The company findependent has launched its own pillar 3a solution, according to an article by Fintechnews Switzerland published on 19 October 2026. The product is charged at 0.29% a year in management fees, a rate which, according to the company, already includes the fund fees. To achieve this, findependent set up its own pension foundation rather than relying on an existing collective foundation.

A 3rd pillar at 0.29% a year, fund fees included

The headline figure is 0.29% in annual management fees. According to the company, this rate is lower than the range of 0.39% to 0.45% charged by established digital 3a providers. The source does not name these providers and does not specify either the date or the method of this comparison: it is therefore a comparison presented by findependent, not an independent survey.

By way of illustration (our own calculation, based solely on the announced rates), the gap ranges from 0.10 to 0.16 percentage points a year. On assets of 10,000 francs, this corresponds to 29 francs in annual fees at findependent, compared with 39 to 45 francs for the quoted range. This simplified calculation assumes stable assets over the year and takes no account of any other difference between the offers, in particular the return, which is not known in advance.

What pillar 3a fees cover, and what is not specified

According to the company's statements reported by Fintechnews Switzerland, several items are not added on top of the 0.29%:

  • fund fees, included in the announced rate;
  • currency exchange fees: all funds are denominated in Swiss francs, so there is no currency conversion surcharge;
  • stamp duty and stock exchange fees, which clients do not pay, according to the company.

Other points are not specified in the source: whether there are any fees for transferring 3a assets from another provider or for withdrawing them, how the 0.29% is split between management, funds and the foundation, or how the competitors' range was established. These details are, in principle, set out in each provider's contractual documentation.

An in-house pension foundation

Instead of depending on an existing collective foundation, findependent has set up the findependent 3a Vorsorgestiftung. According to the company, this gives it full control over product design, pricing and the customer experience. Matthias Bryner, founder and CEO of findependent, explains that this foundation of its own makes it possible to offer the 3a solutions at a low price.

This is the central argument of the announcement: by doing without a third-party foundation, the company says it can cut the bill. This is the explanation given by findependent; the source does not publish any figures on the running costs of this foundation.

Investments in Swisscanto index funds

As with its existing offering, findependent offers five predefined investment solutions. The equity share ranges from 20% to 99%, and each solution is available with a Standard, Switzerland or Global focus. Clients can also put together their own solution. The minimum investment amount is 1 franc.

The solutions are implemented with index funds from Swisscanto, the fund provider of Zürcher Kantonalbank. Where available, findependent uses IPF index funds. These funds are only accessible to pension institutions and, according to the company, are exempt from foreign withholding taxes. The source does not quantify the effect of this exemption on returns.

A high equity share generally comes with larger swings in value. The choice of solution depends on each person's situation, and this article does not constitute investment advice.

A digital 3a in the same app

More than 30,000 clients already use the findependent app to invest outside the pension system, according to the company. New and existing clients alike can now open a 3a account there, and thus manage both types of investment with a single provider.

Matthias Bryner says findependent is aiming for 20,000 3a clients by the end of 2027. This is a company target, not a result: the source does not give the number of 3a accounts opened to date.

What this changes for savers

For Swiss savers, the announcement adds a low-cost offering to the digital 3a segment. The published elements are as follows: an annual rate of 0.29% including fund fees, funds in Swiss francs with no currency surcharge and, according to the company, no stamp duty or stock exchange fees. The gap with the competition, on the other hand, rests on a range supplied by findependent itself.

Fees remain one criterion among others. The investment strategy, the level of risk accepted and the conditions for transfer or withdrawal also matter, and the latter are not detailed in the announcement.

Sources