finpension 3a experience and review 2024

Last update: 17.09.2024 08:33

Already had experience with finpension 3a? Many people know VIAC for securities investments in pillar 3a because of the favorable fees. But since October 2022, it’s even cheaper. We have known and observed finpension 3a for a long time. What do you think of finpension? Read on and benefit from our experience and finpension 3a voucher code.

finpension is a Swiss company based in Lucerne with around two dozen employees that focuses on the digitalization of pension provision. It was founded in 2015. The company started with pension solutions for companies and has also been active in pillar 3a since 2020. finpension pursues a strategy of cost leadership.

finpension operates three independent pension foundations. finpension AG is responsible for the management and customer advisory services for the three foundations finpension 1e, finpension Vested Benefits and finpension Pillar 3a.

finpension manages pension assets of CHF 1.3 billion. The company is privately financed, profitable and independent of banks. They already have more than 5,000 customers in pillar 3a.

What is finpension pillar 3a?

finpension pillar 3a is a digital pillar 3a offering that is independent of banks. You can use the offer both via your smartphone (iPhone, Android) and via the web.

For a long time, finpension and VIAC have been in a neck-and-neck race to see who offers the best prices for pillar 3a. In the past, a flat-rate 3a fee of 0.39 percent plus VAT applied to finpension. Showing prices plus VAT is common among business customers, but unusual for private customers.

Since October 1, 2022, finpension has therefore waived the VAT surcharge and reduced the finpension 3a fees to 0.39 percent (incl. VAT). This flat fee applies to all investment strategies and is independent of the fund provider. Really simple, I like! 👍This further consolidates finpension 3a’s position as price leader and puts pressure on VIAC’s prices.

With many providers, additional fund costs are added to the management fee. These are reported as the total expense ratio (TER). With finpension Pillar 3a – as with VIAC – the costs of the funds used are already included in the fee. This does not apply to the Crypto Market Index Fund. The flat fee also covers portfolio management and re-balancing, and there are no price premiums, no margin when switching to foreign currencies and no issuing commissions. Transaction or custody fees are also not charged.

The flat fee applies to all strategies. This is slightly cheaper for strategies with a high equity component (60 % and more) than with VIAC. VIAC charges 0.45 % per year for global equity strategies with 80 % or 100 % equity exposure.

The founders of finpension started in 2016. Since then, 400 companies with over 4,000 insured persons have joined finpension’s 1e collective foundation. These include almost 20 listed companies and the University Hospitals of Geneva. The finpension Vested Benefits Foundation was added in 2017 and the 3a Pension Foundation in October 2020. In total, finpension manages around two billion Swiss francs in pension assets (as at December 2023). Since we last profiled finpension in October 2021, the pension assets they manage have grown by several hundred million francs. They have over 10,000 customers in the pillar 3a area (as at August 2023).

Registration is very simple and takes place in three steps. You can log in both on the Internet in the web APP and in a mobile APP(IOS, Android).

Simply enter your mobile number and password and enter the SMS confirmation code on the following screen. Then it’s on to risk assessment, choosing your strategy and finally a few personal details. The flow is quite self-explanatory. Your normal retirement age is automatically selected as the investment horizon based on your date of birth – so that’s how long you have until you retire 😊. You can optionally extend or shorten this period.

You then select your investment focus. Here you can choose between three variants (global, Switzerland, sustainable). Or you can put together your own individual investment strategy. I have chosen sustainability.

Until recently, you could only invest in Credit Suisse funds. Since October 2022 September 2023, there has been a choice between two three providers: Credit Suisse, Swisscanto and UBS. All offers are on an equal footing. Which provider you choose does not affect the costs here – unlike with VIAC.

finpension 3a proposes a risk level for the selected investment focus (in my case 80% equity allocation) and shows you in detail in the lower section which index funds make up your portfolio. You can select more aggressive or more defensive risk levels with one click and finish by clicking on “Select strategy”. Six risk levels can be selected with equity shares of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 % – whereby 1 % is always held in cash for each strategy. If you want to change your strategy later, you can do so with just a few clicks in the dashboard and it’s free of charge. You must confirm your strategy in the following pop-up. In addition to the usual legal information, you will be shown a possible performance in three scenarios.

In the last step, enter your address, marital status and e-mail address. With finpension 3a, you only have to provide proof of identity when you withdraw your pension assets. This makes the registration process easier for you as a new customer. If that’s not enough for you, since April 2023 you have been able to do an optional digital ID check. You can start this identity check in accordance with the FINMA standard in your profile once you have completed registration.

Finally, enter the promo code SMLUTQ. With this finpension 3a voucher code, you will immediately receive a welcome bonus of 25 francs as a fee credit if you deposit or transfer at least 1,000 francs within 12 months.

Another click takes you to your dashboard. This shows an overview of your portfolio. I think it’s very tidy and clear. To summarize: finpension 3a offers a positive experience in the application process.

At the top right you can then either transfer money or transfer an existing 3a balance with another provider to finpension by clicking on “Deposit”.

You can also use this code to transfer your vested benefits account to finpension. Because in our comparison of vested benefits accounts, finpension also occupies a top position.

I find the user guidance for both processes (deposit, transfer) very successful and convenient. You can either download the transfer form with one click or have it sent to you by e-mail or post. The form can be used universally, regardless of whether you want to transfer a 3a life insurance policy, a 3a savings account or a 3a securities solution. All you have to do is enter the address of your previous pension foundation on the form and send it to them by post. Done.

The web application uses the current SSL encryption standard. Access to your account is protected with two-factor authentication. You need a username, password and an SMS to log in to your account. So far so good.

Your pension assets are held in the finpension pillar 3a pension foundation 3a, not in finpension AG. In Switzerland, according to FINMA, bank clients’ deposits are protected by the deposit guarantee system and by preferential treatment in the event of bankruptcy. finpension invests the entire pension capital in securities, which is why there are no cash holdings on bank balance sheets.

Securities such as shares, units in collective investment schemes and other securities held in a securities custody account belong to you as a customer – a bank only manages them on a fiduciary basis. This means that your assets remain with the foundation in the event of finpension AG’s insolvency. You are not affected because the foundation would look for a new company to take over the management and customer service.

In addition, finpension regularly undergoes further audits as part of tenders for 1e plans. The company is examined, e.g. for the vulnerability of its IT systems (IT penetration tests), corporate structures or corporate governance.

Your money is therefore no more or less secure with finpension 3a than with other pillar 3a providers.

Of course, finpension 3a will automatically create receipts for you so that you can deduct your payments from your income tax. You can find them by clicking on Profile / Personal details under “Documents”

Yes, up to five accounts. This makes sense in order to optimize taxes on the purchase. You can find out more about pillar 3a and taxes in this article.

Yes, use the finpension 3a voucher code SMLUTQ. You will then receive a welcome bonus of 25 francs if you pay in at least 1,000 francs within 12 months (one-off or monthly contributions) or transfer pillar 3a assets. You will benefit from a welcome bonus of 25 francs as a fee credit. You can also save even more on the already low fees by recommending finpension 3a to your friends. Then you will also receive 25 francs for each recommendation.

Your chosen investment theme (global, Swiss, sustainable, individual) is implemented by finpension with the selected risk level (equities 0-100%) using index funds. “Global” invests in a globally diversified portfolio. “Switzerland” invests in a portfolio with a primary focus on Swiss equities. “Sustainable” only invests in index funds that contain companies that fulfill ESG principles.

You can choose whether you would prefer to use funds from Swisscanto or Credit Suisse. Both are free of charge for you and are included in the flat-rate fee.

Addendum 15.10.2023: Since September 2023, the 3a Pension Foundation of finpension now also has a fund access agreement with UBS. This means that you can now choose from three fund houses for both the 3a pension foundation and finpension’s vested benefits foundations: Credit Suisse, Swisscanto and UBS. This puts finpension further ahead of VIAC (Swisscanto, CreditSuisse) and frankly (Swisscanto only) in terms of independence.

From the perspective of a pension fund, index funds offer a number of advantages over exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Firstly, there are tax advantages for dividends from foreign shares. This allows the withholding tax withheld by the foreign state to be reclaimed, which increases the effective dividend yield. Secondly, unlike ETFs, index funds are not subject to stamp duty. This eliminates costs. Thirdly, they are funds that are reserved for institutional investors and are therefore inexpensive.

Your deposits are invested weekly on the second bank working day. A quick investment increases the investment horizon and is therefore positive. Strategy changes in the portfolio are also implemented on the second banking day of each week.

The portfolio is also rebalanced weekly on the second bank working day. Re-balancing refers to the adjustment of individual asset classes to their target value if they have performed better or worse due to fluctuations in value. finpension rebalances as soon as an asset class moves more than 1% away from the target value. If you do not wish to rebalance, you can deactivate this for each of your up to 5 portfolios. I would not recommend this, because rebalancing keeps your portfolio at the desired risk and return level.

No. finpension AG takes over the management and customer advisory services for the finpension pillar 3a foundations. The company is privately financed, has been profitable since 2019 and is independent of banks. Your money is legally deposited with the finpension Pillar 3a Foundation, which manages its assets with the custodian bank Credit Suisse.

In terms of price, finpension Pillar 3a is one basis point cheaper than VIAC Pillar 3a. If you do without bonds in your portfolio with VIAC, VIAC gains 60% in terms of price with equity ratios <compared to the standard fee of finpension 3a. I have reviewed VIAC in various articles. They also offer other services that may be of interest to you.

The finpension 3a solution is very inexpensive for equity ratios of 60% or more. It also offers many design options for equity strategies and individualization. They also offer the highest equity ratio of 99%. This can increase the performance of your pillar 3a investments over a long investment horizon. VIAC offers a maximum equity allocation of 97%. The transparency of the index funds and fees used is also very high at finpension.

Addendum: VIAC has adjusted the share quotas as of January 1, 2023. You can now also invest there with a 99% equity allocation.

With finpension, you can open and manage your account with a foreign mobile phone number. Other providers do not allow this.

finpension has a standard fee for all investment strategies. The flat fee is unfavorable for you if you are looking for a low equity ratio (20 % or 40 %) or a savings account. Then you may be able to implement pillar 3a more cheaply with another provider.

You must be invested in finpension 3a. They do not offer a pure 3a savings account, such as those offered by banks or VIAC. If you choose an equity allocation of 0%, your money will be invested in 99% bonds and only the remaining 1% will be held in cash. Many bond funds currently (still) have negative yields to maturity, i.e. you are losing money.

The very low flat-rate fee covers the management of your 3a investments. However, as with other providers, there are additional fees for special transactions such as early withdrawal for home ownership promotion or pledging your assets.

finpension Pillar 3a offers a great and inexpensive solution for investors. The reduction of the standard fee to 0.39 % was a declaration of war and led to a fee reduction at VIAC, which in turn followed suit to 0.40 %.

Registration with finpension 3a is quick and the user interface is simple, intuitive and secure. You can also choose between index funds from three different renowned providers. Nobody else has so much choice. The fees are very inexpensive and extremely transparent. In our view, you are doing a lot of things right with finpension.

There are also other good providers in the digital pillar 3a that stand out with other features. VIAC also scores with low costs, VIAC Life basic protection and favorable mortgages. With your pillar 3a investments, Inyova makes the world a better place according to your values. It’s best to take a look at other providers yourself and choose what suits you best.