its funding ratio had fallen from 118.2% in 2000 to 83.4% in 2011, amid mismanagement, rising pension costs and contribution reductions by employees and employers, according to Matthias Hauser, a member of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) in the Cantonal Council of Zurich, who had raised concerns at the time.
The fund was also hit by a corruption scandal during that period. In 2012, the canton of Zurich regional court sentenced former head of asset management Daniel Gloor to more than six years in prison for corruption, money laundering and breach of confidentiality.
A cross-party group of cantonal members of parliament (MPs) has now tabled a parliamentary inquiry challenging the anniversary distribution.
Martin Huber of the liberal party FDP, Marc Bochsler of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and Thomas Anwander of The Centre (Die Mitte) party are seeking clarification on whether the canton’s restructuring contributions were granted unconditionally, and on the impact of the CHF384m payout on BVK’s technical and economic funding ratios.
The MPs are also asking on what regulatory basis the distribution was approved, how it was calculated, and whether governance and supervisory rules for BVK and other public pension funds sufficiently protect taxpayers’ interests.
Lukas Müller-Brunner, director of the Swiss pension funds association ASIP, also criticised the move, telling Neue Zürcher Zeitung that repayments to members should be ruled out.
Money paid into a pension fund should not be transferred back to a private employer, and this also applies to the once cash-strapped state-owned BVK, which required a financial injection of CHF2bn in 2013, he said.
BVK has defended the one-off credit, arguing that it reflects strong performance in recent years.
Investment returns for the scheme’s 146,000 members stood at 6.2% last year, down from 8.1% in 2024.
