Swiss pension funds delivered an average return of 0.66% after fees in August, with results ranging from -0.04% to 3.17% across individual funds, according to a UBS study released Tuesday.
Year-to-date, the sector posted a cumulative return of 4.88%, while annualized returns since the UBS Pensionskassen Performance benchmark launched in 2006 stand at 3.44%.
Small pension funds with under 300 million francs in assets under management outperformed their larger peers slightly, returning 0.62% in August versus 0.61% for funds exceeding 1 billion francs.
Among asset classes, global equities were the top performer in August, gaining 2.55% in franc terms. Private equity returned 0.57%, hedge funds 0.56%, and infrastructure investments 0.55%. Foreign-currency bonds rose 0.22%, direct real estate 0.18%, and Swiss-franc bonds 0.12%. Swiss equities lagged, falling 0.13%, while indirect real estate added just 0.07%.
UBS attributed the strong equity performance to robust corporate earnings in the second quarter and sustained demand for AI-related infrastructure. Both the MSCI AC World Index and the S&P 500 climbed roughly 2.5% in franc terms.
Bond markets showed mixed results. Long-dated government bond yields rose to multi-year highs in the US, Japan and much of Europe, driven by persistent inflation concerns and growing fiscal tensions. US Treasuries and US investment-grade corporate bonds posted modest gains, while European government and corporate bonds in local currency weakened under pressure from higher energy prices and inflation worries.
UBS’s Chief Investment Office maintained an attractive outlook for global equities but revised its interest-rate forecast. The CIO now expects the Federal Reserve to raise rates twice in 2026 — by 25 basis points each in September and December — citing restrictive language from Fed officials, rising inflation risks from supply bottlenecks and strong August employment data.
