Insured persons who leave a pension fund (on changing employer) before the occurrence of an insured event (age, death or invalidity) are entitled to receive vested benefits.

The vested benefits are calculated on the basis of the Portable Benefits Act (FZG). This law applies to all pension plans which pay out benefits on old age, death or invalidity. The aim of the Portable Benefits Act is to maintain the pension provision acquired by an insured person.

In terms of minimum coverage the insured person is entitled to the following:

• All savings contributions (contributions paid in by the employer and the employee)
• All deposits from own capital
• All capital deposited by the employer or the foundation
• All interest

Pension fund protection
Your vested benefits must remain in the occupational pension system. We will transfer the balance of your portable retirement funds as follows:

a) to the pension fund of your new future employer as a general rule (Art. 3 FZG);
b) if you are not intending to take up a new position in the foreseeable future (Art. 4 FZG):
- to a bank which will open an account for vested pension benefits for you, or
- to a life insurance company if you prefer to take out a vested pension policy.  

Are you in a position where you do not have a new employer or you are registered in the unemployed insurance system? Then you may be eligible for voluntary insurance at the Substitute Occupational Benefit Institution (BVG) subject to meeting certain criteria.

Exceptions from pension fund protection
You can request a cash payout (payment into your personal account) under Art. 5 FZG in the following cases: 
a) if you leave Switzerland definitively; 
b) if you become self-employed and are no longer subject to mandatory occupational pension provision;
c) if your retirement benefits are less than your annual contribution (employee’s contribution). 

In the case of married persons or persons living in a registered partnership, the spouse or registered partner respectively must give written consent to the payout.

Payout on settlement in another country (EU/EFTA)
The restrictions on cash payouts for those leaving one country to live in another are the most significant clauses of EU legislation in terms of their implications for occupational pension provision. Under EU law, contributions may not be refunded at the end of a mandatory insurance deduction period in one country if the person is still liable for insurance deductions in another EU member state. 

If a person has pension credit entitlements from mandatory and voluntary pension schemes then it is only the benefits from the mandatory scheme which may no longer be drawn in cash. If just one of the above criteria is not met then the whole credit balance may still be drawn in cash when leaving one country to settle in another. 

If a cash payout is not an option then the assets remain in Switzerland in a blocked account (account or policy for vested pension benefits). The assets are paid out to the person on reaching statutory retirement age or five years or less before statutory retirement age. The credit from occupational pension funds is not transferred to the national insurance / social security system in the foreign country.