I just learned that Corner Trader will introduce new custody fees as of 1/1/26. This represents a major change of system, as they have previously charged either no fees at all or no fees as long as you invest regularly.
I still hold an account with a couple of positions at Corner, although I started to invest elsewhere after the changed to a completely unuseabel platform last year.
With the incoming custody fees I am thinking about closing my account with Corner to avoid any future annoyance. What I am interested though is to find out, which way to use - transfer positions to my other brokers or sell positions and (potentially) buy the same stock elsewhere again?
Anyone having experience with transfering positions at Corner? With costs of 65chf per position this seems only an option for big positions, whereas for smaller positions, sell and rebuy seems better..
Quite surprising given the competition. At least in the past, Cornèrtrader was based on the Saxo platform. I’m wondering whether Saxo has increased their fees to platform partners. Cornèrtrader custody fees will even be higher than Swissquote in some cases; overall fairly close, though.
I transferred my positions from Cornèrtrader to Swissquote a few years ago. Back then it was CHF 50 per position but Swissquote offered a full refund (up to a cap), so the choice was clear for me. It took 2-3 weeks but worked without real issues in the end.
When comparing costs between position transfer and selling and rebuying, don’t forget to consider stamp duty and spread.
It seems the fees do not apply to stocks. Does that include ETFs with only stocks?
Or what is meant by “investment fund” ?
*
No custody fees are charged for stocks, except bonds and investment funds (0.10% p.a.)*
As I understand it, “No custody fees on stocks, except […]” is the current rule but starting 01.01.2026, the new fee schedule will apply to all assets.
You could argue the new custody fee is actually an inactivity fee as it’s based on the value of your assets. Same applies for the charged trade commissions which are also based on the value of your assets, split into four customer categories. The more you trade the less you pay on average per trade, if you include the custody fee.
Good afternoon, after years of silently sitting on the sideline this topic was the final nudge to create an account.
The new custody fees was the last nail in the coffin of my usage of Cornertrader, as mentioned the new platform is highly user unfriendly and it seems the focus is not on making things easier. In addition, the change of fees and costs every now and then requires paying too much attention to a broker where I personally hardly trade anymore. Thus, I took the decision of selling smaller positions, moving bigger ones and paying the CHF 65 and after everything is set and done, closing the account. Its a bit of a shame as I liked their customer service a lot, but the latest developments really made the move necessary.
I wonder what their strategy is, whether they want to actively lose a large base of their customer base. After all, people like us with few trades and buy-and-hold strategy are not really attractive to them…
This is very annoying; I had only one largish (100k+ ETF) with them in an account I just opened last June. My idea was to simply park them there to diversify brokers, using a Swiss one.
Now the order to move the transfer back to IBKR went into the Post yesterday. So 6 months with them; I’ll keep the account but let it empty.
Why not using Saxo or SwissQuote?
You could even use a brick and mortar bank if you are just holding the assets a continue buying through IBKR and transfer it to the Swiss bank all 100-200k-ish.
What is the Cornertrader process for transferring ETF positions to another broker? Did you just fill out the provided form and sent it by post to the generic Zurich address of Cornertrader? Or is there a specific address? The form cannot be submitted via their website or by email?
Thanks
The nice part of it is that you are not out of the market, so while it may be annoying to have your securities hanging in Limbo, rationally it is of no importance.
Hi folks, new here. I’d been planning to join the forum for ages, so when I saw this thread about Corner Trader I decided to jump in.
I’ve been a CT customer since 2019, my first brokerage account. Don’t have any experience with other brokers in or out of Switzerland. I was happy with CT up until about a year ago, when they significantly changed their platform. I buy a new position once a quarter and maybe make one or two extra purchases a year, so average maybe 6 transactions per year. So, I never had to pay the old inactivity fee, as I was making at least one transaction per quarter anyway. And the CHF 18 / transaction didn’t bother me either, as I was only making ca. 6 transactions per year, so it was a small fraction of my invested portfolio.
As mentioned by others, they changed the platform about a year ago, mostly for the worse. On the positive side the transaction cost went down to CHF 9 and the cost of a Swiss tax statement went from CHF 100 down to CHF 25. Now these planned custody fees are an unpleasant surprise. I’m also seriously considering moving, but I want to look into the expected costs in more detail and compare to other possibilities.
I want a Swiss broker, so I guess the other possibilities are Saxo and Swissquote? Have you guys had good experiences with those two? What are your recommendations?
A related question: Someone above mentioned diversifying between brokers. I’ve also been considering that recently. I already have various bank accounts in two countries and my 3rd pillar is spread across three providers, but I only have one online brokerage account so far. Do you guys open a new brokerage account when the first one hits a certain value, or how do you think about it? Maybe that would be a reason to keep CT, not invest anymore there and open a new account for new investments going forward.
I signed up with IBKR too, three years after CT. Mostly because of fees, taxes and US ETFs. But I still hold some ETF positions with CT, and only use it for reinvesting/rebalancing now.
Selling those positions would roughly cost me what I would have to pay in a years worth of custody fees. Which implies what their current expectation is wrt customer earnings.
Not sure yet if I will move my CT positions to IBKR. I’ll check Saxo first. I have more confidence that the transfer will work between Swiss brokers than with IBKR. But I might be wrong.
Durch das Lesen und die Teilnahme an diesem Forum bestätigst du, dass du den auf http://www.mustachianpost.com/de/ dargestellten Haftungsausschluss gelesen hast und damit einverstanden bist.