finpension Sustainable 20

No extra cost for sustainability, but negative over five years. So finpension Sustainable 20 needs a specific job.

finpension Sustainable 20 ranks #76 among 122 3a investment funds in our comparison, with results close to its Global twin. It holds 20% stocks, 70% bonds, 9% real estate and 1% cash, mostly in Swisscanto's Responsible index funds. It's aimed at cautious savers close to withdrawal, and at this risk level the flat fee weighs heavily.

Does Sustainable Cost More Here?

No, and that's the good news. Sustainable 20 costs the same flat 0.39% a year, all-in, as Global 20. Many sustainable 3a funds elsewhere charge 1.2% to 1.6%, such as UBS Vitainvest Sustainable or the nachhaltig funds of Bank Cler and BKB. The bad news: at low equity, VIAC Global 20 costs 0.22%. On CHF 50,000, that's CHF 195 here versus CHF 110 at VIAC, so CHF 85 more each year.

Net of fees, Sustainable 20 is up 1.03% over one year and 11.95% over three, but down 6.19% over five years. finpension Global 20 shows +1.09%, +12.87% and -5.73% over the same periods. So the sustainable version trailed slightly, by less than one percentage point in every window, with identical fees.

What Actually Stands Out

The structure is the usual finpension setup: institutional Swisscanto index funds reserved for pension money, which reclaim a large part of the foreign withholding tax on dividends and pay no stamp duty on purchases and sales. Swisscanto by Zürcher Kantonalbank is the custodian. There are no custody, transaction or FX fees hiding behind the 0.39% headline.

The real use case is as a building block. finpension lets you run up to five 3a portfolios, each with its own strategy. Close to retirement, you can shift one portfolio into Sustainable 20 while the others stay more growth-oriented, then withdraw them in different years. Our guide to holding several 3a accounts explains why staggering withdrawals is worth the effort.

What Most Reviews Miss

It's not 100% Responsible funds. The stocks, the Corp. World bonds and the Swiss franc bonds use Responsible versions, about 69% of the portfolio. But the World ex CHF government bonds (14%), the emerging market hard currency bonds (7%) and the real estate funds (9%) are the same non-Responsible funds as in Global 20. That's roughly 30% of your money without the sustainability label.

And 70% bonds didn't make this a smooth ride. The five-year window includes the bond sell-off when interest rates rose in 2022, which is why the result is still negative. If you want capital that doesn't fluctuate, a 3a savings account does that without market risk. With 10+ years to go, holding this little equity likely costs you growth.

The Bottom Line

finpension Sustainable 20 is the cheapest way at finpension to pair a low-risk mix with a sustainability focus, but it isn't the cheapest conservative 3a overall. frankly Gentle 25 Responsible costs 0.48% and is up 9.01% over five years with slightly more equity. Our sustainable 3a funds guide lines up the alternatives. If you go with finpension, 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 sensible de-risking slice for sustainability-minded finpension clients near withdrawal. Cost-focused conservative savers can do better elsewhere.