Our Review of the Finpension 3a Pillar Account in 2025 (Copie)

Finpension 3a is one of the most comprehensive solutions on the Swiss market for investing your 3a pillar. It is flexible, its management is 100% digital, and its fees are competitive.

Unlike traditional banking offers, which are often rigid, opaque, and poorly invested in equities. It’s not a ready-made solution, but Finpension gives savers a real lever for optimization, provided they are willing to get involved a little.

Everything is done online, via a mobile app or web interface. Registration takes less than 10 minutes. You choose an investment strategy (predefined or customized), connect your account, then start making payments.

✔ No paperwork
✔ No mandatory minimum (but below CHF 1,000, allocation remains undiversified and long-term impact limited)
✔ Clear interface

Note: you must be a Swiss resident with AVS-eligible income to open an account.

Where many solutions cap equity allocation at 45% or 80%, Finpension allows up to 99%, depending on the risk profile.

This high threshold provides real room to aim for higher long-term returns, especially for young professionals or those comfortable with market volatility.

Profile Selection or Self-Management

Two options are offered upon opening:

Option 1: Predefined Strategies

Six pre-configured allocations (Equity 0 to Equity 100), with a flexible equity portion:

• Equity 20 → 20% equities
• …
• Equity 100 → 99% equities + 1% cash
  

Each profile can be combined with a focus:

• 🌍 Global (worldwide diversification)
• 🇨🇭 Swiss (overweighted CH equities)
• ♻️ Sustainable (ESG funds)
  

A total of 18 possible combinations.

Option 2: Customized Strategy

Finpension allows you to build your portfolio manually:

• Choice from a wide range of institutional index funds (Credit Suisse, UBS, Swisscanto).
• Tailor-made allocation according to your vision and profile.
• Possibility to go up to 99% in equities, without currency hedging constraints.
• 100% cash allocation or via a money market fund also possible.
  

There is no possibility to invest directly in individual stocks or specific themes.

However, beware, a poorly calibrated manual configuration can expose you to underestimated risks.

What Finpension Currently Lacks:

• A better integrated ESG strategy: Finpension offers a sustainable strategy, but it doesn’t necessarily exclude all controversial sectors.
• To have a truly 100% ESG portfolio, you have to build it yourself.
• A bit more guidance for beginners.

ETFs to Minimize Fees

Investment is exclusively through index funds (ETFs), selected for their transparency, low fees, and liquidity. This is a real difference compared to some banks or platforms like Frankly, which integrate proprietary funds, sometimes more expensive or less liquid.

When you leave your 3rd pillar with a traditional bank (UBS, Raiffeisen, BCGE…), a portion of the return is lost to fees, and investments are often ultra-conservative (lots of cash, very few equities).

Most traditional Swiss banks (PostFinance, UBS, Raiffeisen…) limit:

• the allocation choice (often 1 or 2 standard profiles),
• the percentage of equities, rarely exceeding 45–50%,
• reallocations, which sometimes require an advisor or are restricted annually.
  

Result: even when aiming for dynamic investment, one ends up stuck in conservative portfolios, poorly suited for a long-term horizon.

With Zak 3a, for example, we get the benefit of simplicity, but the number of strategies remains limited, without direct access to underlying funds.

An often overlooked point: the canton of the foundation. Finpension is domiciled in the canton of Schwyz, where the tax rate on 3a withdrawals is one of the lowest in Switzerland (approx. 4.8%).

3a withdrawals are taxed according to the canton of the foundation, not where one lives: with Schwyz (Finpension), you pay significantly less tax than with Zurich (Selma, Frankly) or Basel (VIAC, Zak).

This is a significant advantage if you withdraw your 3rd pillar all at once or from abroad.

Even if Finpension is not a bank, security is ensured by a solid regulatory framework:

• Funds are held in an independent foundation, legally separate from finpension SA.
• Assets are deposited with a partner bank (ZKB or LUKB), under supervision.

Portfolios are protected in case of bankruptcy, and transferable to another foundation if needed.

Finpension’s model is transparent: 0.39% per year, all-inclusive.

This covers:

✔ Portfolio management → rebalancing, strategy monitoring, dynamic allocations.

✔ Access to selected ETFs → low-cost index funds, without additional margin.

✔ Platform usage → mobile app, web interface, updates and support.

No hidden fees, no commissions on dividends, no rebalancing fees.

Finpension 3a does not seek to attract with marketing or a flashy interface. This 3a pillar allows you to optimize your 3a pillar as a long-term investment, without unnecessary fees. There is a certain freedom of choice, but no human support. But this level of control has a trade-off: you must accept to think about your allocation and be exposed to the markets. It’s not a ready-made solution like frankly or Zak 3a, but it is one of the most comprehensive and flexible in 2025.

Also read

• Review and Test of the Zak 3a 3rd Pillar

• Did the Finpension app make it easy to open the account?
• What feature would you like to improve at Finpension?
• Is Finpension 3a pillar sufficiently optimized for you?

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