Insurance companies Pension funds achieve high returns thanks to a good year on the stock markets
Swiss pension funds achieved a good return on retirement assets last year thanks to strong financial markets. However, the differences between the funds were large: some insured persons received more than five times as much as others.
28.05.2025, 09:57
SDA
According to the new pension fund study published by ZKB subsidiary Swisscanto on Wednesday, pension funds paid an average interest rate of 4.3 percent last year, the highest in the last 20 years - namely in 2021. This put the interest rate well above the BVG minimum of 1.25 percent.
However, the 10 percent of the funds with the lowest interest rates only passed on an average of 1.75 percent to the insured, as the study shows. In contrast, the 10 percent with the highest interest rates paid out a whopping 8.25 percent - almost twice as much as the average.
The pension fund reserves also benefited from the good performance. At the end of 2024, the private pension funds achieved a coverage ratio of 117%, which was the second-highest coverage ratio in the last 25 years. The coverage ratios also recovered quickly from the setbacks on the stock markets in April 2025.
More and more lump-sum withdrawals
Meanwhile, more and more insured persons are drawing a lump sum instead of a pension: according to the study, 38% of new pensioners in the pension funds surveyed opted for a full lump-sum withdrawal. Another 39 percent opted for an annuity and a further 23 percent chose a mixed form.
One motive is likely to be the tax situation. This is currently coming more into focus due to the possible increase in capital withdrawal tax. In contrast, the level of the conversion rate is not the main driver for lump-sum withdrawals, as the data clearly shows. For example, no increase in lump-sum withdrawals was observed in pension funds with low conversion rates.
According to the study, the desire for more financial flexibility or personal investment knowledge are more likely to play a role. For example, lump-sum withdrawals are much more common in the financial and insurance sector than in manufacturing or healthcare.
507 pension funds took part in the pension fund study. The survey participants' assets amounted to CHF 856 billion. This represented a total of almost 4.3 million insured persons.
