SWITZERLAND - Pensionskasse Thurgau (PKTG), a CHF2.2bn (€1.36bn) pension fund for civil servants in the Swiss canton of Thurgau, said it ended 2005 with a performance of 11.5% on its assets - on par with the average for other Swiss Pensionskassen.

PKTG emerged in July 2005 from the merger of LPK, a pension fund for teachers in the canton and SPK, a scheme for the canton's civil servants.

Going into the merger, SPK had a deficit of CHF77m which was covered by a loan from the canton Thurgau. LPK, meanwhile, was in surplus. The forerunners to PKTG were, like Switzerland's other public sector schemes, backed up by a government guarantee.

PKTG said that not only had the loan been paid back since, but that its coverage ratio - or extent to which liabilities are funded - was 109% currently.

However, the fund said its reserves - that is the 9% overfunding - were still below a target of 15%, adding that the target would be reached by 2015. Previously, the funds had said reaching the 15% target would preclude the need for a government guarantee.

Regarding its asset allocation, PKTG said it had 39.4% invested in equities, 16.7% of which were foreign. The fund also had 25.1% invested in fixed income and 16.6% in loans, 9% of which were mortgage in nature.

Real estate made up another 12% of PKTG assets and alternatives 3.6%.

Rolf Hubli, PKTG's managing director, said that following a recent risk analysis conducted by experts, the fund scored very well, earning a rating of ‘A++'.

Hubli added that in the opinion of the experts, PKTG could expect an annual return of between 4.2% and 5.5% until 2015.

Finally, PKTG said that while it would welcome other local pension funds under its umbrella, the schemes had to be fully-funded.

PKTG has around 9,000 contributing members and 2,400 pensioners.