The Swiss investment foundation: purpose, bodies and supervision
Investment foundations pool pension assets into investment groups and are supervised directly by the federal oversight commission. What the law says about purpose, bodies and assets.
The investment foundation is named often in conversations about institutional assets and explained rarely. Yet the law describes it precisely: a foundation under the Civil Code that is subject to a separate regime and supervised by its own authority.
Understanding its structure also explains why it is open to pension institutions and not to other assets.
The short version
- The legal basis is Art. 53g para. 1 BVG: foundations under Art. 80 to 89a CC may be established for the joint investment and management of pension assets.
- The supreme body is the investors’ meeting, not the foundation board (Art. 53h para. 1 BVG).
- The assets divide into base assets and investment assets; the investment assets form one or more investment groups (Art. 53i BVG).
- Supervision lies directly with the Occupational Pension Supervisory Commission (Art. 64a para. 2 BVG), not with the cantonal authority.
What an investment foundation is in law
Art. 53g para. 1 BVG allows foundations under Articles 80 to 89a CC to be established for the joint investment and management of pension assets. The investment foundation is therefore not a legal form of its own, but a Civil Code foundation with a particular purpose.
Paragraph 2 of the same article places it: investment foundations are institutions serving occupational benefits and are subject to the BVG. Where the BVG and its implementing provisions contain no rule applicable to the investment foundation, the general provisions apply subsidiarily. That order is the point: pension law first, foundation law behind it.
The bodies, and why the order surprises
Art. 53h para. 1 BVG designates the investors’ meeting as the supreme body. This departs from the expectation many bring from classical foundation law, where the foundation board sits at the top.
Under para. 2 the foundation board is the managing body. It may delegate management to third parties, with one exception: tasks directly connected with the supreme direction of the foundation remain with it. Under para. 3 the investors’ meeting issues the provisions on organisation, administration and control.
For a pension institution as investor this has a practical consequence: it sits in the body that sets the rules, not merely on the client side of a product.
Base assets and investment assets
Art. 53i para. 1 BVG separates total assets into base assets and investment assets. The investors’ meeting issues the provisions on their investment; the articles may assign that power to the foundation board.
Under para. 2 the investment assets consist of the funds contributed by investors for the purpose of joint investment. They form one investment group or are divided into several. The investment group is therefore the actual investment unit, comparable to a sub-fund, and the place where a pension institution maps its allocation.
Who may invest
The circle of investors is set not by the statute itself but by the Federal Council. Art. 53k BVG delegates to it, in letter a, the provisions on the circle of investors, alongside base assets, establishment and dissolution, investment and accounting, and investor rights.
This delegation explains why the access question is answered in the ordinance rather than in the statute, and why it can change without amending the BVG.
Supervision does not sit with the cantonal authority
Art. 64a para. 2 BVG names investment foundations expressly, alongside the guarantee fund and the substitute institution, as bodies supervised by the Occupational Pension Supervisory Commission. Paragraph 1 of the same article describes its other role, the supervision of the supervisory authorities.
The pension institution itself, by contrast, is subject under Art. 61 para. 1 BVG to the cantonal authority which the cantons designate for institutions domiciled in their territory. Investor and vehicle are therefore supervised by different bodies.
The commission’s competence has existed since 1 January 2012; it was introduced with the structural reform.
What the tax exemption rests on
Art. 56 DBG exempts, in letter e, occupational benefit institutions of undertakings with residence, seat or permanent establishment in Switzerland and of undertakings closely related to them, provided the institution’s funds serve staff benefits permanently and exclusively.
The condition lies in the binding of the funds. Assessing the structure therefore means asking not only about the legal form but whether the funds remain permanently and exclusively dedicated to the benefit purpose.
Further reading: Alternative investments in the second pillar: opportunities and limits
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Last reviewed: August 2026. Sources: BVG (SR 831.40) Art. 53g, 53h, 53i, 53k, 61 and 64a; CC (SR 210) Art. 80 to 89a; DBG (SR 642.11) Art. 56.
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer to buy or sell financial instruments. Everon AG is a wealth manager licensed by FINMA under FinIA. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.
