For a few years now, new 3a offers have been launched all the time. In this article we take up the topic. Which of these providers currently has the best pillar 3a – and for whom? Roughly speaking, we can distinguish between four types of pension provision, for each of which different 3a offers are best suited.
Table of contents
| Best pillar 3a for the frugal | Account |
| Best pillar 3a for yield optimisers | Securities |
| Best pillar 3a for the conscientious | Sustainable funds |
| Best pillar 3a for the undecided | Account or securities |
The best pillar 3a is the one that suits you best
The biggest motivation for paying into the 3rd pillar is to save taxes at the same time. Even if the tax savings vary depending on income and place of residence, the tax deduction is the main reason for paying into pillar 3a. Paying into a private pension today is therefore not only worthwhile in old age. You can benefit as early as your next tax bill. But which 3a offer is best for you?
When it comes to choosing the right or even the best provider for pillar 3a, things quickly get complicated. One thing up front: there is no such thing as the best provider. There is no one offer that is best for everyone. That’s why this article is not about finding the best provider, but about finding out what the best offers are for different needs. Roughly speaking, four types of provision can be defined: The frugal, the yield optimisers, the conscientious and the indecisive.
Best pillar 3a for the frugal:
3a retirement savings account
The classic solution is suitable for the frugal: the 3a account. The 3a account is the simplest option. With a 3a retirement savings account you are on the safe side, but you don’t make any big leaps in returns. Although there has hardly been any interest on a 3a account for some time, a lot can already be saved with the tax deduction. The 3a account is something for the frugal who are satisfied with what they put aside and do not strive for more.
Bank CIC (Switzerland) with best interest rate
After TrueWealth of Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank ascended to the throne of the best interest payers just six months ago, the tide has already turned again. A well-known provider is now back at the top of the 3a interest rate list, Bank CIC. It pays 1.35 percent on the 3a account, followed by the Caisse d’Epargne d’Aubonne with 1.25 percent interest. All other providers pay 1.00 % or less interest on the 3a account.
| Provider / Bank | Interest p.a. |
| Bank CIC (Schweiz) | 1.35% |
| Caisse d’Epargne d’Aubonne | 1.25% |
| other providers … | 1.00% or lower |
Pillar 3a and bankruptcy
Anyone who makes recommendations for pillar 3a accounts should honestly also address and think through the possibility of bank bankruptcy. Good to know: TrueWealth, the winner of our 3a account analysis, is protected by the state guarantee of the BKLB. Other providers without this protection could go bankrupt under certain circumstances. Although the last bankruptcy of a well-known Swiss bank was a very long time ago (1991, Spar- und Leihkasse Thun), bankruptcy cannot be completely ruled out in the future.
Hence the question: Is a 3a account insured in the event of bankruptcy of the bank?
The answer to this is: No. 3a assets are not covered by the deposit guarantee. They are not among the privileged deposits that are paid out immediately in the event of bankruptcy and outside the ordinary bankruptcy proceedings. But there is another privilege for 3a deposits: According to Article 37a paragraph 5 of the Banking Act, 3a account balances up to an amount of CHF 100,000 per pension plan participant:fall into the second bankruptcy class.
A bankruptcy plan divides into three bankruptcy classes:
- Bankruptcy class: Wages and PF contributions
- Bankruptcy class: Social security contributions
- Bankruptcy class: All other claims
Without this privilege according to Art. 37a of the Banking Act, claims of foundations for tied pension provision (Pillar 3a) would fall into the third bankruptcy class. Thanks to the privilege, they fall into the second bankruptcy class up to a credit balance of CHF 100,000 per pension beneficiary.
But enough of the legal explanations. Let’s now turn to the more risk-averse solutions. Those who want to get more out of their assets will find the right 3a solution there.
Best pillar 3a for yield optimisers:
3a funds / 3a securities
If you expect more from your 3rd pillar, you may have heard that you can invest your pillar 3a in securities. However, anyone who invests their Pillar 3a in equities should do so with conviction, because they know about the advantages of 3a equity funds:
- Very long investment horizon (in contrast to free assets)
- Tax-free dividends
- Compound interest effect
Important restriction: In pillar 3a it is not possible to invest in a single share. Return optimisers cannot open a 3a custody account and trade on it as they are used to doing with their free assets.
Pension assets must be invested in a diversified manner. Therefore, only 3a funds or 3a investment strategies come into question.
Let’s start with the analysis to evaluate the best provider. What are the best 3a funds or the best 3a fund providers?
The best 3a funds and securities solutions
As already explained, 3a equity funds have the advantage that they yield tax-free dividends. It is true that withholding taxes are also levied on these funds by the federal government. However, these withholding taxes can be reclaimed by the pension fund from the Federal Tax Administration.
The same principle also applies internationally. In many double taxation agreements with other countries, pension assets are given privileged treatment. This means they are allowed to reclaim taxes deducted locally on dividends and interest (so-called withholding taxes).
Criterion 1: Withholding tax
Because they can reclaim less withholding tax than pure pension funds, ETFs are only second choice for yield optimisers when it comes to investing Pillar 3a in securities.
Therefore, not interesting for the yield optimisation due to the ETF shares are:
- Sparbatze: provider of 3a theme funds, implemented with ETFs in cooperation with Zuger Kantonalbank (note: the operating activities of Sparbatze were discontinued at the end of January 2022).
- Selma: provider of digital asset management, 3a investments implemented with ETFs in cooperation with VZ Vermögenszentrum
- Freya: Provider of a 3a fund solution with a focus on sustainability, implemented via ETFs, in cooperation with Graubündner Kantonalbank (note: Freya’s offering was discontinued at the end of 2021).
- TrueWealth: Digital asset manager (robo-advisor) with an integrated 3a ETF solution. Special features: Automatic splitting to five portfolios as well as a replenishment function if the maximum contribution has not been paid in by the end of the year.
- Coop finance+: Coop’s 3a solution is based on a co-operation with Glarner Kantonalbank and the Liberty pension foundation. Funds from Vanguard and OLZ are used.
These offers do not stand a chance in the awarding of the best offer and are dropped from the selection. Other providers remain in the running and are examined according to the second criterion.
Criterion 2: Annual costs
The next selection criterion is the annual costs. All providers with total annual costs of more than 0.50 % are not attractive for the yield optimiser:
| Provider* | Administration fee per year | Fund costs (TER) | Total costs |
| CSX | 0.89 – 1.58% | 0.89 – 1.58% | |
| Descartes | 0.20 – 0.40 % | 0.27 – 0.40 % | 0.67 – 0.80% |
| Generali | 0.75% | 0.20% | 1.05% |
| Gioia3a | 0.10% | 0.61 – 0.78% | 0.71 – 0.88% |
| Fluks3a (LUKB) | 0.60% | 0.60% | |
| Denk3a (SGKB) | 0.60 – 0.69% | 0.60 – 0.69% | |
| Tellco | 0.00% | 0.39 – 0.74% | 0.39 – 0.74% |
| Volt 3a | 0.48% | 0.21 – 0.26% | 0.?? – 0.98% |
We assume that most of these providers use funds that are not withholding tax optimised (exception: Credit Suisse). It is therefore not only the fees but also the quality of these pension funds that do not convince the yield optimiser.
Four suitable offers for yield optimisation (sorted by alphabet):
| Provider | Funds deployed | Foundation |
| finpension | Credit Suisse, Swisscanto and UBS index funds | finpension 3a Retirement Savings Foundation |
| frankly | Swisscanto’s own funds | Pension Foundation Savings 3 of the Zürcher Kantonalbank |
| VIAC | Mainly Credit Suisse Index Fund (CSIF), partly ETF | Terzo Pension Foundation of WIR Bank |
| Yuh | Funds from Swisscanto | Fondation de prévoyance simply3a de Lienhardt et partenaires |
| Yapeal | Vontobel Pension Invest Fund | Vontobel 3a Retirement Savings Foundation |
Yapeal-3a is a good offer (update end of January 2022: according to various media reports, Yapeal is withdrawing from the private client business). Investing your own pillar 3a in securities with Yapeal costs only between 0.42 and 0.47 % per year. There are no issue or redemption commissions. One disadvantage is that you cannot take out the offer if you are not a Yapeal client or do not want to become one. Another disadvantage is that only two funds are available with a maximum share of 50 %. This is not enough for our yield optimiser, so we move on to VIAC.
Yuh hat ihre Säule 3a Mitte 2023 lanciert, die pauschal 0.50 % pro Jahr kostet. Das ist okay. Yuh setzt auf Fonds von Swisscanto. Auch das ist gut, weil diese quellensteueroptimiert sind. Von daher ist die Säule 3a von Yuh eine tolle Ergänzung für bestehende Yuh-Kundinnen und -Kunden. Für alle anderen sind VIAC, Frankly oder finpension aber besser geeignet, weil man bei diesen drei Anbietern ein viel grösseres Commitment spürt. Yuh setzt die Säule 3a nicht selbst um, sondern ist diesbezüglich eine Kooperation mit Descartes Vorsorge und Lienhardt & Partner eingegangen. Wer weiss, dass Yuh selbst schon aus einer Kooperation entstanden ist (Postfinance & Swissquote), teilt möglicherweise unsere Bedenken.
VIAC is a very good provider that has brought a lot of dynamism to the pension market with the launch of its 3a app in 2017. VIAC offers investment strategies that dispense entirely with bonds. Instead, the part not invested in shares or precious metals is invested as cash at WIR Bank. Those who feel they are in good hands with WIR-Bank have a very good 3a solution with VIAC. Our yield optimiser also feels comfortable with VIAC. Only the margin on foreign currency transactions, which WIR-Bank demands as the processor of VIAC transactions, is not to her liking. What is the situation at Frankly?
Frankly is also a very good provider, at a similar level to VIAC. Unlike VIAC, Frankly also charges fees on the cash portion. Frankly is therefore only worthwhile if you invest the money in securities. The fees are low, the performance of the ZKB funds decent. What is missing in contrast to VIAC and finpension is the possibility to individualise the investment strategies. One more note: Frankly’s pricing model has a special feature: those who make advance withdrawals for residential property do not have to pay the foundation for the additional costs of checking – these costs are borne by the Frankly community with the all-in fee.
Now to finpension: The offer from finpension is once again a little cheaper than those from Frankly and VIAC. Our offer is optimally tailored to 3a savers who want to invest a high proportion of their pillar 3a in shares. With the finpension 3a securities app, you can invest up to 99% (VIAC 99%, Frankly 95%) in equities. In addition, we do not subscribe to funds in foreign currency at all, which means that there are no transaction fees for foreign currency exchange (if necessary, the foreign currency exchange within the fund takes place at the average exchange rate and without a surcharge). For yield optimisers, finpension is therefore the best offer on the market.
Best pillar 3a for the conscientious: Sustainable 3a funds
Those for whom sustainability is also important in 3a pension provision select according to different criteria than those who optimise returns. Accordingly, other offers can be found: Freya, for example, has placed the topic of sustainability very strongly at the centre of its communication. Pillar 3a should grow “decently”, as could be read on the Freya website. Freya has already withdrawn from the market. For the conscientious, the following offers that explicitly focus on sustainability come into question:
- elleXX in cooperation with Vontobel
- Inyova in cooperation with Liberty
- Liberty Green (from Liberty itself)
- Swiss Life’s Pando has already been withdrawn from the market.
- Others: VIAC, Frankly, finpension
Important to know: The return optimiser’s favourites also offer sustainable strategies – finpension even at the same attractive low fees. Conscientious people therefore ask themselves whether the higher fees of Inyova and Co. are justified. This is not an easy decision for the conscientious, as sustainability is not an exact science and it is difficult to measure the effective environmental benefit of sustainability funds.
Inyova focuses consistently on sustainability. The provider engages in impact investing and actively influences the decisions of the investing companies. However, it is questionable to what extent Inyova has enough market power to really make a difference. The pension funds of the three big providers in Switzerland (Credit Suisse, UBS and Swisscanto) together manage several hundred billion francs in pension fund assets. Inyova’s 173 million have much less leverage. But if an economic system is to focus on more sustainable values, one has to start somewhere. And that is what Inyova is trying to do.
Best pillar 3a for the undecided:
3a account / 3a securities
3a account or invest in securities? There is also a best solution for the undecided. By undecided we mean all those who don’t really know what they want. Should they leave their 3a assets in an account or invest them in securities? Often the undecideds find it a bit too expensive at the moment and prefer to wait until share prices have corrected somewhat. Then the undecided would be prepared to invest their pillar 3a money.
For the undecided, there is a clear favourite, namely VIAC. Unlike Frankly, with VIAC you do not pay a fee on the cash portion. This is an advantage of VIAC, because both providers are about the same in terms of costs. What is a disadvantage of VIAC are the fees on the foreign currency exchange, which is why a frequent exchange from cash to securities and back again is not really worthwhile with VIAC.
Performance comparison unfortunately only possible to a limited extent
Of course, a serious comparison also includes an examination of performance. However, during our research we found that many of the new providers offer little transparency. Hardly any providers – except VIAC, Frankly and finpension – show on their website how the performance of the 3a securities solutions was or would have been in the past one, three and five years.
The new 3a app providers can still learn something from the “old” providers. For the 3a funds of the established providers, the historical performance can be read in the linked factsheets and thus also compared. This creates trust and gives you a sense of what you are getting into when you sign a contract.
VIAC, Frankly and finpension: these 3a app providers provide transparent information that allows a comparison of the performance of 3a securities solutions. A few comments on this comparison (as at the end of December 2023):
- The table is sorted by equity share.
- The performance figures reported by VIAC and finpension are already stated net of costs in the respective factsheets. As both VIAC and finpension offer different fund houses, we have calculated the average performance in each case.
- VIAC strategies offer the option of holding liquidity in the form of cash or bonds. Liquidity refers to the portion that is not invested in equities or real estate. As the finpension and Frankly strategies are also based on bonds, we have also based VIAC’s investment preference on bonds.
- For the funds used by Frankly, the management fee had to be deducted first (2020: 0.48%, 2021: 0.47 %, 2022: 0.46 %; 2023: 0.45 %).
- The five-year performance of the Frankly funds is still largely missing, as the funds were only launched in 2019 or 2020.
- WIR Bank’s fees on foreign currency exchange are not yet included in the performance of the VIAC strategies.
| a / p | Shares | 1 Y | 3 Y | 5 Y | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| finpension Global 100 | passiv | 100% | 9.23% | 2.91% | 7.93% | 25.58% | 7.00% | 20.66% | -17.66% | 9.23% |
| finpension Schweiz 100 | passiv | 100% | 7.70% | 2.67% | 7.90% | 27.67% | 5.82% | 21.67% | -17.78% | 7.70% |
| finpension Nachhaltig 100 | passiv | 100% | 9.22% | 2.96% | 7.89% | 25.65% | 6.62% | 21.19% | -18.02% | 9.22% |
| VIAC Global 100 | passiv | 100% | 8.50% | 3.05% | 7.65% | 25.25% | 5.35% | 20.75% | -16.50% | 8.50% |
| VIAC Schweiz 100 | passiv | 100% | 7.65% | 2.65% | 7.70% | 27.20% | 5.30% | 21.95% | -17.60% | 7.65% |
| VIAC Global Nachhaltig 100 | passiv | 100% | 9.15% | 3.40% | 7.90% | 25.35% | 5.45% | 22.30% | -17.10% | 9.15% |
| Frankly Extreme 95 Sustainable | aktiv | 95% | ||||||||
| Frankly Extreme 95 Responsible | aktiv | 95% | 10.68% | -16.77% | 10.68% | |||||
| Frankly Extreme 95 Index | passiv | 95% | 10.68% | 2.64% | 19.14% | -17.84% | 10.45% | |||
| finpension Global 80 | passiv | 80% | 8.22% | 1.86% | 6.59% | 22.97% | 5.88% | 18.15% | -17.67% | 8.22% |
| finpension Schweiz 80 | passiv | 80% | 7.02% | 1.62% | 6.60% | 24.48% | 5.40% | 18.36% | -17.52% | 7.02% |
| finpension Nachhaltig 80 | passiv | 80% | 8.14% | 1.87% | 6.54% | 23.07% | 5.53% | 18.54% | -17.95% | 8.14% |
| VIAC Global 80 | passiv | 80% | 7.65% | 2.65% | 6.95% | 23.35% | 4.75% | 16.60% | -15.50% | 7.65% |
| VIAC Schweiz 80 | passiv | 80% | 6.75% | 2.20% | 7.05% | 25.10% | 5.15% | 19.00% | -15.90% | 6.75% |
| VIAC Global Nachhaltig 80 | passiv | 80% | 8.40% | 2.90% | 6.85% | 22.40% | 4.50% | 20.00% | -16.25% | 8.40% |
| Frankly Strong 75 Sustainable | aktiv | 75% | ||||||||
| Frankly Strong 75 Responsible | aktiv | 75% | 8.87% | 3.14% | 6.20% | 17.79% | -14.45% | 8.87% | ||
| Frankly Strong 75 Index | passiv | 75% | 7.51% | 1.75% | 27.49% | 16.07% | -15.60% | 7.51% | ||
| finpension Global 60 | passiv | 60% | 7.20% | 0.26% | 4.82% | 18.68% | 5.79% | 13.24% | -17.20% | 7.20% |
| finpension Schweiz 60 | passiv | 60% | 6.60% | 0.22% | 4.82% | 19.71% | 5.04% | 13.27% | -16.90% | 6.60% |
| finpension Nachhaltig 60 | passiv | 60% | 7.11% | 0.25% | 4.78% | 18.93% | 5.41% | 13.52% | -17.43% | 7.11% |
| VIAC Global 60 | passiv | 60% | 7.00% | 2.45% | 5.70% | 17.65% | 4.20% | 14.50% | -12.25% | 7.00% |
| VIAC Schweiz 60 | passiv | 60% | 6.05% | 2.25% | 5.85% | 19.30% | 4.00% | 14.45% | -11.90% | 6.05% |
| VIAC Global Nachhaltig 60 | passiv | 60% | 7.50% | 2.55% | 5.60% | 17.10% | 3.80% | 15.25% | -12.80% | 7.50% |
| Frankly Moderate 45 Sustainable | aktiv | 45% | ||||||||
| Frankly Moderate 45 Responsible | aktiv | 45% | 6.05% | 1.19% | 3.91% | 10.14% | -11.29% | 6.05% | ||
| Frankly Moderate 45 Index | passiv | 45% | 5.20% | -0.28% | 17.52% | 9.57% | -13.98% | 5.20% | ||
| finpension Global 40 | passiv | 40% | 6.30% | -1.25% | 3.04% | 14.82% | 5.09% | 8.49% | -16.64% | 6.30% |
| finpension Schweiz 40 | passiv | 40% | 6.00% | -1.30% | 3.00% | 15.29% | 4.56% | 8.24% | -16.34% | 6.00% |
| finpension Nachhaltig 40 | passiv | 40% | 6.14% | -1.30% | 3.05% | 15.11% | 4.99% | 8.59% | -16.76% | 6.14% |
| VIAC Global 40 | passiv | 40% | 6.25% | 2.15% | 4.30% | 12.30% | 2.95% | 10.10% | -8.85% | 6.25% |
| VIAC Schweiz 40 | passiv | 40% | 5.70% | 2.00% | 4.40% | 13.40% | 2.90% | 9.85% | -8.55% | 5.70% |
| VIAC Global Nachhaltig 40 | passiv | 40% | 6.55% | 2.25% | 4.20% | 11.95% | 2.65% | 10.65% | -9.30% | 6.55% |
| Frankly Gentle 25 Sustainable | aktiv | 25% | ||||||||
| Frankly Genlte 25 Responsible | aktiv | 25% | 5.58% | -0.13% | 2.99% | 5.23% | -10.35% | 5.58% | ||
| Frankly Gentle 25 Index | passiv | 25% | 4.80% | -1.72% | 4.00% | 4.17% | -13.04% | 4.80% | ||
| finpension Global 20 | passiv | 20% | 5.28% | -2.82% | 1.21% | 10.96% | 4.31% | 3.96% | -16.17% | 5.28% |
| finpension Schweiz 20 | passiv | 20% | 5.26% | -2.77% | 1.13% | 10.86% | 3.80% | 3.53% | -15.71% | 5.26% |
| finpension Nachhaltig 20 | passiv | 20% | 5.07% | -2.93% | 1.18% | 11.30% | 4.16% | 3.92% | -16.28% | 5.07% |
| VIAC Global 20 | passiv | 20% | 5.50% | 1.90% | 2.90% | 7.30% | 1.60% | 6.00% | -5.35% | 5.50% |
| VIAC Schweiz 20 | passiv | 20% | 5.20% | 1.70% | 2.85% | 7.60% | 1.70% | 5.60% | -5.25% | 5.20% |
| VIAC Global Nachhaltig 20 | passiv | 20% | 5.65% | 1.90% | 2.80% | 7.00% | 1.45% | 6.25% | -5.65% | 5.65% |
| Frankly Light 15 Responsible | aktiv | 15% | 5.69% | -1.21% | 2.10% | 1.55% | -10.17% | 5.69% | ||
| VIAC Konto Plus Global | passiv | 5% | 1.30% | 0.60% | 0.80% | 1.65% | 0.40% | 1.30% | -0.80% | 1.30% |
| VIAC Konto Plus Schweiz | passiv | 5% | 1.10% | 0.60% | 0.80% | 1.60% | 0.30% | 1.45% | -0.65% | 1.10% |
| VIAC Konto Plus Nachhaltig | passiv | 5% | 1.30% | 0.60% | 0.80% | 1.70% | 0.45% | 1.50% | -0.80% | 1.30% |
| finpension Global 0 | passiv | 0% | 2.93% | -1.14% | -0.79% | -0.07% | -0.45% | -0.89% | -5.24% | 2.93% |
| finpension Schweiz 0 | passiv | 0% | 2.93% | -1.14% | -0.79% | -0.07% | -0.45% | -0.89% | -5.24% | 2.93% |
| finpension Nachhaltig 0 | passiv | 0% | 2.84% | -1.24% | -0.92% | -0.24% | -0.60% | -1.00% | -5.36% | 2.84% |
Worst pillar 3a for almost everyone:
3a insurance / policy
With a 3a insurance policy, too many disadvantages have to be accepted. 3a insurance only makes sense for those who actually need insurance and cannot afford to pay a separate savings amount into pillar 3a in addition to the insurance premium.
For all those who are independent, i.e. have no family, insurance is the least attractive form for a pillar 3a. And even if there is a family or other obligations, a combined insurance that combines 3a savings with risk coverage is not optimal, as this is simply too expensive (costs are not transparent).
Read more about the 3rd pillar as an insurance solution under: Pillar 3a with the bank or the insurance company?
Which provision type are you?
In which provision type do you recognise yourself? If you are satisfied with a solid solution, without highs and lows, you belong to the frugal type. If you want to get the most out of it, have patience and want to benefit from favourable price developments, you can optimise your return with these offers. All those who are particularly concerned about sustainability will also find suitable offers as conscientious investors. And for the undecided, there are other solutions.
The most important thing: Make a decision for your pension soon. The longer the investment horizon, the greater the potential of private pension provision.