Pension provision topics, especially concerning the occupational retirement provision, seem to be of great interest to the public. SFI Managing Director Prof. François Degeorge welcomed more than 100 interested participants to the Zunfthaus zur Saffran in Zurich for the presentation of the most recent SFI Public Discussion Note on this subject. The continuing increase in life expectancy and in the level of retirement benefits are often seen as the main challenges facing a fully-funded 2nd pillar system. For many years, however, interest rates changes have also represented a considerable challenge for pension and insurance plans in Switzerland.

Against this background, SFI Prof. Olivier Scaillet (UNIGE) and a team of experts―Marc Fournier, Deputy General Manager at Pittet Associés Ltd, and Stéphane Riesen, CEO of Pittet Associés Ltd―analyze the effects of interest rates in the current context before testing the robustness of the Swiss 2nd pillar's financial capacity in light of several different economic scenarios, all in the most recent SFI Public Discussion Note. The study presented on 21 June builds on the same authors' 2022 study for the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO), in which they analyze pension fund data gathered through 2020. Since then, some major economic changes have occurred: inflation has made a strong comeback, even in Switzerland, and negative or even zero interest rates are now clearly a thing of the past. Extending their study made for the FSIO, the authors now present updated calculations and results as of the end of 2022, both for the current economic context and for possible future scenarios.

At the Zunfthaus zur Saffran event, their insights were complemented by those of Urs Hunziker, Head Market Development Swiss German at Copré, who explained the situation from the perspective of a Swiss pension fund. The event was rounded off by a lively panel discussion moderated by Carolin Roth, involving Urs Hunziker and SFI Prof. Olivier Scaillet as well as Dr. Olivier Kern, Senior Executive Vice President at Pittet Associés Ltd, Dr. Vera Kupper Staub, President, Oberaufsichtskommission Berufliche Vorsorge OAK BV, and Martin Roth, President, Schweizerischer Pensionskassenverband.

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