CornerTrader Review

Hi,

I opened an account in CT and I’d like to share my experience, data, etc. to help others to take or not the decision of opening an account there.

I had 3 months the account and I did around 35 trades. I have a good experience in trading with more than 10 years and thousand of trades in Forex, Stocks, Options, Futures, etc.

I have an account in IB but I’d like to diversify the broker and stay some funds in Switzerland… for safe… The account was between 100k and 150kCHF.

First opening… Was not a easy process. Everything is done by standard mail and they want originals signed in blue…e.tc… :slight_smile: Old fashion but it’s OK.
You get an Swiss IBAN for CHF and if you ask, they give you an IBAN for EUR and USD … But, as many things, have to be done by telephone or contacting directly your financial advisor. Mine was nice but I don’t like the fact of having to call or treat the things by telephone or in paper written! Also they told me that forget the Revolut or Transferwise solutions to fill the accounts! Of course, they want to do that themselves with a high commission :wink:

I use a Mac environment and the only platforms available are the mobile (not well done, buggy and slow) and the web access, only with Safari or Chrome! No Firefox. They allow you configure the 2FA with an application from Symantec.

Now, the review:

Pros:

  • Easy platform if you only want to buy or sell… nothing else.
  • Swiss based.
  • Cheapest in Switzerland.

Cons:

  • No trailing stops.
  • Expensive, very expensive!!! I had headaches when I show some trades made in IB at 2, 3 $ becoming 300, 400 CHF in CT !!! Commision, Swiss Stamp, etc.
  • The worst platform to operate I had… Is even worst that DeGIro!!!
  • Really, really expensive CFD interests! One night, 300kCHF -> 21 CHF of interest!! Impossible working like that.
  • Withdraws have to be request by chat or mail (they call you to verify and knowing why are you moving funds :wink: ) You cannot alone send back to your bank account some money.
  • Really expensive currency exchange. 0.5% of commission. If you do 50kCHF, you pay 250 CHF… in IB 2 CHF :frowning:
  • If you want to have the tax report, you pay… and there is not opening fees… well… they have 25 CHF for closing the account! That is THE SAME… Because soon or later you are going to close it…
  • Any free real market quotes… Not even for the SMI!!! All is delayed 15 minutes. I expected, at least, for 120kCHF in the account having the SMI (home based) in Real Time or at least as IB, with free snapshots…
  • And the drop that made me mad was the inactivity fees… just insane.

I closed the account.

Conclusion: Stay or open an account in IB and forget CT. If you really want a Swiss based broker, take SwissQuote, a bit more expensive but I think they are more professional.

Open to questions if you need help.

4 Likes

Hi Tino

Thanks a lot for your insights.

How did you enable 2FA? Did you have to phone/message them as well to achieve this? I cannot find an option in the user interface. This feature has been discussed here previously and it seemed to be in a kind of beta state. Do you know if that’s still the case?

Cheers

CT is fine for a simple buy and hold investor, if you keep purchasing regularly. But I have decided that it’s not worth it for me.

Hi OrientExpress,
Download and test the Symantec 2FA from Apple Store before to be sure that works for you.
In the CT interface, in the top right there is a mail symbol. Open a chat with the support and request the 2FA service. They’ll activate and when you login again will ask you for the number that shows the Symantec Aplication in the phone.

I was using every day without any problem. I tried sometimes making “mistakes” in the number to test and you cannot log in.

Regards.

Tino

Thanks a lot. I‘ll try to have it enabled.