1e pension plan comparison: executive pension solutions at a glance

A 1e plan is occupational pension provision for salary components above CHF 136’080 (as of 2026) in a separate foundation. Unlike in the pension fund, you choose the investment strategy for these assets yourself, from at most ten strategies that your employer defines with the foundation. The return is yours, and so is the risk of loss. The name comes from Article 1e of the Ordinance on Occupational Retirement, Survivors’ and Disability Pension Plans (BVV 2).

Bel étage is the older term for executive pension provision above the mandatory BVG minimum, named after the grand floor of a house. Today it usually refers to 1e plans. Strictly speaking, bel étage covers any extra-mandatory executive solution, including those with a single strategy set by the foundation. Only 1e plans offer a free choice of strategy.

Employees with an annual salary above CHF 136’080, provided the employer offers a 1e plan. The employer can restrict the group of insured members by objective criteria such as function, salary or hierarchy level. Self-employed people with or without staff can join as well; some foundations in the comparison specialise in them.

Evaluno counts 14 collective foundations running 1e plans for third-party companies, plus the Helvetia solution on the Liberty foundation. Other brands such as cantonal banks or private banks distribute 1e via one of these foundations. The market is consolidating: according to PwC, the four largest providers account for around two thirds of the assets in collective foundations, and small foundations are merging, as GEMINI 1e did into the finpension 1e Sammelstiftung in 2025.

Four cost blocks: the risk premium for death and disability (quoted), administration costs per person (CHF 100 to 500 per year where regulations are published), the asset management costs of the investments (0.14 % to 1.00 % per year depending on the foundation according to PwC, fund costs included) and, at a few foundations, a foundation fee on the assets. Percentage costs weigh heaviest in the long run because they grow with the balance. That is why the investment costs appear on every card in the comparison, where the provider publishes them.

• Your own investment strategy: You choose the equity share to match your investment horizon and risk capacity, up to 100 % at some foundations.
• No redistribution: The return of your strategy lands in your account, not in the collective. There are no restructuring contributions.
• Taxes: Contributions and buy-ins are deductible, and the buy-in potential is often six figures because of the high insured salary.
• For the employer: Reduces pension liabilities on the balance sheet under IFRS or US GAAP, no underfunding possible, an argument when recruiting executives.

There is no minimum interest rate and no capital guarantee. If the market falls shortly before your retirement or job change, you take the lower value with you. Anyone who does not regularly adjust the strategy to their life situation carries unnecessary risk. And unlike in the base plan, 1e assets are not covered by the BVG Guarantee Fund if the foundation becomes insolvent; it only guarantees benefits up to one and a half times the upper limit amount.

You take the actual value of your assets with you, and since the 2017 change in the law even if it is below the contributions paid in. If the new employer does not offer a 1e plan, the money goes to a vested benefits account or a vested benefits investment. Several foundations in the comparison run their own vested benefits foundation in which you continue the same strategy without selling. The “Vested benefits solution” field in the details shows you who offers this.

As a lump sum. 1e foundations generally do not pay pensions because they do not carry longevity risk. The capital is taxed separately from other income at a reduced rate. Anyone who wants a lifelong pension needs the base plan or a separate insurance for that.

Yes. Early withdrawal and pledging for owner-occupied residential property work as in the pension fund, with the same limits: from age 50, the early withdrawal is limited to the assets at age 50 or half of the current assets, whichever is higher.

Only to a limited extent. Since 1 January 2026, according to the directive of the Occupational Pension Supervisory Commission, only assets that demonstrably stem from salary components above CHF 136’080 may be transferred. Your previous pension fund has to provide the proof. In practice, a new 1e plan therefore usually starts with the ongoing contributions and buy-ins.

The order of the costs: first compare the risk premium across several quotes, then administration costs per person and foundation fee, and finally the fund costs of the strategies offered. Plus the soft factors: is there an account solution as a low-risk strategy, an online portal for insured members and HR, a vested benefits solution on departure, and does the foundation fit the company size. Independent advice pays off, because some costs are hidden in foundation fees or asset management costs.