Pillar 3a comparison: a look at fees and returns
Anyone looking for the most affordable pillar 3a quickly gets lost in the jungle of fees – or does not find the infos at all because it is so well hidden (looking at you, traditional banks!). We help you shed some light on the thicket and show you how neon fares in the pillar 3a comparison.
Imagine you want to buy a car. The question of price is important when making a decision, but not always the decisive factor: Are you looking for a fast sports car, an electric car for the city, or would you prefer an old VW bus? In the same way, choosing the best pillar 3a depends on what matters to you personally: costs, return, transparency of fees, investment focus, ease of use, or everything together?
Because brevity is the soul of wit, in this blog we will mainly focus on the costs and return of neon's pillar 3a. In this blog we go into further benefits of neon's pillar 3a.
What is pillar 3a and why is a comparison worth your while?
Pillar 3a is the private, tied pension plan in Switzerland and at the same time one of the most efficient tax-saving instruments available to you as an employed person. Because you usually invest your money with pillar 3a over a very long horizon, the choice of strategy, provider, and the associated costs make a massive difference.
Not there yet? Here you'll find everything you need to know about pillar 3a, and in this blog we explain Switzerland's three-pillar system in detail.
And now we finally come, as promised, to the cost and performance comparison.
Quite in neon style: low-cost and transparent
Our motto: no hidden fees, no fine print. With neon's pillar 3a, you pay between 0.39% and 0.45% per year, depending on the amount of your 3a assets. We therefore reduce the fees for you if you pay in more into your pension plan or move your existing 3a to us.
At a glance: the costs of our pillar 3a
Money in pillar 3a (in CHF) | Annual fees (in %) |
0 – 4'999 | 0.45 |
5'000 – 9'999 | 0.44 |
10'000 – 24'999 | 0.43 |
25'000 – 49'999 | 0.41 |
50'000 and more | 0.39 |
We are thus among the cheapest 3a providers of all, especially when compared to traditional banks such as Migros Bank, PostFinance, UBS or Raiffeisen. There you often easily pay double to triple for the same service (!). And usually these fees are hidden in the fine print. Believe us, even we had to fight our way through the jungle of fees for a while until we had the details.
Compared with other fintechs, we also stand quite strong: Some providers are indeed slightly cheaper for smaller 3a amounts, such as finpension or frankly, but they do not offer an all-in-one solution like neon – you can read why this is an advantage for you in this blog. Yuh is always more expensive, regardless of your 3a assets.
Pillar 3a providers: cost comparison
Fees (p.a.) | Product costs (TER) | Transaction fees | Total costs | |
neon | 0.39 – 0.45% | – | – | 0.39 – 0.45% |
finpension | 0.39% | 0 – 0.03% | – | 0.39 – 0.42% |
frankly | 0.44% | 0 – 0.04% | – | 0.44 – 0.48% |
Viac | 0.40% | 0 – 0.04% | – | 0.40 – 0.44% |
Yuh | 0.5% | – | – | 0.5% |
Migros | 0.75 – 0.9% | 0.92 – 1.13% | – | 1.67 – 2.03% |
Postfinance | 0.66 – 1.25% | 1.0 – 1.3% | – | 1.40 – 2.52% |
Raiffeisen | 0.6 – 1.3% | 0.74 – 1.27% | 0.35 – 0.75% | 1.32 – 2.50% |
UBS | 0.68 – 1.28% | 0.25 – 1.71% | – | 0.93 – 2.91% |
As of: July 2026
Let’s make an example to visualise this: If you deposit the maximum amount of 7'258 CHF per year (BSV, maximum amounts 2026) with a traditional bank for 30 years and pay 1.3% in fees instead of 0.39% as with neon, you lose over 58'000 CHF through fees alone with a gross return of 7%. That makes a massive difference.
Investment strategies: What does neon offer?
neon offers five investment strategies from Defensive 25 to Offensive 100, with equity shares from 25% up to 100%, and allows up to five 3a portfolios at the same time. This is particularly relevant for staggered tax withdrawals: opening several accounts with different providers and withdrawing them in a staggered manner significantly reduces the tax progression when withdrawing your pension. You can find out which investment strategy suits you in this blog.
The performance: the numbers in direct comparison
Here you can see how the different strategies have actually developed. All data refer to strategies with around 95 – 100% equity share and are therefore directly comparable.
Pillar 3a performance comparison: neon with competitors
Strategy | Equity share | 2025 | YTD |
neon Offensive 100 | 100% | 12.08% | 1.44% |
neon Offensive 100 Swiss | 100% | 13.74% | 0.53% |
neon Offensive 100 Responsible | 100% | 12.10% | 1.40% |
neon Offensive 100 Responsible Swiss | 100% | 13.83% | 0.27% |
VIAC Global 100 | 100% | 12.1% | 0.4% |
VIAC Global Sustainable 100 | 100% | 10.4% | -0.2% |
VIAC Switzerland 100 | 100% | 14.3% | 0.1% |
frankly Extreme 95 Index | 95% | 14.76% | 1.85% |
frankly Extreme 95 Sustainable | 95% | 11.98% | 2.11% |
frankly Extreme 95 Responsible | 95% | 11.70% | 1.31% |
finpension Global 100 | 100% | 14.16% | 1.05% |
finpension Schweiz 100 | 100% | 16.67% | 0.63% |
finpension Nachhaltig 100 | 100% | 12.86% | 0.79% |
Raiffeisen Futura II Equity | 95% | 8.45% | 0.87% |
UBS Vitainvest 100 Passive Sustainable | 95%-100% | 13.61% | 1.59% |
PostFinance Passive 100 Fund | 100% | 3.58% | 2.18% |
As of: February 2026
What do these numbers say?
2025 was a strong year for equities, and you can see that in the numbers. Our global strategies deliver a solid performance that is competitive with most of our competitors. Anyone who bet on the Swiss market was particularly rewarded in 2025: neon Offensive 100 Responsible Swiss achieved 13.83%, neon Offensive 100 Swiss 13.74%. This is well above the market average of global strategies among digital providers.
Traditional providers such as Raiffeisen (8.45%) and PostFinance (3.58%) clearly show what high fees and a weak product selection can cost. The comparison speaks for itself.
As well as 2025 went, please note: past performance is no indicator of future returns.
Curious to see how this can play out over the years? Try it out with our pillar 3a calculator to see how your deposits could develop. You will see forecasts for the best-case scenario – and also for the worst. Transparent and easy to understand.
Your pension, your decision
The numbers are on the table: neon's pillar 3a offers low fees and competitive returns. What also sets us apart from pure pension providers is the overall package: with neon you have all your finances in one app: no switching back and forth between apps and thus full control and overview of your finances. Opening takes less than five minutes directly in the app. Read more about the benefits of our pillar 3a here.
