Interactive Brokers inbound transfer position (from Swissquote)

Investing / Brokers
1

Hi All,

I noticed that Swissquote has updated their pricing end of 2017, and now they have a custody fee at 0.025% per quarter (minimum CHF 15 and maximum CHF 50 per quarter) - this seems super expensive!!

I want to transfer my ETF positions over to my Interactive Brokers account, and as I understand it the transfer is always initiated by the receiving broker (i.e. IB in this case).

I found through the IB manual that this can be initiated through Account Management > Transfer positions > selecting Inbound position, however here is where my problem starts:

There are several types of options for the inbound positions, and I am not sure which one is correct:

  • ACATS – Not supported for Advisor master accounts, SIPP Administrators, Fully Disclosed Brokers requesting a transfer for a client account, or Canadian IRA accounts. Also not supported in India or Japan.
  • ATON – For Canadian and US stocks, options and cash. Not supported for Advisor master accounts, SIPP Administrators, Fully Disclosed Brokers requesting a transfer for a client account, or Canadian IRA accounts. Also not supported in India or Japan.
  • FOP – For long US stock positions, US Warrant positions, and Corporate and Municipal Bond positions from another US bank or broker that is a member of the Depository Trust Company (DTC). Not supported for Advisor master accounts, SIPP Administrators, Fully Disclosed Brokers requesting a transfer for a client account, or IRA accounts. Also not supported in India or Japan.
  • DRS - Not supported for Advisor master accounts, Advisors requesting a transfer for a client account, Fully Disclosed Brokers requesting a transfer for a client account, or IRA accounts. Also not supported in India or Japan. DRS transfers requested by a Hedge Fund Investment Manager for a client is allowed only if the client if a fund.
  • DWAC - Not supported for Advisor master accounts, Advisors requesting a transfer for a client account, Fully Disclosed Brokers requesting a transfer for a client account, or IRA accounts. Also not supported in India or Japan. DRS transfers requested by a Hedge Fund Investment Manager for a client is allowed only if the client if a fund.
  • International Asset Transfer – Not supported for Advisor master accounts or IRA accounts.
  • US Futures – Not supported for Advisor master accounts, Fully Disclosed Brokers requesting a transfer for a client account, or IRA accounts.

I assume I should choose International Asset Transfer, but just wanted to check if anyone has done this and what they choose? Any fees I should look out for?

1 Like
2

I’m not up to speed with Swissquote terms, but I remember when I was looking for a broker 2 years ago, their pricing was already like this. You pay 0.1% annual custody fee, but not more than 200 CHF. That’s why I went for CT back then. But IB is a whole other league.

3

Can confirm what @Bojack already said too, from comparison 5 years ago, the Sq rates have been constant at Verwahrung 0.025% pro Quartal (min CHF 15.00, max CHF 50) for >= 5years.
On a related note, Look out for an increase at Postfinance sometime this year, Pf CEO mentioned this week that due to low-interest situatuon aside from announced lay-offs, also rate increases are necessary to the tune of average 20-25 Fr per client… How remains to be seen.

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4

Did the transfer SQ > IB in march. SQ fees for outgoing securities transfers are CHF 50.- per position. This is why I decided to sell and transfer the money. Fund transfer is only CHF 2.

But after wiring the cash I got like 3 dividends so I still have some cash sitting there.

SQ says they only charge the deposit fee if you had securities in it once in that quarter year

5

Right. Sometimes, it’s a lot cheaper and easier to sell and rebuy. To avoid missing good return day, it’s mayber better to do that in two or three time.

6

Do you mean a day when the value rises a lot or a day when dividends are paid?

7

When value rises a lot, but I would also avoid dividend periods.

1 Like
8

@svarto I’m in the same situation now, I’d like to move to IB from CT.
Did you manage to do it? Can you share a quick summary and the costs you had to pay?

Thanks!

9

@Mr.HdLR, I only transferred one of my positions so far, I did it through liquidating it and then transferring the entire cash balance. This was only because I was forced to liquidate as the ETF was closed.

I will see how I do it, might go through the same for the other holdings.

10

I have started the whole process last week.
CT has contacted me with a form to be filled and that’s it… I’m waiting for the process to complete.
as soon as that’s done I’ll let you all know.

cheers

11

Hi all, just opened an IB account after all the good press from MP. I am also now transferring my positions from SwissQuote (3 US stocks and one VT ETF) and saw this option on the IB help page:
European Position Transfers
Description
European stocks, bonds, structured products and options may be transferred to IB for Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. You initiate these transfer requests on the Position Transfers page in Account Management. Select International Assets as the Transfer Method, and then search for assets by symbol, ISIN or CUSIP and select the assets you want to transfer.
When you request an International Asset position transfer, you have the option of creating a new Position Transfer Instruction or using an existing Position Transfer Instruction.
Time to Arrive
From four to eight business days.
Limitations
IB will not provide individual registration of holdings. IB keeps all positions in the firm name (“street name”).
Advisors and Fully Disclosed Brokers can request inbound international asset transfers for a client account but the client must create a position transfer instruction first and the Advisor or Broker must use those instructions.

As per the previous posts on this thread, ChickenFat says SQ will charge CHF 50 per transfer. But selling the stock on SQ, transferring the cash, and then re-buying on IB would seem to be more than CHF 50 in sell/buy commissions. I’d be grateful to hear any other advice on this (otherwise maybe IB is not the good deal it’s made to be when you need to do the position transfer)!

12

I did that coming from Saxo (2 positions, about 30k), I think it was slightly more expensive and a lot more hassle. On the other hand I switched from VWRL to VT in the same move.

In hindsight I should have just done the position transfer and do the switch at IB.

13

Thanks derpinator. I think I’ll do it slowly using a combo of both transfers as well as selling my positions in SQ when the time is right (in anticipation for the inevitable stock market downturn coming soon).

14

I agree about the inevitability but I would not bet on the “coming soon” part, it might be today or it might not happen for another couple of years (unless you know something I don’t know XD).

Depending on the fees of your old Broker it might make sense to do it in one go. Unless the anti-crash happens between selling and re-buying you do not risk much. If you want to get rid of that risk you should just do the positions transfer.

15

I had some cash that i transfered to IB and it worked fine.

Now I’m trying to transfer a position. I entered everything at IB and now I have to fill the Swissquote form in order to transfer the position.

I suppose that in the Parts "Principal" and "Beneficiary" I put in my name.

What about Safe Custody Account? Where do I find my Account Number in IB? Is this a U1234567 number? (Why not a regular IBAN?)

And does anybody what has to be filled in "delivery instructions"?

16

yes, thats your account number
back then i transferred positions from cornertrader to IB, was no problem. i had to fill out the according form with both brokers. the rest i forgot

17

I successfully transferred all my positions from Swissquote to IB. The steps that I had to go through, for everyones reference was the following:

  1. Initiate the transfer on Interactive Brokers side, choosing International Asset Transfer and entering the details (I just logged into Swissquote and copied the data from one of my statements, i.e. Account Number).
  2. Interactive Brokers then contacted me to say that I need to confirm that Swissquote has been informed by filling in a paper Interactive Brokers provided and sending it to Swissquote, I did so.
  3. Swissquote got back to me to confirm my signature with a form that they provided, I filled in the form and return it to Swissquote.
  4. I got a warning in IB that I did not have trading permissions for some of the positions that I was transferring, so I had to go into IB and request them - got instant approval.
  5. Slowly but surely the positions started to get transferred from Swissquote to IB, it took probably ~2 weeks for it all to properly settle.
  6. Swissquote charged me ~53.85 CHF per position transfered, so had to make sure I had cash in the account.
  7. Finally Swissquote and IB notifies me the transfer is done!
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18

Hi, is there a way to check if the bonds you would like to transfer are accepted by IB before opening an account? I searched the IB site but only found a way to search by ISIN when you already have one.

19

Hi, good for you!
I’m planning to do the same (not from SQ but a Swiss and two italian banks) but I’m a bit paralized by the fear of having everything in IB (cfr. the Interactive Brokers - all eggs in one basket? post).
Also afraid of being hacked while checking my account and one day open it and find it… empty.
Don’t want to trick you into bad thoughts but have you had the same worries? If so how did you overcome them?
Thanks

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20

Can’t you simply submit the IBAN list to IB support and ask them ?
Then you’ll have a written answer.