Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
Most allocators keep their manager lineups private. Swiss public pension funds don't. Swiss accounting rules require every Pensionskasse to name its asset managers and custodian in its annual report, which makes Switzerland's public-sector pension funds some of the most transparent allocators in continental Europe.
Dakota's research team read those reports and loaded 525 fund-level holdings across 47 Swiss public pension funds into Dakota Marketplace. UBS Asset Management (with the former Credit Suisse) appears at 28 funds, Swiss Life at 12, the IST investment foundation at 11 and Partners Group at 9.
In this article, we'll break down why Swiss pension funds publish their managers, which investment managers they hire by asset class, which funds disclose the most, and what it all means for investment firms raising capital in Switzerland.
Why Do Swiss Pension Funds Publish Their Managers?
Switzerland's second pillar is a funded occupational system of 1,292 pension funds with a balance sheet of CHF 1,220.6 billion ($1.5 trillion) at the end of 2024, of which 65 public-law funds hold CHF 292 billion ($366 billion), 24% of the total (Federal Statistical Office, Pensionskassenstatistik 2024). Every fund must prepare its accounts under Swiss GAAP FER 26, which is mandatory under article 47 of the ordinance on occupational pensions (BVV 2) and requires the notes to describe the organisation of the investment activity, the investment advisers and managers, the mandates and the custodian; article 48f of the same ordinance restricts who may be appointed. Most public-sector funds go further and publish the vehicle, the balance and the share of assets by category.
That makes the public-sector funds, the Pensionskassen of the Confederation, cantons and cities, the most readable allocators in continental Europe. They are also the ones with room to grow in alternatives: the 2026 Swisscanto pension fund study puts the average fund at 5.3% in alternative investments and 2.0% in infrastructure, against 34.5% in equities and 24.8% in real estate. Dakota's research team read the 2025 annual reports of the funds it tracks and loaded each named position as a holding on the fund's account: the manager, the vehicle, the asset class and, where published, the balance. The result is 525 positions across 47 funds, the first pass of a programme that continues fund by fund.
|
Asset class
|
Holdings
|
Funds holding them
|
Largest sub-strategies
|
|
Private equity and venture
|
131
|
22
|
Fund of funds (50), secondaries (26), middle-market buyout (16), early stage (9), growth (6), co-investment (5)
|
|
Real estate
|
126
|
25
|
Core (65), international (17), core-plus (13), real estate debt (9), fund of funds (7)
|
|
Listed mandates and funds
|
109
|
27
|
Global fixed income (14), global equity (13), emerging markets (10), investment-grade credit (6)
|
|
Infrastructure
|
68
|
21
|
Infrastructure (52), core infrastructure (16)
|
|
Private credit
|
48
|
14
|
Direct lending (20), special situations (8), litigation finance (6)
|
|
Hedge funds and insurance-linked
|
42
|
15
|
Multi-strategy (10), hedge funds (8), insurance-linked securities
|
|
Total
|
525
|
47
|
321 limited partnerships, 103 funds, 31 hedge fund vehicles, 24 closed-end funds, 19 REITs
|
Sources: Dakota Marketplace, 22 October 2026. A holding is one fund's position in one vehicle. Balances are published on 410 rows and are not summed here because they are at different year ends and in different bases.
Which Managers Do Swiss Public Pension Funds Hire?
Measured by the number of funds that hold them, the managers fall into three groups: the Swiss banks and insurers that run listed mandates and real estate foundations, the Swiss investment foundations (Anlagestiftungen) that pool pension money into real estate, infrastructure and private markets, and the global private markets houses.
|
Rank
|
Manager
|
Funds holding it
|
Positions
|
Where it shows up
|
|
1
|
UBS Asset Management (including Credit Suisse)
|
28
|
124
|
Listed mandates and index funds, Swiss and international real estate foundations, infrastructure funds, a few private equity and hedge fund vehicles
|
|
2
|
Swiss Life Asset Managers
|
12
|
17
|
Swiss and European real estate foundations, infrastructure
|
|
3
|
IST Investmentstiftung
|
11
|
19
|
Real estate, infrastructure, private credit and private equity pools for pension funds
|
|
4
|
Partners Group
|
9
|
38
|
Private equity, private credit and infrastructure programmes; 21 positions at Pensionskasse Thurgau alone
|
|
5
|
Swisscanto Asset Management
|
8
|
11
|
Listed funds and real estate
|
|
6
|
AXA Investment Managers
|
7
|
8
|
Private credit, insurance-linked, real estate
|
|
6
|
Avadis Vorsorge
|
7
|
21
|
Private equity and infrastructure pools
|
|
6
|
Zurich Invest
|
7
|
9
|
Real estate and infrastructure foundations
|
|
6
|
Schroders (Schroders Capital)
|
7
|
7
|
Private equity, insurance-linked
|
|
10
|
BlackRock
|
5
|
23
|
Private equity and index funds; 12 positions at Luzerner Pensionskasse
|
|
10
|
LGT Capital Partners
|
5
|
16
|
Private equity programmes; 10 positions at Luzerner Pensionskasse
|
|
10
|
Swisscom Ventures
|
5
|
8
|
Venture capital
|
|
13
|
SFP Group, Neuberger Berman, Energy Infrastructure Partners, AFIAA, J. Safra Sarasin
|
4 each
|
4 to 5
|
Real estate (SFP, AFIAA, Sarasin), private equity (Neuberger Berman), Swiss energy infrastructure (EIP)
|
|
18
|
StepStone, Reichmuth & Co, Brookfield Oaktree, Vontobel, Leadenhall Capital Partners, Patrimonium
|
3 each
|
3 to 6
|
Private credit and private equity (StepStone), infrastructure (Reichmuth, Brookfield), insurance-linked (Leadenhall), real estate (Patrimonium), hedge funds (Vontobel)
|
Sources: Dakota Marketplace, 22 October 2026; manager entities of the same group are combined (UBS Asset Management and Credit Suisse; Schroders entities; LGT Capital Partners entities; Neuberger Berman entities).
Below those sit about 120 managers at one or two funds each, and that long tail is where the global names are: Allianz Global Investors, PGIM, Nuveen, Invesco, Hines, Blackstone, BentallGreenOak, La Caisse, Arcmont, IFM Investors, LaSalle, Pictet, Access Capital Partners, Amundi, M&G, KKR, Angelo Gordon, Monroe Capital, Global Infrastructure Partners, Man Group, SCOR Investment Partners, Twelve and Unigestion among them.
By asset class the leaders change:
- Private equity and venture (131 positions, 22 funds): Partners Group at 7 funds, Swisscom Ventures and Schroders Capital at 5, LGT Capital Partners and BlackRock at 3, then Avadis, Neuberger Berman, UBS and IST at 2. Fund of funds and secondaries dominate, which is how a mid-sized Pensionskasse gets diversified exposure with one line in the annual report.
- Real estate (126 positions, 25 funds): UBS at 14 funds, Swiss Life at 7, Zurich Invest and IST at 5, Avadis and AFIAA at 4, SFP, Swisscanto, J. Safra Sarasin and Patrimonium at 3, PGIM and Nuveen at 2. Swiss real estate foundations first, then international real estate funds.
- Infrastructure (68 positions, 21 funds): UBS at 13, Swiss Life at 5, Energy Infrastructure Partners at 4, Reichmuth, IST and Brookfield Oaktree at 3, Partners Group, Avadis, La Caisse and IFM at 2.
- Private credit (48 positions, 14 funds): AXA Investment Managers and Partners Group at 3, StepStone, Arcmont, IST, UBS, BlueOrchard and PG3 at 2, with Blackstone, KKR, Angelo Gordon and Monroe at one each.
- Hedge funds and insurance-linked (42 positions, 15 funds): UBS, Vontobel and Leadenhall at 3, SCOR, Schroders, GEMS and Man Group at 2. Insurance-linked securities are a Swiss speciality; Leadenhall's four positions at the Bernese teachers' fund are the largest single ILS programme on file.
Want to see which Swiss pension funds hold managers like yours? Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
Which Swiss Public Pension Funds Disclose the Most?
Disclosure varies more than allocation. Some funds publish every vehicle with its balance; others publish only the manager names the law requires. The table lists the funds with the most positions on file and what their reports show.
|
Fund
|
Positions
|
What the report shows
|
Managers that recur
|
|
Luzerner Pensionskasse (LUPK)
|
65
|
Full list of private equity (29), real assets (8) and private credit (7) vehicles with balances
|
BlackRock (12), UBS (10), LGT Capital Partners (10), Avadis, IST, Partners Group
|
|
Pensionskasse Thurgau
|
49
|
Private equity (18), private credit (9) and real assets (7) programmes, mostly one house
|
Partners Group (21), PG3, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, IST
|
|
Caisse Inter-Entreprise de Prévoyance Professionnelle (CIEPP), Geneva
|
35
|
Real estate, international equities and private credit funds
|
UBS (10), Credit Suisse, Zurich Invest, Swisscom Ventures, Fidelity, BlackRock
|
|
Istituto di previdenza del Cantone Ticino (IPCT)
|
28
|
Real estate heavy (21 positions)
|
UBS (10), Swiss Life, Credit Suisse, Helvetia, Swisscanto, Patrimonium
|
|
Aargauische Pensionskasse (APK)
|
21
|
Hedge funds (9), real assets, real estate
|
UBS, Global Infrastructure Partners, Man Group, IST, Zurich Invest
|
|
compenswiss (AHV/IV/EO compensation funds)
|
21
|
International real estate (11) and private credit (9) funds
|
Hines, MetLife, Monroe Capital, Walton Street, Tristan, PGIM
|
|
Stiftung Auffangeinrichtung BVG
|
19
|
Fixed income and credit mandates
|
Pictet Asset Management (15), IST, Avadis
|
|
St. Galler Pensionskasse (sgpk)
|
18
|
Global fixed income, real assets, private credit
|
UBS (11), Credit Suisse, Swisscom Ventures, Energy Infrastructure Partners, BlueBay, Arcmont
|
|
Pensionskasse Graubünden
|
17
|
Real assets (9), real estate
|
UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss Life, IFM Investors, Brookfield Oaktree, Swisscanto
|
|
Basellandschaftliche Pensionskasse (BLPK)
|
15
|
Real estate (11) and private equity
|
UBS, Prologis, Mesirow, Avadis, Northern Horizon, ISPT
|
|
PUBLICA (federal pension fund)
|
15
|
Foreign real estate funds only; listed assets run under mandates not itemised
|
LaSalle, BentallGreenOak, Dexus, DWS, PGIM, AEW
|
|
Pensionskasse der Stadt Bern (PVK), Pensionskasse Stadt Luzern, Caisse de prévoyance de l'Etat de Fribourg
|
12 each
|
Real estate, private equity, infrastructure
|
UBS, Energy Infrastructure Partners, SWEN, Partners Group, Vontobel, IST, Swisscanto, La Caisse, Schroders
|
Sources: fund annual reports 2025; Dakota Marketplace, 22 October 2026. Collective foundations typed as public pension funds in Marketplace (Auffangeinrichtung, Livica, Avadis, Proparis) are included where they hold positions; corporate funds such as Schindler, Swiss Re and PKG are on separate accounts.
Nineteen of the 66 public pension accounts in Dakota Marketplace have no positions on file yet, including the two largest, BVK (canton of Zurich) and the City of Zurich fund, whose reports name managers by category rather than vehicle. Those are the next reports to be read, and the holdings for them are coming soon.
What This Means for Investment Firms Raising Capital in Switzerland
Three conclusions follow from the data. First, the entry point for a foreign manager is usually a programme, not a direct mandate: Partners Group, LGT, BlackRock, StepStone, Neuberger Berman and Schroders Capital hold most of the private equity and credit positions through funds of funds, secondaries and multi-manager vehicles, and the investment foundations (IST, Avadis, AFIAA, Zurich Invest, Swiss Life) do the same for real estate and infrastructure. A manager that wants Swiss public pension money in its fund can be selected by one of those programmes long before it meets a pension committee.
Second, the direct buyers are identifiable. Luzerner Pensionskasse, Thurgau, CIEPP, Ticino, St Gallen, Graubünden, compenswiss and the Bernese funds publish the vehicles they hold and, in most cases, the balances, so a manager can see which vintages of which competitors are on the books and where a strategy gap sits. compenswiss's international real estate and private credit programme, run through US managers, is the clearest example of a Swiss public institution buying global strategies directly.
Third, disclosure is the diligence. The same annual report that names the manager states the fund's investment regulations, its strategic allocation and its investment committee. Dakota Marketplace puts the holdings and the contacts on one account: 66 public pension accounts, 374 contacts and 525 holdings, read from the funds' own documents and refreshed as the next reports are published.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Swiss pension funds have to disclose their asset managers?
Yes. Swiss GAAP FER 26, mandatory for pension fund accounts under article 47 of the ordinance on occupational pensions (BVV 2), requires the notes to name the investment advisers and managers, the mandates and the custodian, and article 48f restricts who may be appointed. Public-sector funds generally go further and publish the vehicles and balances by asset class.
Which asset manager has the most Swiss public pension clients?
UBS Asset Management, including the former Credit Suisse business, appears at 28 of the 47 Swiss public pension funds with holdings in Dakota Marketplace, across listed mandates, real estate foundations and infrastructure. Swiss Life Asset Managers (12), the IST investment foundation (11) and Partners Group (9) follow.
Which private equity managers do Swiss pension funds use?
Partners Group is held by 7 of the 22 funds with private equity positions on file, Swisscom Ventures and Schroders Capital by 5, LGT Capital Partners and BlackRock by 3. Fund of funds (50 positions) and secondaries (26) are the most common vehicles.
What is an Anlagestiftung?
A Swiss investment foundation, a tax-exempt pooled vehicle that only pension funds and similar institutions may invest in. IST, Avadis, AFIAA, Swiss Life, Zurich Invest, UBS and Swisscanto run the largest, and they are the main route through which Swiss pension money reaches real estate, infrastructure and private markets.
How much is in the Swiss pension system?
1,292 occupational pension funds held CHF 1,220.6 billion ($1.5 trillion) at the end of 2024 (Federal Statistical Office), and the Occupational Pension Supervisory Commission's 2025 report counted CHF 1,352 billion ($1.7 trillion) across 1,257 funds a year later. The 65 public-law funds hold about a quarter of it, and the funds of the Confederation, cantons and cities are among the largest individual institutions.
How many Swiss institutional investors are in Dakota Marketplace?
955 Swiss allocator accounts as of 22 October 2026, including 66 public pension funds, 33 corporate pension funds, 324 family offices and 353 wealth managers, with 4,500+ contacts and 525 holdings on the public pension accounts.
Ready to See Which Swiss Funds Hold Your Competitors?
Dakota Marketplace holds 955 Swiss allocator accounts, including 66 public pension funds with 374 contacts and 525 fund-level holdings naming 142 managers, read from the funds' own annual reports. You can filter by:
- Fund, to read a Pensionskasse's whole external programme before a meeting
- Manager, to see which Swiss funds hold a competitor's vehicles
- Asset class and vehicle, from real estate foundations to secondaries and insurance-linked securities
- Canton and city, to plan Zurich, Bern, Geneva, Lucerne and Ticino visits
If Swiss pension money is in your plan, the reports tell you who got there first; the account tells you who decides. A trial goes further than this article: the contacts, the investment regulations on file and the full holdings list for every fund are on the record.
Book a Demo to see Swiss pension holdings fund by fund.
Related reading: Top 10 Family Offices in Switzerland · Top 10 Largest Pension Funds in Europe · Top 10 European Cities for Fundraising
