Dear colleagues,

We would like to inform you of the decisions taken by the Board of Trustees in relation to the Bayer Pensionskasse Schweiz:

• Retirement savings will earn interest at 8.5% in 2021. This very pleasing outcome is due to a good 2021 performance and the fact that the funding ratio has exceeded 130%.
• Mirko Daum has been newly elected to the Board of Trustees as an employee representative. Magnus Schellnock will take his seat on the Board of Trustees as a new employer representative.

Definitive interest rate of 8.5% on retirement savings in 2021

The Bayer Pensionskasse Schweiz shows an investment performance of 10% as of December 31, 2021. The main drivers of this excellent performance are equity and collective real estate investments. In light of this performance and the funding ratio of around 132%, the Board of Trustees decided at its meeting held on December 16, 2021 to pay 8.5% interest on retirement savings in 2021. This interest rate is 7.5% higher than the minimum interest rate of 1% set by the Federal Council. The Bayer Pensionskasse interest rate is also significantly higher than the average interest rate of other Swiss pension funds, as the following table shows:

The Investment Fund Regulations are available on the Bayer Pensionskasse Schweiz homepage.

Organization of the committees from January 1, 2022 onwards

Our pension fund has grown considerably in recent years. Investment assets have grown from CHF 376 million at the end of 2016 to more than CHF 700 million. This development, together with the regulatory climate in occupational pension provision and the complexity of the investment markets, means that the strategic management functions of the Board of Trustees are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demanding. In light of this, the Board of Trustees has decided to expand its committees and has increased the number of members of the Board of Trustees from the current 8 up to 10. In addition, the two central committees of the Foundation – the Investment Committee and the Real Estate Committee – will also be reinforced and restructured:

Composition of the Board of Trustees:

Composition of the Investment Committee:

Composition of the Real Estate Committee:

Amendment of the 2022 Pension Fund Regulations – Seventh IV revision

The seventh revision of Swiss Federal Disability Insurance (Invalidenversicherung, IV), entitled “Further development of disability insurance”, will come into force on January 1, 2022. An important component is the introduction of the progressive pension scheme, which will be applied for certain degrees of disability. Our pension fund has incorporated the provisions of the IV revision into its Pension Fund Regulations. The new pension scheme will begin to apply to all new pensioners from January 1, 2022. Transitional provisions shall apply to insured persons who already receive a disability pension. For further information, please see the 2022 Pension Fund Regulations.

If you have any questions, our contacts at Kessler Vorsorge or the members of the Board of Trustees will be happy to help.

We wish you a good start to a happy and successful 2022.