Increased costs for the management of pension fund assets
Published: Wednesday, Nov 15th 2023, 11:20
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The management of pension fund assets in Switzerland has become more expensive. The costs have risen significantly since 2020, as an analysis published by Swisscanto on Wednesday shows.
For most Swiss people, pension fund assets are their largest asset. According to the figures, the pension funds currently manage more than CHF 1,100 billion for the approximately 4.4 million insured persons in Switzerland.
However, managing pension fund assets costs money: according to Swisscanto, asset management costs in relation to assets under management averaged 0.48% per year between 2018 and 2022. They were lowest in this period in 2019 (0.45%) and 2020 (0.46%), but were last significantly higher in 2022 at 0.54%.
Even at last year's higher level, Switzerland is still competitive in an international comparison, Swisscanto continues.
Differences by sector
The administrative costs for pension fund assets vary depending on the sector, as the study also shows. In the five-year analysis, the retail sector leads the ranking with a value of 0.55%, closely followed by the manufacturing industry with 0.54%.
Public administration has the lowest asset management costs at 0.42% per year, while the construction industry has the average at 0.48%. In the financial sector, meanwhile, asset management costs averaged 0.50 percent per year from 2018 to 2022.
There are also differences when comparing the various regions. In 2022, administrative costs in German-speaking Switzerland were clearly lower (0.55% on average) than in French-speaking Switzerland (0.69%). Cantonally, the highest value was measured in Geneva (0.73%) and the lowest in Bern (0.44%).
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