In March, Mr Kurt Fluri (FDP-MP) submitted a proposal for “More Competition and Security†in the management of pension assets. The Federal Council was asked to examine an addendum to the Law on Vesting in Pension Plans (FZG/LFLP) extending investor protection laws to vested benefit accounts and opening such accounts to interest rate competition. As a rule, the interest rate on vested benefit accounts is lower than the minimum BVG/LPP interest rate.
Liberty Pensions also communicated its position on the draft revised Ordinance on Vesting in Pension Plans. We believe that Guaranty Fund coverage should immediately be extended to all assets invested with vested benefits institutions. Placing vested benefits institutions on an equal footing with pension funds would contribute to a more secure, transparent and user-friendly providential system, in the interest of the system as a whole and its participants.
The final version of the new investment guidelines for vested benefits institutions is scheduled for publishing in summer 2010. The transitional period for the implementation of the new guidelines will probably be extended until 1 January 2012.