SWITZERLAND – A number of Swiss pension funds have teamed up to establish a proxy voting service for second-pillar institutions.
In early March, almost 68% of the Swiss electorate voted in favour of the so-called Abzocker-Initiative against “rip-off” business culture.
As a result, Swiss pension funds will now be required to vote at the annual general meetings of the companies in which they invest.
Vita Sammelstiftung, Switzerland’s largest independent multi-employer Pensionskasse, has launched the Swiss Proxy Advisor (Swipra) together with the association of investment foundations (KGAST) and the pension fund of Credit Suisse.
From 2014, Swipra will be issuing voting recommendations for the 50 largest companies listed on the Swiss stock exchange, in direct competition with the Ethos Foundation.
In other news, the BVK, the pension fund for the canton of Zurich, reported an 8% return for 2012, with equities the best-performing asset class.
Equities made up 30.6% of the BVK’s portfolio at year-end, with domestic stocks returning 19% and foreign stocks 16%.
Bonds, meanwhile, made up 25.8% of the portfolio, with domestic bonds returning 4.4% and foreign bonds, including convertibles, 6.8%.
Last year, a number of Swiss companies opted to remain with the BVK, which is aiming to lift its current funding level of 93% to 100% before the scheme is granted independence from the cantonal government next year.
Zurich Airport, one of the companies that joined the BVK, is planning to pour almost CHF100m (€82m) of its profits into the Pensionskasse, according to its annual report.
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