As much as £2.85bn is ‘languishing untouched’ in dormant pension accounts in Switzerland, research by deVere group has revealed.

The group explained that there are more than 630,000 dormant accounts in Switzerland, which have been left with no instruction by the account holder, but warned that this could “just be the tip of the iceberg”.

The funds in these accounts are “routinely” transferred to the Substitute Occupational Benefit Institution, where the group says they “languish untouched”.

Commenting on the trend, deVere Zurich area manager, Daniel O’Leary, said: “I’m sure no-one wants to just leave the money that they had been prudently putting away for retirement when it could otherwise be working for them and creating life-enhancing opportunities for them and their loved ones.

“In our professional experience globally we know this can often happen, especially when people move from one country to another, it’s a regular occurrence that pensions get forgotten, misplaced or left behind.

“This is why it can be expected that many of the pensions belonging to people who used to work in Switzerland can lay languishing and forgotten about whilst they now reside in other countries.”

The group also highlighted that there is a “growing and significant number of people” in the UK seeking to recover these funds.

deVere United Kingdom director, Mitch Hopkinson, added: “I believe this demand could be attributed to two key driving factors. First, increasing awareness and media coverage of Switzerland’s controversial negative interest rate policy, which has the effect of eroding pension pots.

“And second, the strength of the Swiss franc. There is an argument for matching the currency of assets with that of your liabilities, simply to reduce exchange risk over the long term.”

This also follows research by Profile Pensions, which found that as much as £37bn could be sitting in unclaimed pensions, with the average size of a lost pension pot around £23,000.

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