Dear fund members,

We are pleased to inform you about the annual financial statement 2022 of our pension fund as well as a short outlook for 2023:

2022 annual financial statement

The Board of Trustees approved the 2022 annual financial statement of our pension fund at its meeting on Thursday, June 15, 2023. Our pension fund achieved an investment performance of -12.2% in the 2022 fiscal year compared to the Swiss average of -8.8%¹. The reasons for this include the war in Ukraine, but also the uncertainties in relations between the U.S.A. and China, which have led to major distortions on the financial markets and a sharp rise in inflation. Due to the higher proportion of equities and real estate funds, the performance of our pension fund for 2022 was below the Swiss average.

Nevertheless, our pension fund ended the 2022 fiscal year with a coverage ratio of 110.2% (2021: 124.8%), which is still above the Swiss average of 108.3%¹. 

The key performance indicators for 2022 are listed below:

• Total assets: CHF 671.16 million (2021: CHF 720.56 million)
• Fluctuation reserve: CHF 60.7 million (2021: CHF 124.12 million)
• Number of active fund members: 1,443 (2021: 1,413)
• Number of pension recipients: 206 (2021: 188) 

In conjunction with the costs, we refer to the two following key performance indicators: 

The administrative expenses per beneficiary (excluding asset management) amounted to CHF 254. In comparison with the 2023 Swisscanto Study: CHF 321 per beneficiary from pension funds of private sector employers. 

The asset management expenses amounted to 0.33% of the assets, which is considerably below the average¹ of 0.48% (median of all pension funds). The amount of the asset management expenses is largely dependent on the defined investment strategy. 

In the 2022 fiscal year, we successfully transferred asset management from Credit Suisse to Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB). The processes are already running smoothly.

Outlook for 2023

Fortunately, the investment markets have again posted positive results since the beginning of 2023. Performance until July 4, 2023 amounts to +4.4% – this results in a provisional coverage ratio of about 113%. 

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

Yours sincerely,

Bayer Pension Fund Switzerland

Pascal Bürgin, President

Yves Windhäuser, Vice-President

• ¹ Source: 2023 Swisscanto Pension Fund Study: https://pensionstudy.swisscanto.com/23/de/einleitung/