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Liberty Vested Benefits Review 2026 – Pros & Cons

Baptiste Wicht | Updated: |
Liberty Vested Benefits Review

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)

Liberty is one of the largest vested benefits providers in Switzerland. They are also providing third-pillar accounts. But are they good?

In this review, we go into details about the Liberty vested benefits account, its fees, and its features. We will also compare it against some alternatives. By the end of this review, you will know whether you should use the Liberty vested benefits account for your money.

About Liberty vested benefits
Total Fee 0.68% per year
Maximum portfolios 1
Stock allocation Up to 95%
Maximum foreign exposure 30%
Maximum investment in cash 100%
Investment Strategy Index funds
Fund providers UBS
Languages English, French, German, Italian
Sustainable option Yes
Mobile Application No
Web Application Yes
Custodian Bank Multiple cantonal banks
Established 2001
Foundation’s domicile Schwyz

Liberty vested benefits

Liberty is a large corporation in Switzerland handling multiple pension platforms. They provide multiple pension foundations and even provide infrastructure for other pension providers (white-labeling).

As of 2026, they manage about 6 billion CHF. They are one of the largest traditional pension platforms in Switzerland.

The company itself was created in 2001 in Schwyz. The Liberty vested benefits account itself was created in 2005. It is already a mature product.

While they offer many services, this article will focus on the Liberty vested benefits offer. Vested benefits accounts are accounts where you transfer your second pillar if you stop working before retirement age.

Investing strategy

4/5

Before investing any money in a product, it is essential to know how it will be invested.

Unfortunately, Liberty has the most confusing system I have ever seen. They have eight different strategies available:

  1. Low Risk Invest. This is made to minimize risks by using only safe bonds.
  2. BVG Fund Invest – One. This strategy will invest in a single investment fund and keep 5% in cash.
  3. BVG Fund Invest – Champs. This strategy will invest in 3 investment funds and keep 5% in cash.
  4. BVG Fund Invest – Mix. This strategy will invest in up to 5 investment funds and keep 5% in cash.
  5. Index Fund Invest. This strategy will invest in pure index funds.
  6. Multi Fund Invest – Compare Invest Universe. This strategy allows the user to choose investment funds of other foundations. You need 250,000 CHF in your account to access this strategy.
  7. Multi Fund Invest – Open Invest Universe. This strategy is similar to the previous one, but with a wider choice of funds. You also need 250,000 CHF to access it.
  8. Mandate Invest. This strategy gives you dedicated asset management for your funds. You will need 750,000 CHF in your account to access it.

I find it detrimental to the user to have so many options. But the good news is that there is only one good option: Index Fund Invest. This strategy will invest in index funds and should yield the best average results with the best fees. Index investing has a proven track record.

With this strategy, you cannot directly choose index funds, but you can choose a strategy of funds from Liberty:

  • Selection Index 20
  • Selection Index 35
  • Selection Index 55
  • Selection Index 75
  • Selection Index 95

The number in the strategy is the allocation to stocks. Therefore, you can go up to 95% in stocks, which is really good for vested benefits. It is important to note that to get 95% stocks, you will need to fill out a risk questionnaire. Each of the strategies holds 5% in cash. Then, the amount that is not in stocks is split between bonds and real estate.

Each of the five strategies is also available as an ESG alternative (Selection Index 95 ESG, for instance). ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance and is simply a big word for sustainable investing.

Liberty is transparent with their strategies, and they share which funds are used in each strategy. For instance, we can look at the Selection Index 95 (as of June 2026):

  • 49% in Swiss stocks (UBS Index Fund – Equities Switzerland All ESG NSL A-acc)
  • 16% in world stocks (UBS Investment Fund – Equities Global Passive W)
  • 16% in world stocks hedged to CHF (UBS Index Fund – Equities World ex CH CHF hedged A-acc)
  • 14% in emerging markets stocks (UBS Index Fund – Equities Emerging Markets NSL A-acc)

In my opinion, this portfolio is decent, but not great. For me, it lacks diversification. Having 49% in Swiss stocks is simply too much for a country that represents about 3% of the world stock market. Then having 70% in Swiss francs is probably too much as well, but on this count, many people will be fine with it. 30% foreign currency exposure is relatively standard in Switzerland, but some alternatives can go much higher.

The last thing that irks me is that we are forced into an ESG fund for the Swiss equities. They have ESG alternatives, so why force ESG on almost half the fund? This highly limits our choice.

Overall, the strategy of Liberty vested benefits is okay but could be simpler. And I wish we could have a custom portfolio of index funds without needing 250,000 CHF in our account. I also wish the portfolios would be more diversified.

It is also worth noting that you can keep your entire vested benefits account in cash if you want. In this case, you will currently get a 0.02% interest rate (as of June 2026).

Investing fees

3.5/5

We must now look at the fees.

Since we have established that the best way to invest is to use the Index Fund Invest strategy, we will focus on that one for the fees.

The main fee is the foundation fee of 0.45% per year. This means that you will lose 0.45% of your assets each year. This is a standard fee for Swiss accounts.

The second thing we must consider is something many investors do not look at close enough: the fees for the funds. For instance, if we look at the Selection Index 95 strategy, the total fee is 0.22%. On average, the index funds have a 0.23% fee. This is what we will consider as the average fee for Liberty.

We must also look into the funds to see if there are any hidden fees. Fortunately, it is not bad here. Inside these UBS funds are actually other underlying UBS funds (a fund of funds structure). And these sub-funds are institutional funds. This means we will not lose extra money to dividend withholding. On the other hand, it would have been better if they were directly holding the institutional funds since we would then have lower fees. Additionally, the entry and exit costs of the sub-funds should not apply to Liberty vested benefits.

Pension funds are exempt from stamp duty, so we should not have to pay any with Liberty. We can expect some foreign exchange fees as well, but Liberty does not disclose its premium (likely around 0.50%). But since this only applies to transactions and only 30% will be in foreign currencies, this should not cause much difference.

Overall, we can then expect a total fee of 0.68% for Liberty vested benefits. This is not excellent, but this is a decent fee.

If you choose to keep your account in cash, you will not have to pay any fees.

Other fees

3.5/5

It is also important to look at what other fees can apply in special cases.

If you retire and withdraw your money, you will pay no fees, but if you withdraw the money under special cases, you will pay a fee:

  • If you become self-employed: 250 CHF
  • If you move abroad: 600 CHF
    • You can also pay 1200 CHF and get priority treatment (10 business days instead of 30)
    • If the money was invested for less than 180 days, you will pay the 1200 CHF fee
  • If you withdraw for a house
    • Swiss residents will pay 400 CHF
    • Foreign residents will pay 600 CHF
    • Pledges are free

These fees are not low, but they are standard in the vested benefits industry.

User reviews

4/5

It is generally a good idea to look for reviews of a service before using.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find many reviews of Liberty. There are only 22 reviews on Google Reviews, with an average score of 4.5 stars out of 5. Overall, the reviews are quite enthusiastic. Out of the negative reviews, one complained about the lack of a pension, but this is related to the second pillar, not the vested benefits. A few others are citing the fees as bad. But overall, it is very difficult to draw conclusions based on 22 reviews.

Alternatives

We should also look at some alternatives and compare Liberty vested benefits with them.

Liberty vested benefits vs Finpension vested benefits

Best vested benefits account
Finpension Vested Benefits
5.0
Very affordable

Finpension Vested Benefits is the best account in Switzerland.

Use the FEYKV5 code to get 25 CHF in your account!

Pros:
  • Invest 99% in stocks
Grow your money faster Read my review
By using the code FEYKV5, you will get an extra 25 CHF.

Finpension vested benefits is currently my favorite vested benefits account, so we should compare Liberty and Finpension together.

Finpension only has one strategy based on index funds, while Liberty has multiple strategies. If we compare their respective index fund strategies, one difference is that Finpension uses institutional funds directly while Liberty relies on funds of funds. This makes no difference in efficiency, but means the strategy from Finpension is simpler.

As for fees, Finpension vested benefits cost 0.49% per year. On the other hand, the Liberty vested benefits account costs 0.68% per year, which is significantly more expensive.

Additionally, the Finpension vested benefits product has a few other benefits:

  • Can go up to 99% in stocks (contrary to 95% for Liberty)
  • Can go up to 99% in foreign currency exposure (contrary to 30% for Liberty)
  • Has two foundations
  • Has a mobile application in addition to the web application

The only disadvantage of Finpension is if you want to keep your account in cash. In this case, you will pay the fees of Finpension. On the other hand, this would be free at Liberty.

Overall, the Finpension vested benefits product has many advantages over Liberty, and I would choose them for my vested benefits accounts.

To learn more, you can read our Finpension vested benefits review.

Liberty vested benefits vs Tellco vested benefits

We can also compare Liberty with Tellco, a more traditional vested benefits account.

The Tellco vested benefits account also has multiple investing strategies. But the main strategy of both vested benefits accounts is similar with index funds. One slight difference is that Tellco lets you invest up to 98% in stocks versus 95% for Liberty. You can do custom strategies with Tellco but not with Liberty.

As for fees, the best strategy at Tellco will cost about 0.61%. And this can go up to 1% depending on how you invest. At Liberty, the best you can do is 0.68%, and this can also go up to about 1%. So, Tellco vested benefits can be a bit cheaper, but only if you choose the best option.

Tellco also lets you go up to 60% in foreign currency exposure against only 30% at Liberty.

Overall, these two vested benefits accounts are quite similar, but there are a few advantages for Tellco.

If you want further information, you can read our Tellco vested benefits review.

Liberty vested benefits FAQ

How many Liberty vested benefits accounts can I have?

Liberty only has one vested benefits foundation, so we can only have one account.

What is Liberty vested benefits good for?

Liberty vested benefits is okay if you have an average priced vested benefits account from a large bank.

What is Liberty vested benefits not good for?

Liberty vested benefits is not great if you want the cheapest vested benefits or if you have a high foreign currency allocation.

Liberty vested benefits Summary

3.5/5
Liberty vested benefits

Our honest review of the Liberty vested benefits account. Is this traditional giant worth it, or should you choose a cheaper alternative?

Editor's Rating:
3.5

Liberty vested benefits Pros

Let's summarize the main advantages of Liberty vested benefits:

  • Well-established bank
  • Web application
  • Available in English
  • Free account in cash

Liberty vested benefits Cons

Let's summarize the main disadvantages of Liberty vested benefits:

  • No mobile application
  • Default portfolio has forced ESG funds
  • Low maximum foreign currency exposure
  • Fees are not excellent

Conclusion

Overall, the Liberty vested benefits product is an interesting vested benefits account. I wish it was simpler since it offers many strategies that are too complicated. Also, some of these strategies are limited to high-net-worth individuals. However, it is good that they have a good index fund strategy that should work for most people.

The fees of the service are decent but could be improved. If they were using institutional funds directly instead of funds of funds, the fees would be significantly better.

So, this product is good, but is unfortunately quite a bit off from the best vested benefits accounts available in Switzerland. If you want to check a prime example, you can check out our review of Finpension vested benefits.

What about you? What do you think about Liberty vested benefits?

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Photo of Baptiste Wicht
Baptiste Wicht started The Poor Swiss in 2017. He realized he was falling into the trap of lifestyle inflation. He decided to cut his expenses and increase his income. Since 2019, he has been saving more than 50% of his income every year. He made it a goal to reach Financial Independence and help Swiss people with their finances.
Discover Swiss Financial Secrets That Maximize Your Money!

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!

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