Stephan Skaanes, partner and member of the executive board of PPCmetrics, the Swiss consultancy, points out that the average discount rate used by Swiss pension funds is about 2%, while the yield on long-term Swiss government bonds is at zero. “If rates start rising, pension funds will most likely suffer losses on the asset side, but they will not make any significant gains on the liability side. Only if rates were to rise above, say, 2%, then the benefits on the liability side would materialise,” says Skaanes.