Swiss brokers [2023]

I see. Maybe it’s been mentioned already, but PF offers CHF 90 in trading credits each year (I think if you hold a certain sum with PF), so the annual fee of CHF 90 isn’t that high anymore. Until you exhaust your credit, at least.

Guess it’s best to estimate your trading needs and the calculate what’s best for you

Thanks for the hint, yes I was also recommended a few posts above to check out PF. I’ll definitely do that and calculate in my specific case which of both SQ or PF would be cheaper.

If you are considering SQ, I’d also check TradeDirect, with a similar pricing model but lower costs for some (many? all?) formulas. Both offer share registering for swiss shares, SQ will have more derivative products and easier to access/potentially more interesting margin loans.

It’s offered by the Banque Cantonale Vaudoise so it’s probably easier to access for French speaking users, though they probably can handle English communication. I’ve not had to go to a physical branch to open my account (though I had to send mail and go to the post office once) and have dealt with support through emails/direct messages, which could be in English, just fine. Starting with CHF 10K AUM, you can get a checking account with a debit card for free (along with a savings account but that probably won’t be the one with the best interest rates out there…).

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I do a similar set up as you do, with PF instead of Swiss quote and IB. For the swiss based shares and funds I go with PF using up the 90CHF trading credit and once that is used up I go to IB with for all other trading and US (or international) listed shares and ETF’s.

Worked very well so far. I still do not really like to IB UI but the fees are insane.

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Interesting, I never realized that TradeDirect was from the BCV. For me it always sounded so American :wink: So after a quick look the quarterly fees of TD being capped at max 25 CHF per quarter look better that SQ but their brokerage fees are unfortunately worse that SQ. So finally the cheapest one all depends on your usage (low/high transaction volume).

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A post was merged into an existing topic: What’s your (investment) strategy for 2023?

It’s a different TradeDirect :rofl:

Very original name, you know.

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There is also Flowbank, they alreday decrease their trading fees: 0.1% for ETF on SIX (minimum 6.50 frs, stamp duty and SIX fees included as I understand their fees :thinking:).

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Has anybody tried to buy small amounts of ETF leaders by phone? I understand from the price info that this should be the stock pricing when it is done by phone and not online, so 5 CHF for small trades… I would love to hear anything about this.

I guess yuh is cheaper for trades < 500 CHF, as it costs 0.50% flat (not taking in account currency exchange).

Compared to Swissquote ETF leaders, Yuh is cheaper up to around CHF 2’500, as far as I can tell. Compared to stocks and other ETFs at Swissquote, Yuh is cheaper up to around CHF 6k (and between 10k and 11k, between 15k and 16k, and between 25k and 27k due to the terrible fee system at Swissquote).

However, the ETF selection at Yuh is very poor overall (only 37 in total), especially when considering the 0.95% currency exchange fee. That said, for investments in SPI or individual Swiss stocks, Yuh may be adequate.

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Especially if you consider the possibility to buy shares in fractions.

I said it before and I will say it again: I wouldn’t trust a bank with this kind of logo.

Hahaha

I was with their Head of Legal during my CAS in digital finance law, quite an intereting person and a lot of work since their creation.

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Ahaha, good one :rofl: The first idea in mind which came to me by seeing this logo: a plumber company logo :wink:

On a more serious note, this company is too new/small for my risk appetite. Let’s re-assess if they are still around in 3 years time…

Yuh as broker…any feedback?

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Did you try the forum’s search options ?

Never used it in this quality.

I have not yet used it as broker but I am considering doing so.

Good points:

  • No custody fees (subject to change, but so far nothing).
  • They provide for free the eTax form for swiss tax declaration. (Swissquote/PF ask for 50 or 100chf per position).
  • The 0.5% fee is a lot, but fine for small constant purchase, so compatible with some dollar-cost averaging + accumulation plan.
  • When opening the account you get a 50chf trading credit.
  • It’s a swiss bank (vs IB, Degiro, etc.).

Pain points:

  • The 0.5% fee.
  • The swiss stamp fee (but that’s the price to pay to have a swiss broker).
  • EXTREMELY limited number of ETFss to choose from. (I’d like to buy something like SMMCHA, but cannot find it or something similar).
  • Yuh is an ugly name :slight_smile:

Any thoughts?

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This, combined with the high currency exchange fee (0.95%) and the inability to transfer positions to another broker, makes Yuh unsuitable as broker for global passive investor, in my opinion.

E.g. world equity ETF: The only two choices are IWDC (CHF-hedged, TER 0.55%) or VWRD. For VWRD you’ll pay 2.9% in fees (+ 0.3% stamp duty tax) in total (buy+sell) as it’s traded in USD.

There are also no bond funds available at all.

They do offer iShares Core SPI (TER 0.10%), UBS SXI Real Estate ETF and various Swiss stocks. The 0.5% fee (1.0% for buy+sell) may be acceptable for those. I.e. as a second broker for some Swiss securities, it may be suitable. However, not being able to move a large position to another broker without paying another 0.575% (with stamp duty tax) is still a risk.

Imagine you have large positions there and they decide to increase fees. E.g. a yearly safe custody fee. You’re either forced to pay that or pay a large fee to get away from Yuh. I’d be in favor of regulations to require brokers to allow security transfers with a maximum fee per position.

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