In this range of articles, I am going to do a review on low-cost platforms in the offshore investments space tarting with Swiss-quote.
Who is Swiss quote?
Swiss Quote Group Holding SA company. It is a Swiss banking group formed in 1996 and currently has offices around the world.
Where is it regulated?
It does have several locations around the world including Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE, and U.S, and U.K but the main location is Switzerland, which is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
One aspect as well to note about Swiss Quote is that it is listed on the stock exchange, so it is transparent to see all its financial reports.
What do people use it for?
Swiss Quote as of mid-2021 has over 400,000 people using the accounts, in its four main accounts which are, trading accounts, crypto, forex and robo advisory.
As you can see from the range of platforms offered it can be used for a range of expats, from beginners in the robo advisory company to the more sophisticated and in the forex and crypto world.
I would say having used the account that it might be a bit difficult for someone starting out in the investing world, however, it does have a demo account to get used to.
What will you pay?
I will go for me personally, that the cost is rather good despite many online suggesting that the fee is too high. For what you get in terms of Swiss protection it compares very competitively in comparison.
- Custody fee- 0.025%
- ETFs cost- 9 CHF
- Quarterly fee 15 CHF- 50 CHF (the maximum you will pay is 200 CHF)
You do have a funds range where if the funds are not in the vanilla funds, you will pay a higher price, and this can be what the funds charges so would keep an eye on a list of the funds can be found at:
Trading cost on stocks and ETFs
- 0 – 500: 9 CHF
- 500.01 – 2000: 20 CHF
- 2000.01 – 10’000: 30 CHF
- 10’000.01 – 15’000: 55 CHF
- 15’000.01 – 25’000: 80 CHF
- 25’000.01 – 50’000: 135 CHF
- From 50’000.01: 190 CHF
And here are the fees for American stock exchanges (NYSE or Nasdaq):
- 0 – 500: 9 USD
- 500.01 – 2000: 25 USD
- 2000.01 – 10’000: 30 USD
- 10’000.01 – 15’000: 55 USD
- 15’000.01 – 25’000: 80 USD
- 25’000.01 – 50’000: 135 USD
- From 50’000.01: 190 USD
Additional fees if you are trading currency are 0.95%
Swiss stamp duty tax is 0.075% for Swiss shares and 0.15% for non-Swiss shares.
What are the minimums?
With Swiss Quote, you have no minimums. However, as I mentioned above you do have costs you have to pay so personally would only look at using this for larger investments of over $50,000 for efficiency. (This is my personal view).
Is Swiss Quote safe?
As mentioned earlier Swiss quote is regulated in Switzerland by FINMA and has a banking licence which is backed to the amount 100,000 CHF.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a self-managed account, Saxo bank and Interactive brokers is one of the best options in the market. With Swiss protection and location, it has one of the best locations in the markets.
Yes, you could if you do a price comparison on non-Swiss stocks it is more expensive but still, believe this is a good option even more so that as it does not charge inactivity fees.
