Finpension Vested Benefits Review 2026 – Pros & Cons
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(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)
Many of you asked me about excellent vested benefits account. Until recently, I did not know any good one. But now, I came across Finpension Vested Benefits (previously known as valuepension)! Finpension Vested Benefits offers excellent vested benefits accounts.
Finpension Vested Benefits relies on index investing! They use low-cost index funds and allow people to invest heavily in stocks. Their vested benefits account looks like an excellent account that should maximize your return on the second pillar.
Their offer is really interesting. So I wanted to know more, even though I do not have a vested benefits account. They also have the best third pillar in Switzerland!
So, here is my complete review of the Finpension Vested Benefits offer.
| Total Fee | 0.49% per year |
|---|---|
| Maximum portfolios | 2 |
| Stock allocation | Up to 99% |
| Maximum foreign exposure | 99% |
| Maximum investment in cash | 100% |
| Investment Strategy | Index funds |
| Fund providers | Credit Suisse, Swisscanto and UBS |
| Languages | English, French, German |
| Sustainable option | Yes |
| Mobile Application | Yes |
| Web Application | Yes |
| Custodian Bank | Credit Suisse |
| Established | 2017 |
| Foundation’s domicile | Schwyz |
Vested Benefits Account
Before we delve into Finpension Vested Benefits, we can cover vested benefits accounts in more detail.
Employed people are contributing to a second pillar. They cannot choose the second pillar account. Each company chooses a second pillar provider, and employees have to contribute.
But people who leave employment for some time must transfer their second pillar money into a vested benefits account. You can get a vested benefits account when:
- Taking a sabbatical
- Early retirement
- Leaving Switzerland
In this case, people are free to pick vested benefits accounts. So, they need a good one since their second pillar money could be there for a long time. Also, people with a vested benefits account can move to a new one.
If you would like to learn more, read my article about vested benefits.
The problem is that there are many vested benefits accounts. And many of them are bad.
So, we will see what Finpension offers as a vested benefits account.
Finpension Vested Benefits
Finpension Vested Benefits is the best account in Switzerland.
Use the FEYKV5 code to get 25 CHF in your account!
- Invest 99% in stocks
Finpension Vested Benefits is a foundation that is managed by finpension AG. They are offering vested benefits accounts in Switzerland. They are highly specialized in pension funds. Indeed, finpension is also managing finpension 1e (previously yourpension), providing second pillar accounts for high-income earners (the extra mandatory part of the second pillar).
finpension vested benefits was founded in 2017 under the name valuepension. In 2021, they rebranded their offer as Finpension Vested Benefits. Now, finpension is managing more than 5 billion CHF in assets.
The story of finpension is fascinating. Many clients at yourpension were delighted with their 1e pension plan. So once they left the company, they wanted to keep their second pillar invested similarly. So, finpension created the finpension vested benefits offer to help these people transfer to the vested benefits account they wanted.
There are two cases when you can use Finpension Vested Benefits. If you leave your job, you can transfer your second pillar to Finpension. If you already have a vested benefits account, you can switch it to Finpension. There is no minimum to get started with Finpension Vested Benefits.
With Finpension, you will access your vested benefits account with the web portal. There is no application to install.
Finpension Vested Benefits is betting on digitalization to minimize costs. All their services are heavily digitized. However, it is essential to note that they are still available for support. So, you profit from the low cost of the solutions, but you can always contact them if you need assistance.
Since I had a few questions, I have spoken with one person at finpension about their vested benefits offer. I had an excellent feeling about the company and its philosophy.
For more information about finpension AG, you can read my interview with CEO Beat Bühlmann.
Investment strategy
Finpension Vested Benefits has a philosophy of low costs and high returns. For this, they have found that the best course of action is to use index funds. That way, they can reduce fees and increase long-term returns. This philosophy is great because it is precisely my philosophy of investing.
So, at Finpension, your vested benefits portfolio would be a collection of index funds. They are offering several possible strategies already made. They range from very conservative with 0% stocks to high risk with 99%. The fact that they allow a substantial allocation to stocks is excellent.
In the past, you were limited to 85% in stocks if you had only one vested benefits account. However, this restriction was lifted in November 2024. So, you really can invest up to 99% in stocks in all cases now!
You may be asking yourself, why index funds and not ETFs? It is a great question, and I asked them the same question. It turns out that pension funds can invest in particular tranches of index funds at significantly reduced costs. They have special conditions that private investors would not have. So, by doing so, they are reducing costs and thus increasing our returns!
Another great thing about their vested benefits system is that it allows a very high level of customization in the portfolio. You can directly choose the index funds you want and change all the allocations. There are a few limits, of course. For instance, you need 1% cash and cannot have more than 50% in real estate. But overall, you have a lot of freedom for your portfolio. This freedom is great. But remember to keep it simple.
Finally, you can change your portfolio at any time. Finpension will apply the changes once a week (on the second banking day of the week).
It is also important to mention that Finpension has two vested benefits foundations. Therefore, you can open two accounts with them. Two accounts will allow you to split your vested benefits money in two when you stop working. You can save a lot on taxes when you withdraw that money.
Vested benefits in cash
As of October 2024, you can keep your vested benefits in cash. In some cases, this can be a great opportunity if you are not sure how long you can keep your portfolio. Finpension directly offers the SNB policy rate, 0.0% (as of September 2025), minus the Finpension management fees. Currently, the rate on Finpension vested benefits cash accounts is -0.49% (as of September 2025). This system is very transparent!
Finpension Vested Benefits Fees
When you invest passively in index funds, fees are the most important. You need to minimize fees as much as possible. So, what fees will you pay with Finpension Vested Benefits?
The great thing about Finpension is that they are transparent with their fees. They have an all-inclusive 0.49% fee. You will see this fee when you are customizing your portfolio. Since January 2023, this includes VAT, so you will only pay 0.49%! This fee is great.
One exception: Some of the funds they use are funds of funds. Finpension Vested Benefits cannot get zero costs for these funds. Therefore, there could be some extra fees depending on your portfolio. For instance, this is the case for their real estate funds. But there is good news: since you can choose your portfolio, you can also avoid these fees. It is possible to do a portfolio without extra fees; with this, you will pay exactly 0.53%.
There is no fee for rebalancing or investing in Finpension Vested Benefits. This absence of a rebalancing fee is excellent, of course.
Now, there are some fees for some operations:
- 400 CHF if you leave Finpension within one year of joining
- 200 CHF for pledging your portfolio
- 500 CHF for withdrawing the money to buy a house
- 500 CHF for withdrawing money while abroad
- 3000 CHF plus 1% of the benefits if you do it within one year of joining
Depending on your situation, you may never have to pay any of these fees. But 500 CHF for withdrawing the money for a house is a high fee. If you plan to buy a house soon, you may not want to move to Finpension. The same goes for relocating abroad. You should never use Finpension Vested Benefits less than one year before withdrawing from abroad, because the fee for that is quite bad.
Overall, Finpension Vested Benefits’ fees are outstanding. There are some cases where you will have to pay extra fees, but overall, this should not happen to most people. I wish the fee for withdrawing the money for a house would be less than 500 CHF.
Opening a vested benefits account at Finpension
We can also look at the process of opening a Finpension account.
Fortunately, it is straightforward to open an account. Just go to the Finpension Vested Benefits website. From there, you can click on Get Started, and they will take you through the entire process. You must find your risk ability, leading you to a portfolio. You can still change the portfolio later if you like.
After this, you will have to fill in the usual information. I do not think I have to guide you through that! Once you complete the form, they will message your phone to authenticate you. And Finpension will directly create your account. The entire process takes less than ten minutes and is entirely digital.
Once your account is created, they will give you a letter to order a funds transfer from an existing second pillar. You can print, fill, and send this letter to Finpension Vested Benefits, and they will take care of the rest.
Overall, opening an account with Finpension is straightforward. It is good that you can open a digital account before receiving funds. That way, you can play with the portfolio and familiarize yourself with the interface before it is fully activated.
Security
If you plan to invest any significant amount of money in Finpension, it is essential to look at security.
First, it is well regulated under Swiss law. But this is the case with every vested benefits account. Something excellent is that your assets are not in the hands of finpension (the mother company) but in the hands of the foundation. If finpension goes bankrupt, your assets are safe from bankruptcy. And then, the foundation will have the job of finding a new place for your assets. It may take some time, but you will recover your assets.
From a technical standpoint, you will log in to your account using the web interface. It is important to note that the application is almost read-only. You cannot transfer money from the application. Even if someone could access your account, hackers could only mess with your portfolio, not with your money.
The web application is encrypted, and you will require a password to go with your account name. Moreover, there is an extra layer of security, a second factor of authentication (2FA).
For the second factor, you can choose between an SMS or a proper code generated with an authenticator app. It is really good they allow both because using a proper authenticator app should be more secure than an SMS (it can be spoofed). Indeed, almost all the platforms in Switzerland use only SMS as a two-factor authentication.
So, the security of Finpension Vested Benefits is excellent! Even though there is not much a hacker could do from your account, the app is well protected! Finpension has good security for your money.
Many people do not realize this, but security is essential for online finances. When much of your money is available from your computer, you must be very careful about your security.
Alternatives
It is always a good idea to compare services with other alternatives. There are few outstanding vested benefits accounts in Switzerland, but we can compare Finpension Vested Benefits with the VIAC Vested Benefits offer, which is quite interesting.
Finpension Vested Benefits vs VIAC
VIAC very recently introduced a vested benefits account. So, we can compare these two accounts. I will not go into too many details since I plan to make a complete comparison later.
The main advantage of Finpension is that they allow 99% in stocks in the entire account. VIAC only allows 99% in the extra-mandatory part.
For some people, there is one significant difference between the two offers: the domicile of the foundation. VIAC is in Basel, and Finpension is in Schwyz. If you are retiring in Switzerland, this will not matter to you. But if you plan to leave Switzerland and withdraw your second pillar, it is essential. The difference is that when you withdraw money from your second pillar account, you will be taxed based on where your assets are managed (only if you leave Switzerland).
And it turns out that Schwyz is the best canton in Switzerland for taxes. They have the lowest second pillar withholding tax in Switzerland. If you work many years and have a large second pillar amount, this can account for more than 10’000 CHF saved (with about 300’000 CHF) compared to Basel. You can read this article to compare different withholding taxes.
From a price perspective, VIAC has a slight advantage. VIAC has a 0.46% total fee, while Finpension Vested Benefits has 0.49%. 0.03% is not a huge difference, but it is still a difference that could be interesting in the long term.
Finpension also offers slightly higher customization. Only Finpension offers two foundations. So, if you want to split your account in two to save on taxes, Finpension has a significant advantage.
Both providers let you keep your vested benefits uninvested if you wish to.
Finpension Vested Benefits offers a better deal than VIAC. For me, the extra 19% invested in stocks is significant enough. The extra customization is also nice. And if you plan to leave Switzerland, Finpension’s domicile may matter to you!
For more information, read my complete comparison of VIAC and Finpension vested benefits.
Finpension Vested Benefits FAQ
Is Finpension Vested Benefits safe?
Account balances are privileged up to 100'000 CHF. On top of that, securities are very well protected because they are separated from Finpension and the bank.
How many Finpension Vested Benefits accounts can I have?
You can have two Finpension Vested Benefits accounts. Indeed, Finpension has two different vested benefits foundation, allowing you to have two accounts.
When does Finpension invest my money?
Finpension invests available money on the second bank working day of each week.
How often does Finpension rebalance your assets?
Once a week, on the second banking day of the week.
What is Finpension Vested Benefits great for?
Finpension Vested Benefits is great if you want to invest your vested benefits. And it is especially great if you want to keep them invested long term.
What is Finpension Vested Benefits not great for?
Finpension Vested Benefits is not great if you are not going to keep your account for a long time.
How much can you invest in stocks with Finpension Vested Benefits?
You can invest up to 99% in stocks with Finpension Vested Benefits.
Finpension Vested Benefits Summary
Finpension Vested Benefits is an excellent vested benefits account with optimized fees and the possibility for very aggressive investing.
Product Brand: Finpension
5
Finpension Vested Benefits Pros
Let's summarize the main advantages of Finpension Vested Benefits:
- You can invest up to 99% in stocks!
- You have very low fees.
- Finpension is using the best fiscal domicile for people withdrawing money abroad.
- Accounts can be opened very easily.
- Good customization of the portfolio.
- You can create two accounts!
- Excellent 2FA support.
Finpension Vested Benefits Cons
Let's summarize the main disadvantages of Finpension Vested Benefits:
- Not entirely straightforward to invest sustainably.
- No interest on cash.
Conclusion
Finpension Vested Benefits is the best account in Switzerland.
Use the FEYKV5 code to get 25 CHF in your account!
- Invest 99% in stocks
Overall, Finpension Vested Benefits offers awesome vested benefits accounts. Finpension is the best vested benefits solution in Switzerland.
They have a significant investment philosophy based on passive investing. Finpension Vested Benefits is making everything possible to reduce costs. You can invest a significant amount in stocks and diversify your portfolio. Moreover, you have tremendous freedom to customize the portfolio.
I wish I had access to vested benefits accounts to invest with Finpension Vested Benefits instead of investing in my second pillar.
And here is excellent news for Switzerland: finpension also offers the best third pillar of Switzerland. Their third pillar uses the same philosophy as their vested benefits and 1e offer. And it comes with a mobile application and a web application. I think it is great to have more options for good third pillars.
If you open a Finpension 3a account, please use my code FEYKV5. This code will give you a fee credit of 25 CHF (if you deposit 1000 CHF in the first 12 months) and will help my blog as well.
If you still have questions regarding Finpension, please let me know in the comments below!
Do you have any experience with Finpension Vested Benefits? What do you think of their vested benefits offer?
More reading
VIAC 3a Review 2026 – Pros & Cons
Read our 2026 review of VIAC, analyze their low fees and investment strategies, and find out if it is the best place for your savings.
What is the best third pillar in Switzerland for 2026?
Save on taxes. We compare the best Third Pillar (3a) accounts in Switzerland for 2026. Find the cheapest and most profitable option for your retirement.
Yuh 3a Review 2026 – Pros & Cons
Yuh 3a. Read our review of the Yuh 3a pillar. We analyze the 0.50% fee, the investment strategy, and how it compares to VIAC and Finpension.
Learn easy ways to optimize your finances and save thousands in Switzerland with our exclusive e-book. Learn about the most cost-effective financial services tailored for savvy residents and expats!
Get Your FREE Swiss Money-Saving Guide
Thanks for the article! Very helpful.
One question, I am doing a sabbatical and planning to move my money to valuepension for a bit more than a year. You mention the fee of 400 CHF if the money is withdrawn within 1 year, is there any fee if I am employed again after 2 years and move the money again to the second pillar pension of the future employer?
Thanks so much for your feedback,
Charlotte
Hi Charlotte,
As long as it’s for more than a year you should be fine according to their fee schedule.
I would encourage you to send them an email to be sure.
Now, you have to be careful about investing in stocks for a short period of time. If you invest heavily in stocks for only one year, this could be risky. For a short amount of time, you may be well off with a cash vested benefits account.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks so much for your efficiency in answering!
One more question, which cash vested benefits account would you suggest? the one on UBS costs 3CHF per month.
Thanks a lot,
Hi Charlotte,
Honestly, I have not researched cash vested benefits account. I would use VIAC since you can go down to 0% invested and I believe it would be free in that case, but you will have to take a look at their conditions to make sure.
Thanks for stopping by!
So which equities do you recommend to avoid the additional fees? It is not that clear in their overview which have additional fees? Similarly which ones have “better than private market rates”?
Hi,
You can use the tool to simulate the portfolio and see the fees. The portfolio I have shown in “Investment Strategy” is one with a minimal amount of fees, it’s a good starting example.
Thanks for stopping by!
“500 CHF if you relocate abroad”
What does this mean? Taken literally it sounds really weird. Is this whenever you move abroad, or only if you take out the money (i.e. when leaving for a non-EU country without planning to come back).
Hi,
I believe you have to pay this if you close your account because you are relocating to a non-EU country indeed. But, it’s not very clear either on their document: https://www.valuepension.ch/customers/foundationdocuments/Fee-Schedule.pdf
Thanks for stopping by!
Hello,
Do you not what the situation is once you become unemployed?
Can you move the money away from your 2 nd pillar and into one of your own choice since you do not have an employer?
Hi Ian,
Everything is explained in the first section of the article.
After you leave a company, you have to move your funds either to a new company’s second pillar fund or to vested benefits account if you do not become employed directly.
Thanks for the article, this is very complete.
However, I was wondering if there is any reason why you haven’t talk about the possibility to split your vested benefits accounts in 2 to benefit from tax saving when it’s time to withdraw your money. Doing it in different fiscal years is not negligible. Therefore, I might consider in my case both solutions Valupension and Viac. What do you think?
Can’t wait to get your comparison btw ValuePension and Viac. Might be also interesting to have the differences of fees for some operations (leave, relocate, pledging, etc.). Do you plan to take it into consideration into your analysis ? If yes, do you already have this information, as I should take my decision in the coming days ?
Thanks and regards
Hi Stéphane,
Yes, there is a reason :)
You can’t do that. It’s a really grey area because, in theory, this is not legal but in practice, this is rarely enforced. So, I won’t advertise this.
You can use this technique for the third pillar (with up to 5 accounts in some states), this is called staggered withdrawals. But this is not the case for second pillar, unfortunately. You are supposed to have only one.
For your second question, yes, I am going to take this into accounts. Overall fees, valuepension is slightly cheaper. As for other fees as you mentioned, VIAC is cheaper because they have no other fees for pledging, leaving, relocating, …
Something else for VIAC that I did not mention now but I found out in my recent research is that you can only invest 80% in stocks in the mandatory portion of your second pillar where you can go all the way to 99% for your entire second pillar. So I would go with valuepension unless you plan to pledge very soon your portfolio or something like this. And VIAC is cheaper if you want a small allocation to stocks (basically if you are close to retirement).
Thanks for stopping by!
Actually, splitting the vested benefits account in 2 is legal and recommended, based on the following article at moneyland: https://www.moneyland.ch/en/vested-benefits-how-many-accounts
I was already aware for the 3rd pillar, but this is new to me for the 2nd pillar.
For the operation fees comparison at Viac, please note that I got some answers this afternoon and only 300.- CHF is taken when you decide to withdraw your money to buy a house. That’s it.
Hi Stéphane,
Apparently, you are right.
The thing that is illegal is not transferring your vested benefits account once you start working again after having a vested benefits account. But it seems indeed completely legal to have up to 2 vested benefits accounts.
Thanks for sharing the information about VIAC :)
interesting. I believe you can have more than 2 vested benefits accounts, if they originate from different employers. So let’s say you get made redundant from 2 different employers, you could in theory split your 2nd pillar into two, 2 times and end up with 4 accounts in total.
There are occasions where this is possible.
Hi Captain,
That’s interesting. I do not know about this. But it does sound possible. Although this would be possible only in very few cases.
Thanks for stopping by!
Do you have any relation with the advertised solution? How does the solution compare with swisscanto or liberty? Cheers
Hi Mister G,
No, I do not have any relationship with valuepension.
I have not done a full review of any of the two solutions you mentioned. After a quick check, it seems that these two solutions are more expensive than valuepension, but there may be other differences.
Thanks for stopping by!
thanks for the great article, I had been emailed by VIAC about there vested benefits account. As I am looking at changing jobs Im really keen to try my luck and move my pillar 2 interest only account to a equity portfolio. Not sure if my new pension provider will chase me or not…
Switzerland has a great system with the 3 pillars, but not being able invest your pillar 2 if your provider doesnt offer it is such an unfortunate loss considering the time horizon.
Hi FrancInvesting,
Even though it is highly unlikely to anything will happen while doing that, I believe this is against the law. Normally, you have to move all your vested benefits once you start with a new pension fund. They will probably not chase you. But I would not do.
Now, I completely agree that the second pillar in Switzerland is really not great unless you have a vested benefits account. I really wish there was more liberty on that side.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for the very good article Mr.PS
I am very interest on it and looking forward for the full comparison with VIAC!
Thanks for the kind words :)
I plan to do a review of VIAC Benefits first, but the comparison should follow shortly.
Hi MrPS, you wrote…”There is one significant difference between the two offers: the domicile of the foundation. VIAC is in Basel, and valuepension is in Schwytz. The difference is that when you withdraw money from your second pillar account, you will be taxed based on the place your assets are managed”.
This is true if you are resident outside CH. If you are CH resident, you pay withdrawal tax based on your Gemeinde, nothing to do with where 2S is located.
Thanks for commenting, Captain!
You are totally right. I generalized a bit too much. I will update the article to make this clear.
Thanks :)
Thanks for the article.
The withholding tax concerns you only if you are not living in Switzerland anymore?
If you are in Switzerland you will still pay your taxes for the 2nd pillar as income where you live and not where the institution is domiciled. Is this correct?
Cheers,
Philippe
Hello Philippe, I just saw your question. See my response below. Captain
Hi Philippe,
You are completely right! I was sidetracked and generalized this advantage too much!
I will update the article to make this more clear.
Thanks for stopping by!