Guido Sutter
Director / Chairman of the Board of Directors 2006–2016
What makes Asga a pioneer?
The way in which Asga was created in 1962 was undoubtedly a pioneering achievement. The founders saw the problem, had an idea for solving it, and said to each other: “Let’s do it.” I can imagine that back then they didn’t realise how Asga would grow and therefore had no idea of the scale of their achievement.
And what makes it special?
Since the very beginning, Asga has stood out due to its co-operative concept. Irrespective of its size, it has not become a “company” in cultural terms and – at least I assume – will never accept the constraints of being a listed company in the future either. Asga’s roots, and therefore its unique culture as well, stem from the SME sector – fact is, co-operation with the trade associations was very important right from the outset. Self-help – the concept and object of the co-operative – was very typical at the time and meant that construction contracts, etc., were awarded to co-operative members where possible. This naturally generated even more in the way of shared values.
Over the decades, small businesses grew in tandem with the economy – both in terms of total number and in terms of size. SMEs previously consisted of two to three employees in most cases, but these days they employ up to 100 people or even more. Asga has always adapted to these developments. Even before my time as Chairman of Asga’s Board of Directors, I had links with the world of pension funds through my professional role – Asga always had a very good name and a good reputation in the SME and banking worlds. It’s predictable, reliable, trusting – and basically a great partner.
The founders of Asga were doers; they identified a problem and solved it.
Can a pension fund still be a pioneer today?
These days there’s no longer much scope for major change – be that during my time at Asga, or for my successors. However, the founders were proper pioneers; they had an idea and they threw themselves in at the deep end, as it were. By contrast, we were forced to operate within the constraints of a highly regulated legislative framework and stay on track in social policy terms. Our job was to manage risks and adapt Asga to constant change. I can’t really imagine such a major pioneering achievement, as it was at the time, still being possible in the pension-fund world of today.
What’s been the impact of Asga’s strong growth?
Asga has roughly doubled in size over the last ten years. In my view that’s mainly down to the concentration process within the market, but also to Asga’s professionalism. Many SMEs no longer wanted to take responsibility for pension promises themselves and were in any case unable to; consequently, they decided to wind up their own in-house pension funds. A good portion of them turned to Asga. And here every pension fund faces the age-old question of how to achieve sensible, healthy growth. What are their motivations, why are they aiming to expand, and how do they strengthen their competitive position? Growth per se cannot be a pension fund’s objective. What’s much more important is the ability to maintain quality and stability despite growth and if possible achieve further improvement. For example, a good ratio between active insureds and pensioners indicates solid foundations and long-term security. Furthermore, the organisation needs to be professionalised in the face of an acceleration in growth, the key factors being asset and liability, risk management, transparency and corporate governance. Here, Asga has done a really good job so far in my view. And what sets it apart is its team spirit, the positive working environment, as well as the performance focus of its employees. You could actually say that it’s something of a pioneer in these areas too.
