The Institute of Actuarial Experts for Pensions (Institut der Versicherungsmathematischen Sachverständigen für Altersversorgung, or IVS) has called for the immediate implementation of the Act to Strengthen Company Pensions II (BRSG II).

In a statement released on its website, the IVS said that the BRSG II is vital for the further development of company pension schemes and should come into force "promptly" and without "renewed discussions".

However, the IVS also made clear that there is a need for action under BRSG II so that company pension schemes can fully exploit their potential over the longer term.

IVS chairman, Stefan Oecking, said: “We need a company pension scheme that also offers higher return opportunities in the pension phase, and not only in the social partner model, but across the board. Suitable legal framework conditions must be created for this."

One of the issues that the IVS is pushing for is the guarantee of full premium receipt in the defined contribution plan with a minimum benefit. This, it wrote, is a "yield killer" while also conveying a "deceptive feeling of security".

The IVS wrote: “On the one hand, it requires a cautious capital investment with low returns, and on the other hand, it is subject to creeping devaluation due to inflation.

"It is anything but certain that the real loss of purchasing power of the contributions paid can be compensated for in this constellation. The IVS therefore proposes to reduce the statutory minimum guarantee to 60 per cent of the contributions paid.”

It added: “In this way, guarantees can be combined with a tangible asset-oriented investment and thus achieve long-term returns well above inflation while at the same time providing basic protection through guarantees.”

The IVS also urged that the retirement phase of company pension schemes be made more attractive, noting that current legal requirements mean it must start with a lifelong guaranteed pension. Surplus shares, it added, must be used to gradually increase the current guaranteed pension.

It wrote: “[We are] therefore calling for more flexibility: The legal framework must be created for start-up pensions that are not fully guaranteed at the beginning, but only partially. The non-guaranteed portion is provided from surplus shares or fund income.

"What should become possible is a ‘slider’ model for the retirement phase, consisting of a guaranteed basic pension and an individual capital market-dependent return component, depending on risk appetite. This would make company pension schemes more attractive for broad sections of the population.”

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