The funding ratio of the pension fund for the employees of Swisscom – ComPlan – has fallen year-on-year in 2022 to 108%, from 120% in 2021, according to the latest annual statement published by the Swiss telecommunication company last week.
Pension assets stood at CHF11.80bn (€11.96bn) for ComPlan in 2022, down from CHF13.09bn in 2021, the statement added.
The effective income generated by pension plan assets was negative at -CHF1.12bn in 2022, compared with a positive CHF1.19bn the previous year.
Last year, ComPlan invested 33% of its assets in bonds, on par with 2021 at 32.5%, including 4.6% in Swiss government bonds, 7.1% in Swiss corporate bonds, 4% in government bonds in developed markets, 9.5% in corporate bonds in developed markets, and 7.8% in emerging market government bonds.
Investments in equities amounted to 24.2% of its total assets, down from 27.1% in 2021: with 6.7% in Swiss equities, 13.2% in developed market equities, and 4.3% in emerging market equities, according to the statement.
The pension fund invested 24.8% of total assets in real estate last year, up from 21.9% in 2021, including 16% in Swiss real estate and 8.8% in foreign real estate.
It also had a 12.7% allocation to cash, cash equivalents and alternative investments, including 16% in private markets, 2% in commodities. Additionally 5.3% was invested in private debt, up from 4.8% in 2021, the document disclosed.
ComPlan’s investment strategy targets 40% of its assets invested in third-party debt instruments, including bonds and private debt, 25% in equities, 23% in real estate and 12% in cash, cash equivalents and alternative investments.
Assets for ComPlan’s defined benefit (DB) obligations totalled CHF11.80bn in 2022, including service and interest costs, actuarial losses and gain, and employees contributions, down from CHF13.10bn in 2021.
Swisscom expects to make payments to pension plans for statutory employer contributions totalling CHF263m this year. The company does not expect to increase pensions in the future, because ComPlan does not have sufficient fluctuation reserves, the statement added.
ComPlan will apply the minimum interest rate of 1% on members’ saved capital for pensions in 2023, down from 1.5% in 2022.
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