Following the tensions concerning Credit Suisse, I have received many messages from readers worried about their pillar 3a assets at finpension or VIAC.
The questions that come up the most are:
- Is my money at VIAC in Credit Suisse funds at risk?
- Should I move from VIAC and its Credit Suisse funds to finpension and its new Swisscanto funds?
- Should I change my Credit Suisse finpension funds for their new Swisscanto funds?
Here is the copy paste of my answer each time below.
Credit Suisse 3a funds are not at risk
The first thing to note is that the funds are not part of Credit Suisse’s balance sheet — they are segregated assets and do not fall within the bankruptcy estate (if a Credit Suisse bankruptcy were to occur, which is not the case as of today).
Also, it should be noted that the entity we are talking about for our pillars 3a is the entity “Credit Suisse Switzerland”, not the group.
As Daniel Peter, CEO of VIAC, explained to me: “The Swiss unit would also fall under ’too big to fail’ and would be rescued.”
Moreover, the funds are only kept by the bank on a fiduciary basis. This means that if Credit Suisse were to close its doors, another banking institution would take over this fiduciary part of the funds, and it would not change anything for us investors in these funds via our pillar 3a.
Finally, another point of re-insurance: there are VIAC and finpension that use these Credit Suisse funds, but also many other pension funds. In this respect, this unit has a very high relevance for the stability of the Swiss pension system, which strengthens the political backing if Credit Suisse should approach bankruptcy.
What to do with your pillar 3a invested via Credit Suisse funds?
For my part, and this is just the opinion of a guy on the Internet who did his own research, I’m not going to change anything.
As a Mustachian, I continue to recommend a 100% stock strategy using either finpension or VIAC, which I believe are the two best pillars 3a in Switzerland to date!
finpension Equity 100: Credit Suisse or Swisscanto?
In preparing this article, I looked at the differences in fees between Credit Suisse and Swisscanto funds.
The main difference is in favor of Swisscanto. Indeed, all their products are at 0% TER, while for Credit Suisse, there is one of their products that is at 0.09% TER. But considering that it only represents 10% of the “Equity 100” portfolio, it’s not that much.
Nevertheless, if I were to open a pillar 3a with finpension today, I would still go with Swisscanto for this mini reason.
finpension and VIAC welcome codes
If you haven’t already done so for 2022, there’s still time to open a pillar 3a account to make your savings grow AND save about CHF 1'000 in taxes each year!
===> MUSTBC <===
===> 3aMust <===
And you, how do you live this risk of bankruptcy of Credit Suisse?
