What is currently the best A3 pension provider in Switzerland? I see Generali on their website show you can almost have 40% more on your account with them. ( https://3a.generali.ch/en-gb/customer/public ) Is this true? Any catch and any pros that know what the actual best A3 account is today?
Best as is in:
Saves up most money, saves most tax, gives more freedom to withdraw money, etc.

3a, not A3 All 3a accounts save the same tax.


The best is most likely still VIAG.

Its VIAC not VIAG
https://viac.ch/

1) The best investment option is VIAC - with a 97% share in equities allowed

2) They all save the same tax

3) All non-insurance options should have the same freedom to withdraw.

Especially as an Expat, I would definitely not recommend investing in an insurance product such as Generali.

I also suggest VIAC as much equities as possible. I find insurance 3a products a bit obscure, for an expat the likelihood of emigrating and wanting to take your capital out is too high to justify going with insurance, you really risk losing money if you end the contract.
Another one now available is Frankly which should have 95% equities and initially looks less expensive however it has enter and exit fees totaling 0.19% therefore it needs >2 years to become less expensive than VIAC. Haven't tried it yet.

Another VIAC customer here.

Cheapest investment 3a I've found.

I did that (Insurance in 2017) and yes, today i would put everything in Pillar 3A

The headline fee is cheaper yes, but look a bit deeper .... Frankly is a very poor product.

1) Its hedged, which will cost you in the long term.

2) They don't tell you what they are investing in. This is the fund the 95% equities Frankly product is invested in https://products.swisscanto.com/prod...t/CH0512157782.

From the Key investor information:

"At least 51% of the fund's assets are invested indirectly via target funds based on the fund-of-funds principle".

I read that as there being hidden costs (the fund charges of these second layer funds) that will come out of performance. No thank you. What are these funds, what are their fees (as they are Swiss i'm guessing they are high)? How could you possibly invest without knowing this... Its literally a blank cheque to buy an unknown product.

Generally there is not enough transparency for me, and I don't like it when people try to pull the wool over my eyes.

VIAC over Frankly. Easily. I know im invested 60% in the NASDAQ and SP500, then the rest in Swiss indexes- which I understand. I have no idea what id be in with Frankly.

Don't treat it as 0.51% vs 0.47%. If you do I'm pretty certain you'll be Switzerlanded. Its a trap!

Be carful when you say that. There is also life insurance Pillar 3a.
The question is: Life insurance based pillar 3a (no flexibility, huge comission, and high fees when you need the money earlier ) OR bank account based pillar 3a OR securities account 3a OR single fund 3a.

Note: Insurances might also of pillar 3a products which is very like a bank account, and banks might offer pillar 3a products which is like a life insurance. Read and understand the fine prints and how much money you can get back in which situation including early death, moving abroad, and using the money to finance real estate.

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What?

As a general note. Unless you are in a high tax canton or are buying a house / retiring / leaving CH soon i'd seriously consider forgoing 3a in favour of regular investing.

Yes I had my doubts after I read your or someone else's post elsewhere. The fees will probably not be less in the end. I was not convinced performance would be less but it is true that hedging will hurt in the long term and I am not able to quantify this cost at all. As I understand in a 3a with a long-term investment horizon currency exchange should not be a concern. I think I will put 100 CHF into it just to see how it compares to VIAC and reconsider in a couple of years.