Reto Tarreghetta has resigned as managing director of the CHF9.8bn (€10.3bn) pension fund for Swiss canton of Luzerne (Luzerner Pensionskasse, LUPK) after six years in the role.
Tarreghetta has handed in his notice and will be leaving in May, the scheme announced, without further detials about the reason for his resignation. He had been head of the fund since early 2018, when he joined from Swiss consulting firm Novarca AG, where he had been chief executive officer since 2014.
LUPK is already looking for a replacement. Ad interim, the fund’s chief financial officer, Rolf Haufgartner, will take on Tarreghetta’s role.
Swiss media reported that Tarreghetta’s exit was an unexpected move, linking it to news of early January about the future of a small theatre in Luzerne, the Kleintheater, owned by LUPK which was scheduled for demolition because of toxic residues. There are plans for a new building but without a theatre space.
At the time, Tarreghetta said the rent for the theatre in a new building would have to be much higher as that the pension fund’s role was to achieve a market-adequate return. However, he had told media no final decision on the future of the building had been made.
Returns around average for 2023
Meanwhile, LUPK posted returns of 5.1% in 2023, beating its internal benchmark. Its funding level increased to 109.7%, from 105.9% year-on-year.
“The most important drivers for the positive return were equity and bond investments,” LUPK noted in a press release. It added that it will stick to its decision, made a few years ago, to increase its real assets allocation “in order to profit from the partial inflation protection they offer”.
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