Verschärfung der Lex Koller: Schweizer Pensionskassen könnten Milliarden verlieren

The Swiss National Council aims to tighten restrictions on foreign investors entering the Swiss real estate market. Both real estate shares and funds are part of the debate. The implications for pension funds and private investors could be significant. The Lex Koller is back on the agenda. On Tuesday, the National Council approved an SVP faction leader Thomas Aeschi's motion to roll back previous relaxations of the law.

Now it's the Standerat's turn. Meanwhile, a tougher version of the law has been on the table since April. The review is complete, but a final draft to Parliament is still pending. The push is to tighten access for foreign buyers and investors to the Swiss real estate market. Supporters argue that less foreign demand would dampen upward pressure on land and property prices, thereby easing the strain on the housing market.

On the surface, the tightening targets foreign real estate buyers. However, Swiss residents would also be affected, as many indirectly invest in the Swiss real estate market through shares of real estate firms or fund units in their pension accounts. The planned provision states that foreigners will no longer be able to buy shares of listed Swiss real estate companies in the future.

At least in one of the two drafts, shares of regularly traded Swiss real estate funds are to be reserved only for Swiss citizens. It concerns a large market. Currently, 50 real estate funds and 18 real estate stocks are listed on SIX, according to the exchange operator's response to the review. The market valuation ranges from about 80 to 85 billion francs for the real estate funds index and around 30 billion francs for the real estate stocks index.

For Swiss investors, the ban on foreign buyers would have tangible consequences. In the stock market, every seller needs a buyer. If the circle of potential buyers shrinks, liquidity decreases, which could lead to poorer tradability and lower prices. Most significantly, the consequences would be if real estate companies and funds had to give up their stock exchange listing.

While the Lex Koller provisions do not explicitly prescribe a delisting, it is considered a logical consequence. The reason lies in stock trading. Moving forward, every purchase would need to be checked to determine if the buyer qualifies as a foreign entity. SIX, the exchange operator, finds it unreliable to conduct such real-time checks: Before executing an order, it is not evident who stands economically behind it, according to SIX's response to the review.

Therefore, SIX fears that intermediaries would restrict trading and ultimately opt for a delisting. For Swiss investors, a delisting would mean two things. Firstly, significant valuation losses on existing investments. Many listed real estate funds and companies are currently traded at a premium, representing a significant markup on their underlying property assets.

The aggregated agios of funds and listed companies are estimated at 25 to 26 billion francs. A delisting would at least partially eliminate this premium, causing the market value of shares to decline. Secondly, the securities would become less easily tradable. Today, shares and fund units can be bought and sold continuously on the exchange.

If the listing disappears, it becomes more difficult to sell a position short-term. At the same time, a considerable part of market transparency would be lost, as ongoing price formation at the exchange would be discontinued. Swiss pension funds hold about a quarter of their retirement funds in real estate. They use indirect real estate investments to manage their real estate share relatively flexibly.

For smaller pension institutions, this is important because maintaining an own, broadly diversified real estate portfolio and managing it is cumbersome. Private investors can also access a broad real estate portfolio through funds or real estate shares with comparatively small amounts. This possibility would likely disappear. Foreign investors' influence on listed residential real estate companies is already limited.

Such companies must remain Swiss-controlled. If foreigners hold more than one-third of the capital or voting rights, foreign control is presumed; the company then falls under the Lex Koller's jurisdiction. The practical extent of foreign ownership in typical cases is shown by real estate firm Mobimo: As of the end of 2025, only 7.8% of registered shares were held by foreigners.

Even more fundamentally is the question of benefits. The consulting firm Fahrländer Partner concludes in the regulation impact assessment commissioned by the Federal Office that the re-inclusion of listed real estate companies would not relieve the housing market in any way, but rather burden it. For real estate funds, the study reaches the same conclusion.

The reason is that listed companies play an important role in large, risky development projects; if they are hindered in accessing capital and risk diversification, the construction of housing could be hampered. The tightening of the Lex Koller aims to soften the 10-million-euro initiative. However, the draft comes too late, misses the mark, and risks aggravating the situation.