PUBLICA’s total assets rose by 6.6% in 2025. The figures were 6.7% for the open pension plans, and 4.2% for the closed pension plan.
Measured according to the UBS pension fund index, PUBLICA’s portfolio outperformed other pension funds by 0.8 percentage points. At the end of 2025, the consolidated funded ratio across all the open pension plans stood at 107.8%.
Equities had the biggest positive impact on PUBLICA’s consolidated total assets in 2025. With an annual return of 13.5%, they contributed 4.1 percentage points to the overall performance. Equities Switzerland, with 18.5%, and equities emerging markets, at 15.75%, were slightly above average. Equities North America returned just 5.1%.
Thanks to a price increase of 48.1%, gold made a disproportionately large contribution to the positive overall result, accounting for 1.6 percentage points.
Real estate contributed a total of 0.4 percentage points. Swiss real estate once again made a significant positive contribution, thanks to falling interest rates and robust income. Foreign real estate posted a slightly negative performance, and thus added nothing to the overall figure.
Fixed income accounted for 0.5 percentage points of the performance total. Swiss bonds recorded a return of 0.05%, while bonds ex Switzerland performed slightly better, returning 0.84%.
One significant factor was the US dollar’s 13% depreciation against the Swiss franc. PUBLICA was able to absorb most of this thanks to its currency hedging strategy.
In 2025, PUBLICA’s asset management expenses, as measured by the Total Expense Ratio (TER), stood at 0.24% as against 0.21% in the previous year. The slight, 0.03 percentage point rise is attributable to an increased exposure to private market investments. Asset management expenses are low when measured against comparable pension funds in Switzerland and abroad.
Infrastructure investments: partnership established
In 2022, PUBLICA added a new asset class: private infrastructure equities, with a target allocation of 3%. This is being built up partly via three globally diversified infrastructure funds, and partly in close collaboration with other pension funds. To this end, PUBLICA has entered into a partnership with three other Swiss pension funds under which it invests directly in high-value infrastructure facilities together with the Dutch pension fund asset manager APG.
Real estate Switzerland: portfolio expanded
PUBLICA directly holds a portfolio of real estate in Switzerland, which it expanded in 2025. At the end of the year, the portfolio’s gross market value exceeded CHF 4 billion for the first time.
PUBLICA’s properties are managed by outside companies. From 1 January 2027, it will streamline these activities by focusing them on one firm as opposed to six at present. The new partner, Wincasa, operates throughout Switzerland and was chosen in a multi-stage selection process.
Responsible investment: approaches maintained
PUBLICA has a duty to invest the pension assets of its active members diligently and in line with its fiduciary responsibility. That also means taking account of ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria. In 2025, PUBLICA
- continued its dialogue with companies
- systematically exercised its voting rights
- applied responsible investment to its real estate portfolio
PUBLICA once again initiated the scheduled revision of its strategic asset allocation. It aims to submit the new allocations to the Board of Directors for approval in mid-2026.
This news item is being published before the audit is completed and has not yet been confirmed by the pension actuary.
