How to prevent losses You lose thousands of francs every year without realizing it
The differences between Swiss pension funds are becoming ever greater. A new rating by VZ VermögensZentrum shows: While some insured persons benefit from high interest rates and low costs, others struggle with weak returns, high fees and large redistributions between young and old.
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- The new VZ pension fund rating shows massive differences between Swiss pension funds in terms of interest rates, costs and conversion rates.
- Some pension funds paid interest on retirement assets at over 6 percent in 2025, others significantly lower.
- The differences in administrative costs, restructuring capacity and the redistribution between active insured persons and pensioners are particularly large.
Anyone who believes that the second pillar works in a similar way everywhere is likely to be surprised by the new pension fund rating from VZ VermögensZentrum. The analysis of around 30 collective and joint institutions shows some enormous differences - in terms of interest on retirement assets as well as administrative costs, reserves and financial stability.
Particularly striking: some funds were able to pay their policyholders an interest rate of 6% or more in 2025. According to the study, Copré is the frontrunner with an interest rate of 6.5% on mandatory and extra-mandatory assets. It is followed by Nova Vorsorge Ostschweiz with 6 percent and ASGA with 5.75 percent.
At the other end of the table, on the other hand, are institutions that only pay interest on their assets at around 3% or even less in some cases. Calculated over decades, such differences can amount to tens of thousands of francs.
The big winners of the stock market year 2025
The high interest rates are mainly due to the strong investment year 2025. According to the study, many pension funds benefited from positive developments on the stock markets and more stable bond markets. At the same time, some funds have further reduced their technical interest rates and thus built up additional financial reserves.
The average coverage ratio of the funds surveyed is now around 114%. Individual institutions even achieve values of over 125 percent. This means that they have significantly more assets than would be necessary to cover their obligations.
Large differences in administrative costs
The differences in administrative costs are particularly large. While low-cost providers manage with around CHF 134 per insured person according to the study, others charge almost CHF 700.
According to the rating, the Symova Collective BVG Foundation is one of the cheapest institutions. Certain semi-autonomous solutions, among others, are significantly more expensive.
The VZ points out that high costs reduce the return for insured persons in the long term. Over decades in particular, even a small difference in costs can have a significant impact on retirement capital.
Redistribution remains a point of contention
According to the study, the so-called redistribution from active insured persons to pensioners also remains critical. The reasons for this include excessively high conversion rates for existing pensions and falling technical interest rates.
This is particularly problematic for funds with a high proportion of pensioners. According to the analysis, Perspective Relax, for example, has a pensioner ratio of less than 4 percent. The highest figure is over 50 percent. There, active insured persons have to bear a significantly larger share of the financial burden.
According to the study, the ratio between active insured persons and pensioners increasingly determines how resilient a pension fund is in times of crisis.
Technical interest rate causes debate
Another key point is the technical interest rate. Put simply, it determines the long-term return a pension fund calculates with.
The higher this rate is set, the better the coverage ratio and financial situation look in the short term. At the same time, however, the risk increases that later returns will not be sufficient.
According to the study, the average technical interest rate is currently around 1.53%. A few years ago, this figure was significantly higher.
Experts warn against false security
Despite the current good situation, the authors of the study warn against false security. Stock market developments remain volatile, geopolitical risks are increasing and demographic trends continue to put pressure on the system.
This is precisely why differences between individual pension funds will become even more important in the future. For insured persons, a close look at the interest rate, costs and financial stability of their pension fund could pay off massively in the long term.
