CHF Money market funds [2023]

Investing / Portfolios
18

I just did a search on IBKR using the Mutual Fund Scanner

Filters are

  • Title includes “CHF” (make sense?)
  • Fund Type: Money Market
  • Country: Switzerland

And here are the 22 results

My questions are

a) Is the search criteria make sense? Did I miss anything?
b) what does all these share class mean, or how I can find the answer?
b) Any one has invested in any of them, to replace savings account?
c) PERFORMANCE - YTD seems to be around 0.2% for the best ones here, do they make sense? How come savings account can give me 1% - 1.5% interest at the cost of inflexibility?
d) How would you choose among them if you just see the table the first time?

FUND NAME SYMBOL FUND FAMILY FUND TYPE TRANSACTION FEE LOAD TYPE MANAGEMENT FEES EXPENSE RATIO % PERFORMANCE - YTD LIPPER RATING SHARPE RATIO GEOGRAPHICAL FOCUS ESG SCORE AUM ISIN CUSIP SHARE CLASS INITIAL INVESTMENT
LO FUNDS (CH)-SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET M (CHF) INC N/A LOMBARD ODIER AM (CH) Money Market Yes N/A 0.12 N/A 0.17 N/A -0.0491047 Global N/A 131497800 CH0224283041 022428304 M 0
LO FUNDS - SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) N (CHF) INC N/A LOMBARD ODIER FUNDS (EUROPE) (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.11 N/A 0.15 N/A -0.2619481 Global N/A 4033133.26 LU0995143889 099514388 N 1000000
LO FUNDS - SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) P (CHF) INC B N/A LOMBARD ODIER FUNDS (EUROPE) (LU) Money Market No N/A 0.11 N/A 0.11 N/A -0.4999522 Global N/A 2983872.69 LU0995143616 099514361 P 3000
LO FUNDS SHORT TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) M (CHF) ACC N/A LOMBARD ODIER FUNDS (EUROPE) (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.12 N/A 0.13 N/A -0.4659314 Global N/A 70949417.03 LU0995143962 099514396 M 3000
LO FUNDS SHORT TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) N (CHF) ACC N/A LOMBARD ODIER FUNDS (EUROPE) (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.11 N/A 0.15 N/A -0.2613286 Global N/A 197861086.4 LU0995143707 099514370 N 1000000
LO FUNDS SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) P (CHF) ACC N/A LOMBARD ODIER FUNDS (EUROPE) (LU) Money Market No N/A 0.11 N/A 0.11 N/A -0.5001521 Global N/A 37098561.3 LU0995143533 099514353 P 3000
NEW CAPITAL FUND LUX CASH A (CHF) ACC N/A EFG AM (LU) Money Market No N/A 0.15 N/A N/A N/A N/A European Region N/A N/A LU0585204893 058520489 A 100
NEW CAPITAL FUND LUX CASH M (CHF) ACC N/A EFG AM (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.1 N/A N/A N/A N/A European Region N/A N/A LU1066142883 106614288 M 100
PICTET (CH) ENHANCED LIQUIDITY (CHF) I INC N/A PICTET AM (CH) Money Market Yes N/A 0.1 N/A 0.2 N/A 0.4490843 Global N/A 398299743.01 CH0021732877 002173287 I 1000000
PICTET (CH) ENHANCED LIQUIDITY (CHF) P INC N/A PICTET AM (CH) Money Market Yes N/A 0.13 N/A 0.19 N/A 0.302917 Global N/A 11764160.28 CH0021732604 002173260 P 0
PICTET (CH) SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) P INC N/A PICTET AM (CH) Money Market Yes N/A 0.08 N/A 0.21 N/A 0.5407606 Global N/A 885171701.76 CH0011292312 001129231 P 0
PICTET (CH) SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF)I INC N/A PICTET AM (CH) Money Market Yes N/A 0.06 N/A 0.21 N/A 0.7089342 Global N/A 3509702915.93 CH0011292304 001129230 I 0
PICTET F(CH) SOVEREIGN SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) I INC N/A PICTET AM (CH) Money Market Yes N/A 0.02 N/A 0.17 N/A -0.912282 OECD Countries N/A 158788627.14 CH0038724784 003872478 I 1000000
PICTET F(CH) SOVEREIGN SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) P D N/A PICTET AM (CH) Money Market Yes N/A 0.03 N/A 0.16 N/A -1.009507 OECD Countries N/A 43457068.85 CH0038724818 003872481 P 0
PICTET SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) I ACC N/A PICTET AM (EUROPE) (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.05 N/A 0.2 N/A 0.2968874 International N/A 939798485.44 LU0128499158 L7597H277 I 1000000
PICTET SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) P ACC N/A PICTET AM (EUROPE) (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.06 N/A 0.2 N/A 0.2398493 International N/A 235424821.1 LU0128498267 L7597H285 P 0
PICTET SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) P INC N/A PICTET AM (EUROPE) (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.06 N/A 0.2 N/A 0.239971 International N/A 33843548.73 LU0128498697 L7597H293 P 0
PICTET SHORT-TERM MONEY MARKET (CHF) R ACC N/A PICTET AM (EUROPE) (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.09 N/A 0.19 N/A 0.0714629 International N/A 141849110.25 LU0128499588 L7597H301 R 1000
SWISSCANTO (LU) MONEY MARKET FUND RESPONSIBLE CHF DT (CHF) ACC N/A SWISSCANTO AM INTL (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.05 N/A 0.21 N/A -0.1357871 Switzerland N/A 73950000 LU1481723747 148172374 DT 100
SWISSCANTO (LU) MONEY MARKET FUND RESPONSIBLE CHF FT (CHF) ACC N/A SWISSCANTO AM INTL (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.05 N/A 0.21 N/A -0.1456674 Switzerland N/A 252328200 LU0141249424 014124942 FT 0
VONTOBEL SWISS MONEY A (CHF) INC N/A VONTOBEL AM SA (LU) Money Market No N/A 0.15 N/A 0.23 N/A -0.1215246 Global N/A 9656949.07 LU0120694640 012069464 A 0
VONTOBEL SWISS MONEY I (CHF) ACC N/A VONTOBEL AM SA (LU) Money Market Yes N/A 0.1 N/A 0.24 N/A -0.0995725 Global N/A 16835406.76 LU0278086623 027808662 I 0
3 Likes
19

The only overlap of these four and the table above is ZKB (LU) (0.11% mgmt fee, 1.56% YTM) LU0141249424 so I am now zooming into this one.

Does YTM mean yield to maturity? I didn’t know this metrics exist for money market fund. and I can only find out this value in factsheet from official website but not on IBKR quote details. Is this number static? How is it related to performance, for example YTD performance? And how to tell ZHK(CH) bears more risk than ZKB(LU)? From their underlyings?

1 Like
20

The same fund is often sold in different share classes for different types of investors (private investors, institutions, pension funds). The different classes have a different fee structure. You find details in the prospectus (https://www.swissfunddata.ch is helpful for this, usually lists all documents). In practice, the class for private investors will be relevant for most. I’ve seen LO funds where you can get the fund for institutional investors (with 0.01% less fees) if you invest more than 1M or are a private banking customer of them.

Note that YTD performance is year-to-date (first 4 months only), you have to annualise this. While a money market fund has a very small interest rate risk (because of the low average duration), it is not zero and the fund continually marks all holdings to market, the YTD is a combination of yield payouts and these adjustments.

I personally would study the holdings / philosophy (in what does the fund invest) and fee structure. Then, I would choose the cheapest one among the funds that match my risk profile.

Yes, that’s yield to maturity. The number is dynamic and can change every day because for multiple reasons: The value of the underlyings is dynamic and changes, which influences YTM. Moreover, the fund continually has to buy and sell new underlyings (because they expire, people want their money, new people invest, …), which also influences YTM. It is the annualized yield that you would get if the fund held all underlyings to maturity and would not reinvest the proceedings, which of course never happens for a fund. So it is the best approximation for the yield at any moment in time, but not guaranteed.

Yes, a higher YTM should usually imply a higher risk, but it is best to check the underlyings.

2 Likes
21

So I went and checked for some of them in the above list. Beware of entry and exit fees. For example LU0120694640 (Vontobel Fund - Swiss Money) has an entry fee of 5.00% and an exit fee of 0.30%. It would take years to even get back to were you were.

If you don’t have multiple millions of net worth, paying around 2.00% for premature termination on a savings account, would probably be cheaper, and give higher returns for comparable availability.

2 Likes
22

Isn’t that up-to 5%? (it will heavily depend on your bank/broker, with Swiss ones being fairly expensive so that it likely doesn’t make sense for short term holding).

1 Like
23

Wow, this is wild. Why doesn’t the national bank give us access to something like T-Bills in the US? At least Swiss residents should be allowed to access them directly, imo.

1 Like
24

On a second glance, yes. And there is also some stipulation in their KID about up to 500 CHF entry fee if you exit after 1 year (I don’t get what that’s supposed to mean).

It seems cost isn’t transparent. I didn’t find the actual rates and I can’t read their annual report well enough to calculate it. Not understanding a product is a good reason to keep your hands of.

The annual report in 2022, if someone wants to try:

Vontobel Fund - Swiss Money
Vontobel Fund - Swiss Money1080×1521 214 KB

1 Like
25

Thank you so so much for the reply. Regarding this paragraph particularly, I am still quite confused. If the performance 0.2% for four months continues in the rest of the year, the whole year performance is gonna be like 0.6%. This is still very far from number of YTM, like 1.5% - 1.9%. So apparently there is some basic fix-income knowledge I don’t get.

Seeing YTD performance 0.6% and YTM 1.5%, If I invest 100k and expect to exit after a year, should I expect 101.5k or 100.6k? I know in a savings account, I can expect 101.5k. Essentially I am looking for a savings account alternative, hopefully getting similar rates locked for as long as possible (1 year) by doing it myself. Is the thought too naive?

27

Really depends where I think. On IB it seems to be around 5 CHF flat fee for many funds.

1 Like
28

What I don’t get is how a fund-side entry fee can be dependent on the broker. If my money reaches the mutual fund, they need to buy more securities, regardless where it came from. Or is there some broker-side pooling and netting going on?

1 Like
29

Because this is how the fund finances the kickback (I mean “retrocession”) to the broker… still legal in CH, less common than before.

3 Likes
30

Quick, kill it with fire.

Is there any way to calculate the non-kickback rate? Are there jurisdictions where this kind of kickback is illegal?

All in all it seems mutual funds are highly inferior to ETFs.

1 Like
31

Go to a broker and get a quote for the units both to buy and sell some, and look at the spread… ultimately that is what matters to you.

32

At the moment, I just want to know if it’s possible to do so, satisfying my curiosity. Learning some instruments. If the answer is yes, I will then start thinking about when and why and why not to do it

33

Thank you for the reply. I guess the money market fund is not a good alternative to savings account then? I thought the money market fund generates similar yield to a saving account, trading locked interest for a fixed period to flexibility. Is that wrong?

34

That’s roughly correct, but the market isn’t as mature as e.g. the US, so don’t expect the same.

(and fees on mutual fund in Switzerland tend to be somewhat high, which could eat a lot of the benefit of the extra liquidity).

1 Like
35

I am not even thinking about fees yet. Just the performance, should I be happy about the one with YTD performance of 0.2%? It’s the best one I found in the list. Or maybe this is a very bad metrics for money market fund as the policy rates are changing? Should I look at annualized last month return? last week return? Is YTM a good metrics evaluating the money market fund?

1 Like
36

I think the standard is the 30-days (net) yield, but that’s standard for US funds. Some european funds show something similar.

39

FYI I’ve ended up using the Pictet LU short term MMF. Mostly because of if its size (billions).

I think it currently yields >1% net of fees while being liquid (can get access to money in a few days). Tho compared to fixed term deposit accounts and similar, this isn’t insured.

1 Like
40

In which broker did you buy it? IBKR? What were the total fees you paid (e.g. bought 10,000 CHF , paid 7 CHF fee).