Key parameters for investment policy

The Ordinance on Occupational Retirement, Survivors’ and Invalidity Pension Plans (BVV 2) specifies which asset investments are permitted. Under the terms of the Ordinance, asset investments must be demonstrably secure; risk must be diversified and there must be sufficient yield and liquidity. In common with all other pension funds, the IntegralStiftung must thus to follow investment policies which allow it to comply with its obligations at all times.

The IntegralStiftung’s successful investments are based on two investment strategies – “Pool 60-plus” and “Pool 25-plus”. The difference lies in the percentage of non-cash assets – for Pool 60-plus this percentage is, in principle, 60% of investment assets; for Pool 25-plus in principle 25%. Both pools are managed separately from each other as a matter of principle.
The objective for both pools is to achieve conversion and interest rates which exceed the legal minimums. It is logical that each pool’s benefits will differ because the expected returns and actual annual performance are not the same.
When a company decides to become an IntegralStiftung affiliate, it will join either the Pool 60-plus or the Pool 25-plus fund. The choice of pool is made by the company’s pension fund commission and applies to the entire affiliation. In other words, all the company’s insured persons are members of the same pool. In addition to this, the choice of pool applies to all pension plans which are set up.

Financial market fluctuations, in particular stock exchange trading, have a far greater impact on shares than on bonds. The higher the percentage which shares make up of investment assets, the greater the fluctuation in a pension fund’s coverage is.
Slightly higher variations in the coverage ratio must therefore be expected for the Pool 60-plus fund. In contrast, the Pool 25-plus fund can be assumed to have a “more stable” coverage ratio. In turn, where the percentage of shares is higher, for example in the case of the Pool 60-plus fund, higher returns can be expected and thus also higher benefits.