31 Mar Covid 2020 31.3.2020

Posted at 12:24h in Blog, Blog E by

Information on the Covid-19 pandemic

On 20 March 2020, the Federal Council decided on a comprehensive package of measures to cushion the economic consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

We are pleased to inform you about the most important points, which affect the pension fund business in particular.

Organisation

Avanea has also adapted to the extraordinary situation. We have switched to a home office, whereby the office in Wädenswil is occupied by one person during business hours. The day-to-day business and in particular the monthly pension payments are thus ensured at all times. Offers are processed promptly as usual.

Pension contributions

The short-time work has no effect on the extent of the pension contributions.

  • The employer is still obliged to pay the full pension contributions to the pension fund.
  • The employer is entitled to deduct the full contributions from the employee's salary.

As long as the employer’s obligation to continue to pay the salary according to Art. 324a CO exists, there is no adjustment of the insured salary in the occupational benefit scheme.

In principle, pension law does not provide for the possibility of deferring pension contributions.

Avanea deals with this extraordinary crisis situation as follows:

  • Affiliated employers who have been severely affected financially by the Corona crisis can submit a request for a deferral of contribution payments. Avanea will draw up a payment agreement/acceptance of debt and subsequently submit it to the employer or have it signed by the employer.
  • We waive any processing costs and do not charge any interest on arrears.
  • The employer undertakes to adhere to these payment modalities even in this special situation, or to report any problems to Avanea immediately.

Business transactions requiring approval and general legal transactions

In the current situation, legal transactions requiring approval, such as cash payment of termination benefits, lump-sum withdrawals, advance withdrawals for capital accumulation, etc., are at risk because the certification counters in many places are closed until further notice.

The certification orders must be submitted by post, which may lead to time bottlenecks.

We ask insured persons to contact us by telephone in advance in order to clarify the specific situation and its urgency.

Temporary use of employer contribution reserves

In recent days, the Federal Council has decided that employers may temporarily use any “employer contribution reserves” that may be available to pay employee contributions.

This measure is intended to make it easier for employers to bridge liquidity bottlenecks.

This measure has no impact on employees.

Financial Situation

Unfortunately, Avanea has not been spared from the losses on the international financial markets. We are constantly monitoring the situation and have taken the necessary measures to be able to guarantee pension benefits and generally sufficient liquidity at all times.

Currently (31.3.2020), the performance of investment model 30 is around -12.5% and around -8% for investment model 20. Avanea continues to be in a solid position due to the very good investment results in recent years.

The most important thing in conclusion

We are always available to answer your questions and concerns.
You can reach us by e-mail: info@avanea.ch.

Good health.
Your Avanea Team