After the introduction of the three-pillar model, insured persons had no flexibility at all in their occupational pension benefits and the pension funds often did not pass the returns generated on to them. To change this, Leo Bolfing, Karl Reichmuth and Jörg Odermatt joined forces and founded PensExpert in May 2000. Their vision: the insured persons should finally be able to determine for themselves how their pension assets would be invested – a revolutionary idea at a time when non-transparent pension funds were the rule.
PensExpert was the first company in Switzerland to offer a free choice of strategy for occupational pension assets. The PensFlex collective foundation became the flagship – with its focus on extra-mandatory occupational benefits, where the legal hurdles were lower and free, self-directed management of pension assets was possible. In 2006, the model was enshrined in law and has since been established across Switzerland
The business idea provided for maximum individualisation in the pension assets of the individual insured persons.
Jörg Odermatt
STEP-BY-STEP EXPANSION
The PensFree Vested Benefits Foundation already followed in 2001. It enabled insured persons to main
tain their investment strategy in a manner that was suited to their private financial situation, during periods when they were not working. The foundation was established in the canton of Schwyz, which offers the lowest withholding tax rates in Switzerland in the event of emigration abroad.
Following the successful launch of the pillar 3a solution Pens3a, the company expanded to Zurich in 2007 – a key step that strengthened its network and led to the conclusion of numerous new contracts. Over subsequent years, this was followed by new locations in Lausanne, Basel, St. Gallen and, most recently in 2024, in Bern.
To better meet the demand for vested benefits solutions,PensExpert founded independent – a vested benefits institution with insurance cover for disability and death – in 2010. As the only foundation with QROPS status,it can also accept UK pension assets taxfree.
CONSTANT INNOVATION
Increasing regulation of 1e solutions meant that the company faced new challenges. In 2017, PensExpert successfully lobbied to prevent the Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV/OFAP) from reducing the num
ber of investment strategies to three. The rules for voluntary purchases were nevertheless changed. With the foundation of the second management pension plan foundation, PensUnit, PensExpert was able to re
store the previous tax advantage for insured persons.
After more than two decades at the top, Jörg Odermatt passed on the baton as CEO to Rafael Lötscher in
2021. Mark Huber and Fabio Preite make up the remain
der of the Executive Board. There were also changes on the Board of Directors, with Jörg Odermatt taking over as President from Urs Düggelin. Christof Reichmuth,Markus Helbling and Dimitri Wittwer complete the Board. The new CEO, Rafael Lötscher, is pushing ahead with process optimisation measures and the digitisation of the foundations. This led to the launch of relevate in 2023. The fully digitised solution for 3a and vested benefits assets meets the high demand for straight forward and userfriendly pension platforms.
SUCCESSFUL TRACK RECORD AND VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Today, PensExpert has 93 employees in Switzerland and manages pension assets for over 16,000 insured members with a value of more than 10 billion Swiss francs. The mission remains unchanged: to promote financial planning based on personal responsibility –with solutions for a world of work that is changing,including across international borders. The PensGlobal trademark has already been registered.
