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Personalvorsorgekasse der Stadt Bern (PVK)
Personalvorsorgekasse der Stadt Bern is the statutory pension fund for employees of the City of Bern, operating as an independent public-law institution under...
Personalvorsorgekasse der Stadt Bern (PVK)
Personalvorsorgekasse der Stadt Bern is the statutory pension fund for employees of the City of Bern, operating as an independent public-law institution under Swiss federal pension regulation. The fund runs a hybrid plan structure that combines defined-benefit and cash-balance elements, a common design among Swiss public-sector schemes designed to balance retirement certainty with funding stability. Managed day-to-day by Managing Director Jürg Schad, PVK functions as a self-administered asset owner, making direct allocation and manager-selection decisions rather than outsourcing the CIO function. Strinati's investment office pursues a strategy built around a concentrated direct real estate book that gives the fund a materially different risk profile from peers that access property through funds or REITs. Identified holdings include residential blocks at Bahnstrasse 59 and 79, Holenackerstrasse 7, and Kappelenring 54 c-d, alongside mixed-use assets on Bernstrasse in Ostermundigen and the Europaplatz portfolio in central Bern. Outside Swiss brick and mortar, the fund allocates to a global infrastructure sleeve and carries a domestic mortgage portfolio — effectively acting as a direct lender to Swiss homeowners. The listed equity and fixed-income programs are augmented by active engagement through institutional stewardship networks rather than passive index replication alone. PVK joined the Ethos Engagement Pool in 2009, channeling its Swiss and international equity votes through Ethos's coordinated ESG dialogues, and deepened its thematic focus in March 2025 by entering the Finreon Engagement Pool, which targets portfolio decarbonization pathways. The fund also participates in the Klima-Allianz climate-rating framework for financial investments, placing it among the Swiss pension funds that apply explicit carbon metrics to manager and strategy evaluation. Team size and total assets remain undisclosed, consistent with the limited public reporting typical of Swiss public-law pension institutions of its size. The structural distinction is ownership-driven: PVK behaves less like a pooled institutional investor and more like a permanent-capital property owner with a captive liability stream. The direct residential portfolio eliminates layers of manager fees on the fund's largest real-asset exposure, while the in-house mortgage book — unusual for a municipal pension fund — provides Swiss-franc duration matching against long-dated pension promises. The combination makes PVK's return engine more dependent on Bern's property market and less on global public equity beta than a typical Swiss Pensionskasse with a 25–30% real estate quota run through external funds.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1910
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
Switzerland
City
Bern
Corporate office
Bern, Switzerland
Principals
Jürg Schad
Managing Director
Fabio Strinati
Head of Investments
Enzo Ponato
Real Estate Specialist
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes investment decisions at PVK?
Fabio Strinati serves as Head of Investments and runs the investment office day-to-day, reporting to Managing Director Jürg Schad. The fund is governed by a board of trustees typical of Swiss public-law pension institutions, with ultimate fiduciary responsibility sitting at the board level. Specific investment committee delegation structures are not publicly detailed.
How is PVK structured — is it a defined-benefit or defined-contribution plan?
PVK operates a hybrid design that combines defined-benefit and cash-balance elements, common among Swiss public-sector pension funds. This structure provides a guaranteed retirement income floor while linking a portion of benefits to contribution returns. The hybrid approach is designed to share longevity and investment risk between the employer — the City of Bern — and plan members.
What is PVK's approach to real estate investing?
PVK owns residential and mixed-use properties directly rather than through funds or REITs, with a portfolio concentrated in the Bern capital region. Identified assets include holdings at Bahnstrasse 59 and 79, Bernstrasse in Ostermundigen, Holenackerstrasse 7, Kappelenring, and the Europaplatz complex. The fund also runs a domestic mortgage portfolio, functioning as a direct lender to Swiss homeowners.
Does PVK allocate to alternatives beyond real estate?
Yes — the fund maintains a global infrastructure portfolio alongside its direct property and mortgage books. The infrastructure sleeve provides geographic diversification away from the Swiss-concentrated real estate exposure. PVK's active membership in the Ethos Engagement Pool since 2009 and the Finreon Engagement Pool (joined March 2025) suggests it also holds material public equity allocations that it stewards through coordinated ESG engagement rather than passive tracking alone.
How does PVK approach ESG and stewardship?
PVK joined the Ethos Engagement Pool in 2009, pooling its voting and engagement influence across Swiss and international equity holdings. In March 2025, the fund added participation in the Finreon Engagement Pool focused specifically on portfolio decarbonization pathways. It also participates in the Klima-Allianz framework, which applies climate ratings to financial investments, embedding carbon metrics into manager and strategy evaluation.
Is PVK open to external co-investment or does it only manage City of Bern pension assets?
PVK is a closed pension fund serving employees of the City of Bern; it does not operate as a multi-employer scheme or accept external institutional co-investors. Its direct real estate and mortgage activities are proprietary balance-sheet investments funded by plan contributions and reserves, not pooled vehicles open to third-party capital.
What is PVK's relationship to the City of Bern?
PVK is an independent public-law institution created specifically to administer pension obligations for City of Bern employees. While the city is the sponsoring employer and likely contributes alongside members, the fund operates with statutory autonomy under Swiss federal pension law (BVG). The board of trustees includes employer and employee representatives, consistent with the parity-governance model required for Swiss Pensionskassen.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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