February 2021
23Feb

Swiss scheme assets expected to drop by 2035 if fossil investments kept

Swiss pension funds will experience on average a 10% loss in assets in the next 15 years if they continue to invest in fossil fuels and industries with high CO2 emissions, according to a report by Climate Alliance, a group of civil society organizations. Pension funds with an above-average share of foreign equities and bonds in their portfolios carrying high climate risks could see assets declining by 18%. The study predicted funding ratios to sink to 90% with assets falling...

February 23, 2021
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January 2021

13Jan

Swiss APK designs new climate strategy for investments

The managing board of Aargauische Pensionskasse (APK), the CHF11.6bn (€10.6bn) Swiss pension fund for the employees of the Aargau canton, has designed a climate strategy to hedge the fund against risks caused by climate change. The climate strategy for the entire equity portfolio kicks in this year. APK will aim to reduce climate risks “efficiently [and] cost-effectively” with a particular focus on equities. The strategy will also include three other additional pillars: commitment to increase dialogue with invested companies,...

January 13, 2021
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November 2020

02Nov

Switzerland: The road to digital pensions

Martin Eling, director of the Institute of Insurance Economics and professor in insurance management at the University of St Gallen, receives a letter from his pension fund every year. The document describes his situation at retirement age. “The fact that I receive a letter by regular mail once a year is not what I expect in terms of digitisation in 2020,” he says. “There is still little digitisation in the Swiss pension fund sector compared to other sectors”....

November 2, 2020
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October 2020

15Oct

Swiss pension schemes face arms financing ban campaign for referendum

The ban should apply to manufacturers of all kinds of war materials worldwide, including tanks, air defense systems, pistols and other components Swiss Pensionskassen will have to face a popular vote on 29 November on curbing the financing of companies producing arms used in global conflicts. The referendum is the result of an initiative by Young Greens, the younger faction of the Swiss Green Party, and the group Switzerland without arms (GSoA). The initiative wants to prevent the Swiss National...

October 15, 2020
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September 2020

23Sep

Switzerland. Credit Suisse pension study 2020: Early retirement – the path is becoming more difficult

Many Swiss citizens want to retire early - and around half of them actually manage to do so. Early retirement is particularly widespread among single people, people with higher incomes, and people living in French-speaking Switzerland. Credit Suisse economists have calculated the financial shortfalls associated with early retirement: For people in the middle-income bracket, drawing the AHV pension and employee benefits insurance pension two years early results in a reduction in income of approximately 14% over the course of...

September 23, 2020
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August 2020

11Aug

Switzerland. Pension reform initiative runs out of steam at early stage

The campaigners announced they had failed to collect the required minimum number of signatures and saw no chances of doing so by the deadline in early October. “Without any doubt I have been miscalculating a few things. The coronavirus did the rest for us,” said the main promoter of the initiative. Josef Bachmann said citizens were aware of the flaws in the current system, but under the restrictions imposed to fight the pandemic, it was much more difficult to...

August 11, 2020
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July 2020

16Jul

Climate activists take Swiss finance regulators to task

Environmental group Greenpeace has filed a formal protest against Switzerland’s financial regulators over their perceived failure to impose climate policy rules. The group called on the financial market watchdog body FINMA, the National Bank as well as the Occupational Pension Supervisory Commission to ensure that banks, insurance companies and pension funds stop financing projects worldwide which are harmful to the climate. These institutions contribute to greenhouse gas emissions of the Swiss finance industry and neglect their duty to protect...

July 16, 2020
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01Jul

Swiss government outlines framework for sustainable finance

Unveiling a report on sustainable finance on Friday, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer said legislators would stay in the background as a last resort measure. However, the report identified a number of criteria it would monitor and called for improvements in some areas. Banks, pension funds, insurers and asset managers are expected to step up efforts to make sure customers get full disclosure of relevant information on their investments and to better calculate the financial consequences of harmful activities. A...

July 1, 2020
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May 2020
15May

Swiss pension funding levels recover after falling below 100%

The funding ratio of Swiss Pensionskassen bounced back to 103% in April after declining to 99.8% for a short time at the end of March, according to Complementa’s latest “risk check-up” analysis report. Central banks have sent a clear message through a series of interventions to say they “stand by” the equity market “whatever it costs”, Thomas Breitenmoser, head of investment consulting at Complementa, told IPE during a conference call. The funding ratio of Swiss pension schemes will depend...

May 15, 2020
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April 2020

08Apr

Why Switzerland is struggling to guarantee pensions for the next generation

The Swiss pension system is complex, and is based on three so-called pillars: old-age and survivors’ insurance (known as the AVS), occupational pension planning (often referred to as LPP) and private saving for old age encouraged through tax breaks. This set-up enables risk-sharing and, although “unfortunately not perfect”, could be “a model for other States”, says Thomas Gächter, professor of social insurance law at Zurich University. Read also UK. Wakefield man who failed to claim pension gets...

April 8, 2020
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