Last update: 17.09.2024 08:33
The shaker in the Swiss pillar 3a market is lowering its VIAC pillar 3a fees with retroactive effect from March 1, 2021. Strategies with a high equity component will be cheaper. You will benefit from this as an existing and new customer. This is because the management fee is now capped at 0.44 %.
Not the first and last VIAC Pillar 3a fee reduction
The cap on the management fee makes predefined VIAC basic strategies and proprietary strategies with more than 84% securities cheaper. For example, the Global 80 and Global 100 strategies now cost 0.45 % per year instead of the previous 0.51 %.
In January 2020, VIAC took measures to improve returns by around 0.3 % per year. Since January 1, 2020, pension foundations have been able to invest in lower-cost investment funds that are tax-exempt in the USA because the protocol of amendment to the double taxation agreement between Switzerland and the USA came into force. VIAC took advantage of this opportunity and passed the cost reduction on to investors. At the time, CEO Daniel Peter told us that VIAC always tries to act in the interests of its clients.
Daniel has also kept this promise with the introduction of free VIAC LIFE basic protection. The basic protection is a useful service extension.
At the end of August 2021, VIAC will implement another measure to improve your returns. The money of new and existing customers for Japan will now be invested in tax-exempt fund tranches. This means you won’t miss out on taxes at fund level.
VIAC has announced that it will continue to put pressure on the Swiss pension market with innovative and extremely attractive offers. In February 2022, VIAC began offering WIR Bank mortgages to its customers. The “deals” were added in November 2022. Customers benefit from discount offers that VIAC agrees with partners. So we can look forward to seeing what comes next.
Fee comparison: What distinguishes VIAC pillar 3a fees from other providers?
Since VIAC entered the market in 2017, there has been more movement in the previously stagnant Swiss pension market. New providers such as Descartes Vorsorge (November 2019), Selma Pillar 3a (November 2019), ZKB with frankly (March 2020), finpension (October 2020) and Yapeal Y3a with Vontobel (December 2020) joined the already established major providers. How do VIAC’s fees differ from these providers?
Firstly, the VIAC pillar 3a fee covers all costs for the custody account, administration and transactions. This includes the custody account, contributions to the 3a Foundation, transaction and administration fees. Unlike with other pillar 3a providers, these costs also include all product costs of the funds (TER). The VIAC pillar 3a fee also includes VAT – unlike other providers who advertise lower headline prices without VAT.
Secondly, VIAC only charges the management fee on invested assets. Since VIAC holds the bond portion of a portfolio in cash, these strategies have lower overall costs. Many other providers advertise a single fee. If your equity exposure is low, you can benefit from a lower fee with VIAC.
Thirdly, VIAC pays interest on the cash component instead of “earning” a negative yield to maturity with bonds. So you benefit twice: neither fees on the bond component nor negative yield to maturity.
Fourthly , there are no basic fees, balancing fees, fees for deposits or withdrawals, retrocessions/other commissions or performance fees.
Our tip: Open pillar 3a with a CHF 25 bonus now
VIAC’s competitor finpension is cheaper than VIAC with share quotas of 60%. Use the voucher SMLUTQ for your welcome bonus when opening an account. You will receive this as a fee credit if you deposit or transfer at least CHF 1,000 within 12 months. And you save for life with equity ratios of 60% or more thanks to very low fees. We would be grateful if you use our voucher when opening an account. We will then receive a small fee. This will not make it more expensive for you and we can cover the costs of operating the platform.
Summary
At the end of 2017, VIAC was the first newcomer to offer the first fully digital, cost-efficient pillar 3a solution. VIAC has since “grown up”. Assets of over CHF 1 billion are managed for more than 44,000 customers. The average VIAC client therefore has around CHF 23,000 in their pillar 3a. The introduction of the cap on the management fee underlines VIAC’s ambition to remain the market and cost leader in digital pillar 3a solutions.
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