The purpose of the funds managed by compenswiss is to compensate for deficits and surpluses in the social insurance schemes. All financial flows in the social insurance system first pass through the Central Compensation Office (CCO), which reports to the Federal Department of Finance (FDF). The balances of these central social insurance accounts are then transferred to or debited from compenswiss. 

The cash flows are aggregated and then distributed to the individual Funds of the three social insurance schemes (OASI, Invl and LEC).

Liquidity management

compenswiss centrally manages the liquidity of the three social insurance schemes. In its planning, the institution takes account of financial flows and major seasonal fluctuations, which have different structural causes for each of the three social insurance schemes (see the «Treasury holdings 2024» chart below). The management of the financial flows is based on detailed planning which ensures an appropriate level of liquidity for each of the three social schemes.

The ability to tap into the Swiss repo market provides compenswiss with considerable short-term financing capacity. In addition, a securities-backed credit line of CHF 500 million with the SNB gives it even more scope to guarantee the solvency of the social security schemes.

Results 2024

In 2024, the return on the Treasury investments and cash equivalents was 1.55% (compared with 1.50% in 2023). The year 2024 was characterised by a significant fall in short-term interest rates in CHF, following the consecutive rises in 2022 and 2023. Rates fell from 1.75% at the beginning of the year to 0.50% at the end. The performance of the Treasury thus reflects the average return on the SARON rate (Swiss Average Rate Overnight), the benchmark interest rate on the short-term market.

Social insurance receipts totalled around CHF 66.1 billion, while expenditures amounted to around CHF 63.5 billion. The difference between revenue and expenditure breaks down between the three social insurance schemes as follows: a surplus of just over CHF 2.3 billion for the OASI, around CHF 50 million for the InvI and almost CHF 200 million for the LEC. In addition, an exceptional payment of around CHF 400 million was made to the unemployment insurance following an agreement between compenswiss, the CCO and the SECO. This payment was made in April 2024 to balance the inflow and outflow of unemployment insurance funds.