The Swiss government (Federal Council) has called for the dismissal of a motion put forward by the social security and health committee of the National Council (SGK-N), the lower house of the Swiss Parliament, to improve transparency on pension funds’ costs.

Existing rules already guarantee a high level of transparency, the government said, explaining why it is asking for the motion to be scrapped.

For example, pension funds must fully disclose their administrative costs in their operational accounting according to the occupational pension law BVG, it added in a statement.

Moreover, Swiss schemes are required to set apart costs for general administration, asset management, marketing and advertising, for brokerage and brokerage activities, for auditors and experts for occupational pensions, and for the supervisory authority, according to the occupational pension ordinance BVV 2, and the accounting standard Swiss GAAP FER, it said.

The pension funds’ top management prepare and approve annual financial statements, with information that must also be made available to members, upon request, it added. Many pension funds actively comment on the figures for their members, publishing annual financial statements on the Internet.

The parliamentary committee had asked the government to change the legal framework to push pension funds to disclose administrative costs.

The committee wanted pension funds to disclose administrative costs, amounting to CHF6.9bn (€7.2bn) in 2021, in detail, making costs easily accessible and clear for members.

“I am very pleased that the Federal Council is requesting to dismiss the motion, and thus halting the ever-increasing level of regulation,” Nico Fiore, managing director at Inter-pension, the organisation representing the interests of Swiss multi-employer pension schemes, told IPE.

The association also welcomes the fact that the Federal Council acknowledges in its statement that many pension funds already actively communicate figures to members, publishing their annual financial statements online.

“The majority of Inter-pension members already make their annual reports available online and therefore publicly accessible, without any legal obligation,” he said.

Fiore added that Inter-pension’s members, including Asga Pensionskasse, Nest Sammelstiftung, and Publica, among others, have been committed to disclosing their costs since 2010.

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Luigi is IPE's Berlin-based DACH correspondent. His coverage includes regulation and the latest pensions and investments trends, and, being a native Italian, he also covers Italy’s pensions market. He has reported from Italy and Germany on international politics and business for European and US publications including USA Today, Bloomberg BNA and for the investigative magazine L’Espresso. He was previously Germany correspondent for Mergermarket covering M&A.View full Profile

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