Career mobility and LPP: the dispersion you do not see.
Changing employer, moving, taking a break: every transition can create a new LPP account. At 40, a typical career already has 2 to 4 potentially dispersed accounts. Why, and how to check.
An average Swiss career means 5 to 8 employers over 40 years. Several cantons crossed. Sometimes a break, a sabbatical, a temporary departure abroad. Each of these transitions creates a silent risk: your 2nd pillar dispersed across several institutions, without you knowing. At the Swiss level, ~950,000 contactless accounts sleep at the Auffangeinrichtung BVG, for about CHF 6 billion.
Why LPP disperses mechanically
The Swiss system rests on the portability of pensions: every employee takes their capital when they change employer. The theory is sound. Practice generates three traps:
- Missed transfer. You leave without a new employer. The fund has 6 months to transfer; otherwise, the assets go to Auffangeinrichtung BVG. If you do not claim them afterwards, they sleep there.
- Transfer to a vested benefits foundation you forget. You opened an account at a foundation when leaving a job, but lost track when changing employer or canton.
- Outdated address. Institutions send an annual letter to the last known address. If you moved without reporting, these letters get lost — and the account gradually becomes "contactless".
High-risk situations
| Situation | Risk of forgotten account |
|---|---|
| More than 4 employers across the career | Very high |
| Inter-cantonal relocations (≥ 2) | High |
| Unemployment period longer than 6 months | High |
| Temporary departure abroad then return | Very high |
| Stretch of self-employment | High |
| Merger / acquisition of a former employer | Medium-high |
| Cumulative part-time work (multi-employer) | Medium |
| Linear career at 1–2 employers without relocation | Low |
Two concrete cases
Apprenticeship in Fribourg, first job in Berne, start-up in Zurich, return to Geneva, SME in Lausanne. 5 relocations, 4 employers in 15 years.
- Current fund (annual statement)
- CHF 118,000
- Suspected vested benefits accounts
- 2
- Complete search done
- No
- Forgotten account #1 (foundation in Berne)
- CHF 18,400
- Forgotten account #2 (Auffangeinrichtung)
- CHF 27,600
- Real LPP capital
- CHF 164,000
- Difference vs "visible" capital
- +CHF 46,000
Apprenticeship, first permanent job, two company changes, gap year, return SME, multinational. Lives in Lausanne.
- Current fund (annual statement)
- CHF 162,000
- 2018 gap year — where are the assets?
- Unknown
- First job (CHF ~22,000 contributed)
- Unknown
- Forgotten gap-year account
- CHF 31,200
- Forgotten first-job account
- CHF 7,250
- Real total LPP
- CHF 200,450
- Difference
- +CHF 38,450
What it costs in retirement
A CHF 40,000 dispersion at 40 is on average CHF 75,000 of final capital at 65 (2% capitalization). With a 5.5% conversion rate, this represents CHF 4,100 of annual pension over 20 retirement years — i.e., CHF 82,000 cumulative.
For larger forgotten amounts (CHF 80,000 and more, common in mobile careers with several long-tenure employers), the shortfall can exceed CHF 150,000 over the retirement horizon.
How to check — the full method
Three sources to query for the complete picture:
- The Central 2nd-Pillar Office (Supplementary Institution LPP Foundation, Berne). It centralizes contactless assets transferred by vested benefits foundations. Free request, reply within a few weeks.
- The ~340 private vested benefits foundations (FINMA register). They must be queried one by one: the Central Office only covers what was transferred to it.
- The ~1,380 active pension funds — to check whether a former employer has assets "stuck" in your name, not yet transferred.
Once accounts are recovered — consolidate or not?
Identifying is not enough. Once your accounts are known, you have several options:
- Leave in place each vested benefits account, monitoring yield and fees (see our fee comparison).
- Consolidate in your current fund via a voluntary transfer (check: not all funds accept).
- Consolidate in a vested benefits foundation with better return or lower fees (see account or policy).
- Prepare a staggered withdrawal over several tax years to reduce cantonal tax at retirement.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the current fund reflects the total. It only reflects transferred assets. All previous incomplete transfers are invisible.
- Waiting until retirement to take stock. Worst time: 30+ years of movements to reconstruct, vanished institutions, lost archives.
- Believing the Central 2nd-Pillar Office is enough. It only covers assets declared "contactless". Foundations not queried stay invisible.
- Doing the round on your own. Legally doable, but 4 to 8 months of individual letters. Time is the enemy of accuracy.
- 01A mobile career (≥ 3 employers, ≥ 2 cantons, professional break) almost always creates dispersed LPP accounts.
- 02~950,000 contactless accounts sleep in Switzerland, for ~CHF 6 bn (Auffangeinrichtung BVG, 2024).
- 03Checking now takes 4–6 weeks of procedure. Doing it at retirement takes much longer.
- 04Query the Central 2nd-Pillar Office + the ~1,500 funds/foundations with a single power of attorney via Pillarum.
To understand the difference between funds and foundations, read our article who does what. For the full vested benefits guide, our reference. For unemployment periods specifically, our dedicated article.