Pioneers in retirement provision

PensExpert AG began life in Lucerne in May 2000. Since our foundation, we have continued to develop our reputation as a pioneer in the field of occupational pensions. We have now been engaged successfully in the pension business for over 26 years. Today, we are one of the leading providers of individualised, self-directed pension plans based on personal responsibility in Switzerland and Germany.

Pensions are about shaping the future. We were therefore clear about one thing from the beginning: it is not the pension funds or vested benefits foundations that own the occupational pension assets. The pension assets always belong to you, the individual pension member.

This rationale combined with the aim of providing each member with maximum individuality was the basis for developing our solutions.

It is almost unimaginable in today’s low interest rate environment, but inflation was a staggering 6% to 7% in 1991-92. Short-term CHF money market investments, believe it or not, earned 8% interest. But in spite of this, pension assets were only earning the BVG/LPP minimum interest rate of 4%. In other words, the assets were losing value in real terms during this period. To put it more bluntly, pension policyholders were being cheated out of millions.

It was just at this time that I completed my training as an accredited pension fund actuary. The loss in real value I have described was never discussed, not by my lecturers, nor by politicians or the media. That’s when I realised how opaque and deeply flawed, even unjust, the BVG/LPP system really was. This realisation stayed with me. My ambition to offer more freedom and personal responsibility to people investing their retirement assets just kept growing. In 2000, I acted on this ambition and set up PensExpert AG with like-minded partners. Freedom and personal responsibility have since been in the DNA of PensExpert and all its foundations.