{
  "id": 10868520,
  "title": "Altersvorsorge: Sorge vor Fehlstart für Kapitalrente: „Als Politiker würde ich jeden Tag für eine Finanzkrise beten“",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/altersvorsorge-sorge-vor-fehlstart-fur-kapitalrente-als-politiker",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-30T05:17:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/vorsorge/altersvorsorge-sparen/altersvorsorge-als-politiker-wuerde-ich-jeden-tag-fuer-eine-finanzkrise-beten-01/100258418.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Schweden is regarded as a model for the future capital pension system that Germany's retirement system hopes to revolutionize next year. Experts anticipate significantly higher returns with the savings deposit compared to the Riester pension. However, just months before the planned launch, market participants are conjuring up a nightmare scenario that initially shocked even the Swedes. The national fund AP7 was only briefly active on the stock market when the so-called Dotcom bubble burst in the early 2000s. Global stock prices crashed. The Swedes had to watch as their capital-pension portion initially fell to the bottom. Experts now see the stock market in a critical phase: for months, the AI boom has been driving up stock prices. Skeptics fear an AI bubble that could burst and lead to a stock market crash. If they are right, the German capital pension could face a similar fiasco as Sweden did. The recently launched national fund initially lost nearly a third of its value and has been in the red for three years, recalled AP7 CEO Pal Bergström at a Bundesbank financial conference on Tuesday. \"As a politician, I would pray for a financial crisis every day,\" said Erik Podzuweit, founder of the Fintech Scalable Capital. Of course, that was meant ironically, he added afterwards. But behind his provocative statement lies an important lesson from Sweden. Podzuweit pointed out that the Swedes ultimately benefited from the initial crash in the long run: During the crisis, the national fund stoically bought stocks. Despite the horror start, the fund remained its statutory duty. The advantage: The fund acquired relatively many shares at favorable entry prices, which gained in value sharply in the subsequent stock market rally. Former expert Ulrike Malmendier expressed concern at the Financial Plaza conference of the Bundesbank that politics, in the face of such negative experiences, might cave in and call off the capital pension in a panic reaction. After all, the capital pension is still too often equated with a gambling mentality like in a casino in some quarters of politics. Podzuweit hopes very much that this does not happen in a crisis, he responded to Malmendier. For the Swedes, the waiting during the crisis proved worthwhile: The AP7 has reportedly achieved an average annual return of around eight percent after 25 years, despite the dismal launch. In the Bundesbank, which competes with the national fund for the administration of the capital pension, hopes are high that the federal government will take Sweden's \"governance\" as a model: The legislator would set general guidelines, while a panel of independent experts would make the specific investment decisions.",
  "summary": "Experten stecken große Hoffnungen in das neue Altersvorsorgedepot – wäre da nicht die Furcht vor einer KI-Blase. Doch Befürworter entkräften das Albtraumszenario mit Schwedens Erfahrungen.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}