The Guarantee Fund can look back on a rather gratifying year 2009. At 26 CHF million, insolvency benefits were at their lowest in over 15 years. Subsidy benefit payments too were less than those of the previous year. This unusually low level of disbursements combined with the positive investment performance to yield a profit of CHF 142 million. The Fund reserve could be increased to CHF 490 million. Thanks to the highly positive results, the board of trustees was able to apply to the Federal Social Security Office for a lowering of the contribution rate for insolvencies and other tasks for the year 2011. It should be noted at the same time that the low insolvency benefits are partly the result of special cirumstances. Those benefits will certainly rise again in 2010.