finpension Global 0

No stocks, a flat 0.39% fee and a negative 10-year record. Read this before parking 3a money here.

finpension Global 0 ranks #90 among 122 3a investment funds in our comparison. It holds 99% short- to medium-term Swiss franc bonds and 1% cash, with no stocks and no real estate. It's built for people who want no equity risk at all, but the numbers make it a hard sell next to a good 3a savings account.

Is a 0% Equity Strategy Worth the Fee?

You pay the same flat 0.39% a year, all-in, as on finpension's equity strategies. On CHF 50,000, that's CHF 195 a year, against CHF 385 at the 0.77% average of other 3a funds in our comparison. So it's cheap by fund standards. The problem is what you're buying: short Swiss franc bonds, where the yield is thin and the fee takes a big share of it.

Net of fees, Global 0 is down 1.22% over five years and 5.66% over ten. It's up 4.04% over three years and down 0.88% over the past year. Over ten years, a 3a savings account paying even 0.25% would have done better with no market risk at all. The best 3a savings account in our ranking pays 1.00% today.

What Actually Stands Out

The structure is as clean as the rest of finpension. Your money sits in one fund, the Swisscanto (CH) Index Bond Fund Total Market AAA-BBB 1-5 CHF, which tracks the SBI AAA-BBB 1-5Y index. It's an institutional Swisscanto index fund reserved for pension money, with no stamp duty on purchases and sales. Swisscanto by Zürcher Kantonalbank is the custodian, and there are no custody, transaction or FX fees on top.

Here's the oddity: finpension Global 0 is identical to finpension Switzerland 0. Same single fund (CH1529124245), same 1% cash, identical performance. finpension lists both as separate choices among its 18 ready-made strategies, but picking one or the other makes no difference. Don't spend a minute deciding between them.

What Most Reviews Miss

No stocks doesn't mean no risk. Bond prices move with interest rates, and there's no guaranteed interest here. When rates rise, the bonds you already hold lose value, which is why the five- and ten-year figures are negative. Short maturities soften that effect, but they don't remove it. You can lose money in this strategy, and over ten years you did.

Two more details. The pension-only funds reclaim a large part of the foreign withholding tax on dividends, a real perk in finpension's equity strategies, but it barely applies to Swiss franc bonds. And Global 0 sits in our 3a fund ranking, not with savings accounts, so it's scored on a scale built for growth. Our guide to 3a savings account or 3a fund explains when each makes sense.

The Bottom Line

finpension Global 0 is hard to recommend as a standalone 3a. The best 3a savings accounts pay up to 1.00% with no market risk, while this strategy is negative over five and ten years after fees. Where it fits: a parking spot for one portfolio inside an existing finpension setup, close to withdrawal. If you open an account anyway, code RTEQJB gives a CHF 25 fee credit after you pay in CHF 1,000 within 12 months (enter it at sign-up or within 24 hours).

Verdict: A transparent but weak option for risk-averse savers. Most people who want zero equity are better served by a top 3a savings account.