Today, having a company-owned pension fund or collective pension fund remains a challenging option which is usually only available to large corporations. For most employers, the only option is to join a standard collective pension fund and delegate all decisions to it.
However, there is an alternative to these two models that is poorly known: the personalised pension scheme within a collective pension fund with an open architecture. This approach offers a balance between security, targeted mutualisation and true financial autonomy, without the constraints of a fully independent structure.
In Switzerland, most companies use a collective pension fund to fulfil their LPP obligations. This model does offer undeniable advantages: shared risk, complete delegation of technical decisions and administrative simplicity.
But this simplicity comes at a structuring cost: decisions are centralised, results are pooled and reserves are shared. This means that the company’s own performance is diluted and its ability to set itself apart is extremely limited.
The personalised pension scheme is an entity specific to your company within a collective pension fund. In an advanced approach, especially in an open architecture, it is much more than merely administrative segmentation.
Your company benefits from its own level of coverage, a separate financial oversight, a dedicated annual report and complete traceability of reserves and provisions. This is no longer simply collective affiliation, but a true personalised pension fund, within a mutualised platform.
The difference with a traditional collective pension fund is fundamental.
The standard model is based on financial solidarity, diluted performance and lack of individual visibility. By contrast, the personalised model is based on an absence of financial solidarity, a personalised level of coverage, allocated reserves, and no transfer between affiliates. It represents a move to a logic of own responsibility and control.
Some funds function as open platforms, allowing access to different wealth managers, depository banks and reinsurers. This allows competition among providers, independence from a single player, and optimised costs and performance.
The personalised pension scheme offers many advantages:
Today, occupational pension insurance is becoming a true human resources management tool. It makes a direct contribution to attracting talents, retaining employees and making the employer stand out.
Structured in the form of a personalised pension scheme, it combines oversight autonomy, financial transparency and the security of a collective framework. It constitutes a sustainable strategic lever, serving the company’s social and financial performance.
The personalised pension scheme is not only for large companies. Instead, it has become an accessible, structured and fully regulated solution today.
When set up with the support of a specialised broker, it allows companies to accurately assess their eligibility and to structure a solution adapted to their profile. It offers effective control of key parameters, flexibility in designing pension plans, increased financial legibility and long-term transparency.
Qualibroker Swiss Risk & Care’s LPP team supports companies at every stage: feasibility analysis, solution structuring, partner selection, operational implementation, and support from the pension fund commission.
Contact us for an obligation-free personalised assessment.
It is a paradox. Companies grow, merge and become more complex – and yet the number of company-owned pension funds declines every year. The reason is simple: managing an autonomous pension fund has become too restrictive in an environment as uncertain as ours.
But the pooled fund only partially meets the needs of a mid-sized firm. When a company grows through merger or external growth, the LPP ceases to be a purely administrative issue, and becomes a major HR issue instead. This is precisely where the personalised pension scheme is needed as a sound alternative – one that accompanies the company as it evolves, without imposing an autonomous fund on it.
Brokers have a decisive advantage, because they have a complete view of the market. They act as a neutral third party. A pension fund, on the other hand, however reputable it is, logically defends its own model. A broker starts with the company’s actual needs to identify the most appropriate solution—not the solution they have available for sale.
At Qualibroker Swiss Risk & Care, we have a structured and dedicated LPP department. Our clients do not consult a non-specialist who sells anything and everything: they see an expert who works in the field every day.
It’s human to be concerned. The LPP commits the employer for the long term and has direct implications for its employees’ future. It’s normal to be worried. But what I always say is: A good decision is an informed decision, not one taken under pressure or in a hurry.
Our role is to be present at every stage of the transition. This includes information sessions with employees, and not just the executive committee. From the CEO to the employee, everyone has to understand what is changing, why, and what they will actually gain. This is what it takes for change to be accepted.
Roger Campana - LPP specialist
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