Are you looking for a smart way to invest your money? With "Finpension Invest" Finpension introduces an exciting new option on how you can convenient, affordable and with very exciting functions can.
In this review, you will gain deep insight into our experiences with Finpension Invest and learn how the solution compares to other providers.
Stay tuned if you want to find out how you can make your money work more effectively!
Finpension Invest at a glance
| Provider | Finpension AG, Lucerne |
| launch | May 2024 |
| Regulation | FINMA-licensed securities firm |
| minimum deposit | CHF 1 |
| Total costs | 0.47–0.49% per year |
| investment products | ETFs, index funds, private markets |
| portfolios | Up to 10 individual strategies |
| Special features | Withholding tax reporting, joint portfolio, savings plans, payment plans |
| Assets under management | > CHF 4 billion (total) |
| customers | > 40,000 (total) |
| App & Web | ✅ Both available |
My Finpension Invest review: "Finpension Invest" is the latest innovation from Finpension, a leading provider of pension solutions in Switzerland. This offer enables you to invest in free assets (i.e. not in pension provision) with a very low Entry threshold of just one franc into a Broadly diversified portfolio to invest. Whether you want to invest in traditional markets with ETFs and index funds or exciting private markets (private equity), "Finpension Invest" offers a flexible and convenient solution.
The solution is not only in the Finpension Appbut, as stated by the Final pension provision used to working in a Web solution available for the computer.
Finpension is from the FINMA as a securities firm. This means that your money is held directly by Finpension and not by a third-party bank. Since January 2025, Finpension has also been a participant in Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) – this means that deposits are credited more quickly and you receive a separate IBAN for each portfolio.
Thanks to Finpension Invest's savings plan function, not only are deposits possible automatically, but even a Automated payout plan ensures positive Finpension Invest experiences.
What makes the Finpension investment solution special is its unique Tax optimisation with Finpension Invest ETFs – more details on this shortly.
In addition, there are tax-deductible custody fees and the option of already from CHF 1 in private markets to invest – both of which are unique in Switzerland.
The clear fee structure makes it easy to understand the Finpension Invest costs to understand and compare.
Finpension Invest fees at a glance:
| Cost type | Fee | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Asset management | 0,09% | - – |
| custody | 0,30% | tax deductible |
| all-inclusive fee | 0,39% | |
| Product costs (TER of ETFs) | 0.08–0.10% | depending on the strategy |
| Total costs per year | approx. 0.47–0.49% | |
| Currency exchange | 0,002% | at interbank rates |
| Transaction fees | none | excluding stamp duty and stock exchange fees |
The tax-deductible custody fee gives you an additional benefit of approximately 0.075% at a marginal tax rate of 25%.
This transparent cost structure is a good basis for a positive Finpension Invest Test Report. After all, low costs are the basis for long-term successful investments.
Reclaim US withholding tax: the hidden Finpension Invest advantage
With US dividends, you normally lose money through withholding tax. Finpension has teamed up with BlackRock to develop a «look-through» reporting system that allows you to reclaim these taxes.
| Step | Withholding tax | How |
|---|---|---|
| Without optimisation | 30% | US withholding tax |
| With Ireland ETFs | 15% | double taxation agreement |
| With Finpension DA-1 Reporting | 0% | flat-rate tax credit |
What are the specific benefits?
With a US dividend yield of 2%, this results in a Yield advantage of up to 0.30% on your US share. With CHF 100,000 invested, that amounts to around CHF 200 per year – at no extra cost.
You will receive the report free of charge at the beginning of the year. The canton of Lucerne already accepts it, and other cantons are currently reviewing it. Details on the procedure can be found directly at Finpension on the blog.
To better understand Finpension Invest's positioning in the market, it is worth comparing its offering with other leading providers of passive investment solutions in Switzerland. We have looked at some of the most relevant platforms to give you a good Finpension Invest comparison.
| Provider | Total fees | Minimum investment | US withholding tax | Special features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finpension Invest | 0.47–0.49% | CHF 1 | 0% (with DA-1) | Community portfolio, private markets, tax optimisation |
| True Wealth | 0.53–0.72% | £8,500 | 15% (or 0% with Saxo) | Individual portfolios, children's portfolios |
| Findependent | 0.45–0.67% | CHF 500 | 15% | Up to 5 investment pots, ESG focus |
| Selma Finance | 0.64–0.90% | £2,000 | 15% | AI analysis, simple onboarding |
| VIAC Invest | 0,49%+ | CHF 1 | 30% | Integration with VIAC 3a |
Finpension vs Findependent: Which is better?
In a direct comparison between Finpension and Findependent, Finpension is cheaper for most strategies. The biggest difference is that Finpension offers withholding tax reporting, while Findependent does not. What's more, you can start with Finpension from £1 instead of £500.
Finpension Invest vs VIAC Invest
VIAC followed suit at the end of 2024 and also launched a robo-advisor. The basic fees are similar, but there is a difference in withholding tax: VIAC mainly uses Swiss funds for US equities, which means that a large proportion of US dividends are subject to withholding tax. 30% Withholding tax accrue. Finpension works with Irish ETFs and loses only 15% – which, with DA-1 reporting, is even at 0% reduced can be.
To be fair: VIAC has very low fund costs (TER from 0.021% to 0.03%), which compensates for part of the tax disadvantage. Finpension has a clear advantage when it comes to US withholding tax Whether it is the better choice overall also depends on your strategy and personal preferences.
With our voucher you can even save CHF 25 from fees. Use the Finpension Invest voucher code to open an account and deposit at least CHF 1,000 within one year!
Finpension Invest brings a number of innovative new features to the world of digital asset management, as mentioned above. Here is an overview of the most important advantages of Finpension Invest:
In this Finpension Invest review, you will surely notice how innovative the solution is. The service has only been live since 2024 and has already received exciting updates since then.
Let's take a look at the disadvantages and missing functions so that we don't just highlight the positives:
The still young offer, published in 2024, is of course not yet perfect and so there are also Finpension Invest disadvantages that you should be aware of:
Finpension Invest is suitable for for people who want to invest their assets in a convenient and uncomplicated way. The functions allow very uncomplicated investment.
Savings plans for asset accumulation, a wide range of investment options, low costs, functions for combining with pension provision through to automatic payout plans - everything has been thought of!
Finpension Invest is not suitable for people who would like to invest actively in individual securities because there are no functions available for active trading (limit orders etc.) of individual securities.
Finpension Invest is also not suitable if you are building up a large portfolio and want to keep the fees very low. This is because the annual management fee quickly adds up. Although brokers also charge fees for ETFs and transactions, holding a large portfolio in particular costs significantly less. For example, an ETF costs only 0.15% TER per year + the custody account fee. With large portfolios, you are well protected with a good Online-Broker therefore more favourable.
Finpension Invest provides you with an innovative and flexible investment solution with which you can inexpensive and Convenient assets build up.
Is Finpension reputable? Absolutely. The company manages over CHF 4 billion for more than 40,000 clients, has been profitable since 2019 and, as a FINMA-licensed securities firm, is directly supervised by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
Functions for transactions from and to Finpension pension accounts (3a and 1e) are available. Tax advantages can have a positive impact on the Finpension Invest return.
The range is rounded off by smart Savings plans which are perfectly suited for living off capital in retirement.
Access to private markets is also outstanding and innovative, but should be approached cautiously and, if so, only with a small admixture, as there are increased risks.
If you are interested in starting, please use the following Finpension Invest voucher code [CHFRZ5]. Then you will not only save Finpension Invest fees, but also support further research such as this!
We are all looking forward to your personal Finpension Invest test and your comments on it!
You can invest in the various investment strategies from as little as CHF 1, which makes Finpension particularly accessible.
Yes, there is a free Finpension Invest tax statement. Even an eTax statement is planned and should be available in 2025.
The extract is already very detailed and therefore very innovative, which further reduces the tax burden on ETFs!
The custody fees are tax deductible and there are mechanisms to optimise ETF withholding tax to reduce your potential tax burden.
Yes, transfers from other pension solutions are possible and can be seamlessly integrated.
Private markets refer to investments in unlisted companies and projects, such as start-ups or infrastructure projects. Advantages are potentially higher returns and diversification; disadvantages can be higher volatility and lower liquidity.
There is a Finpension app as well as a desktop solution and Finpension Invest has been integrated into the existing solution. If you already use pillar 3a with them, for example, you will now find the Finpension investment solution in the same platform.
You can set up scheduled withdrawals to generate regular income from your investment capital, ideal for planning your finances in retirement.
Yes, withholding tax on dividend income from US shares can be credited thanks to "look-through" reporting to reduce double taxation in some cantons.
Absolutely, you can set up to 10 different portfolios that are geared towards specific savings goals such as retirement provision, children's education or buying a property.
Your investments are protected by Swiss deposit protection and Finpension is subject to strict supervision by the Swiss financial market authorities.
Investments in private markets are possible from CHF 1; however, liquidity may be limited, which means that withdrawals are not always possible immediately.
Eric is the founder of Schwiizerfranke.com and certified IAF wealth advisor. Since 2019, he has been helping Swiss citizens to organise their finances comprehensibly, independently and efficiently.
📌 Note: This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute personalised investment advice.
Hi Eric
Wow. Very helpful. I've only just discovered your site.
I am looking for a favourable children's portfolio without having to deal with individual stock selection. Finpension Invest would probably be a good solution, as investments in private markets are also possible. Very exciting.
True Wealth is too high for the kids with 8,500 starting capital. I see TW as very attractive for a 3a solution with 100% equity exposure. That's probably pretty unbeatable, or do you see any disadvantages here (apart from the fact that you can only define 1 strategy for all 3a accounts with True Wealth)?
What would you favour for building a larger ETF portfolio (up to 100k)? The idea would be to diversify broadly with low fees, automatic investment via a savings plan and automatic reinvestment.
Thank you for all your information. Very appealing and helpful.
Kind regards
René
Thank you for your great feedback, René!
If you are weighing up these providers, you are already in the «elite class». The fees differ only minimally and should of course continue to be compared ... but I would then focus primarily on your personal preferences.
For example, the minimum volume, how easy the tax return is made (keyword eTax statement) and, for example, whether you are already with one provider and would like to add another (both have advantages: less provider overhead vs. clear separation) ...
So there is no general recommendation, but hopefully this will help you to find the right one for you. you make the right choice 🙂
LG Eric
Hello Eric
Firstly, thank you for your blog and the helpful information!
I am planning a one-off investment of approximately CHF 150,000 in the near future. The idea is to invest in a World or ACWI ETF. Either Xtrackers MSCI World UCITS ETF 1C (IE00BJ0KDQ92) or SPDR MSCI All Country World UCITS ETF (IE00B44Z5B48), both of which would be available via Saxo Bank in CHF on the Six, both have a TER of 0.12%. The second option would be with Finpension Invest (we already have our 3a deposit there) in the Global 100% ETF fund, which would cost 0.49%. Based on this information, it is clear to me which option would be preferable. However, when I look at the past performance of these three products over the last five years, the picture looks very different. I am aware that future value developments cannot be predicted based on past performance. But if my information is correct, the Xtracker World in CHF made around 55%, the SPDR ACWI in CHF around 60% and the Finpension 65%. This means that Finpension would still be considerably more profitable despite higher recurring costs.
What do you think? Thank you for your feedback.
Kind regards, Marco
Hello Marco
Thank you very much for your positive feedback, I am very pleased 🙂
Regarding your question: You correctly mentioned that the future can never be deduced from the past. Even five years is almost too short a time frame for a forecast; I always try to look back at time series of 15–30 years, if available.
That's why I would take a different perspective; what does a digital asset manager do for you and why do you think you can beat its performance?.
For many providers, cost is the decisive factor. However, with a provider as inexpensive as Finpension, this argument hardly counts anymore.
Saxo vs. Finpension is very exciting in terms of costs, because both are extremely inexpensive – even if they offer completely different solutions. In this «duel», I would rather ask what you want to do yourself and what you don't. Digital asset managers not only aim to achieve maximum performance, but also try to keep volatility within limits, offer you tax-optimised investments and reduce the effort involved to an absolute minimum. If that suits you, you're definitely in good hands here.
We will then be able to evaluate which strategy delivered the best performance in 10 years' time 🙂
Hello Eric
Thank you for your feedback. I will take the viewpoint and perspective you mentioned into account in my considerations and decision.
Kind regards, Marco
Hi, Eric,
Thanks to the numerous optimisations, according to Finpension, up to 1 % additional return can be achieved annually - enough to fully compensate for the fees. For a core-satellite portfolio in particular, the question arises as to which solution is more suitable in the long term. Because with a traditional broker with, for example, 6 ETFs, manual rebalancing and no fractional shares, the effort involved can quickly increase - both in terms of time and operationally. How do you see it?
Best regards
Marc
Hello Marc,
Whether it really is 1% and what the net return looks like in the long term remains to be seen. I am very enthusiastic about the solution and am currently running a test. Accordingly, I will keep updating this post with my results and findings 🙂
Hello Eric
What does "Furthermore, Finpension Invest is not suitable if you are building up a large portfolio..." mean? . Respectively, from what amount do you consider a portfolio to be a large portfolio?
Kind regards
Sandro
Hello, Sandro,
That depends very much on what the alternative would be. A rough house number, which applies to many robo advisors in this price segment, is around CHF 70t. Depending on the strategy and frequency of investing, a favourable broker cheaper.
However, if you generally want to save yourself the effort, you can also rely on a low-cost robo advisor such as Finpension Invest in the long term with a clear conscience.
Thanks for the great contribution and the explanation! Registration worked great. Thanks for the code and the credit! Deposit credited directly the next day and fee credit noted transparently.
If you would still like to join this year and benefit from a €25 fee credit together!
Timo 🙂
Godo evening,
I would like to start using Finpension Invest (I already have 3a pillar with a quality fund) and I'd like to know your opinon on the fund Finpension equity 100. This idea is to invest for a child for at least 18 years, around 200 CHF every month.
Is this a solid fund? I mean is it similar to a world etf with decent expected growth of 7%p.a.? Or would you choose a particular etf?
If compared to neon bank invest in etf FTSE world is Finpension expensive?
Thank you for your time
Hi Nic,
Finpension Invest is a solid choice, especially as a securities custodian-they optimise fees, including currency exchanges, to keep costs low. The Equity 100 fund is diversified similarly to a world ETF and fits a long-term growth strategy like yours. While no returns are guaranteed, it targets around 7% annually, in line with market expectations for broad equity exposure.
Hi Eric, thank you for your answer.
What do you think is more expensive in the long term, let's say 20 years?
FTSE all world, Neon invest
or
Finpension global 100?
I understood that Finpension is doing a great job in optimazing taxes, but the management fees are 0.39, then you have to TER 0.08, in this way is 0.47% every year, while Neon is 0.
Hi Nic,
Finpension Invest is a robo-advisor offering tax-efficient investing with optimised fees and a well-diversified portfolio, ideal for long-term growth. The fee includes portfolio management and other services.
Neon Invest is a brokerage-only service, meaning you handle all investments yourself. While an investment through Neon can be trading-fee-free, there is more work for you to do.
So this comparison is truly apples and oranges 🙂
Hello Eric
Thank you for your assessment of Finpension! You write "...Finpension Invest is not suitable if you are building up a large portfolio"
When is a portfolio considered large?
Merci and keep it up!
Hello Galliker,
Thank you very much for your positive feedback and your question!
Finpension Invest is also suitable for large portfolios - I wrote in the article: ... if you want to keep the fees very low.
(just to be clear once again 🙂 )
If we were talking purely about fees and wanted to optimise them to the maximum: Let's say our ETF portfolio has an average TER of 0.25% per year. If a robo advisor charges 0.40% per year, in this very simplified example 0.15% per year would be free for portfolio management.
As a comparison: at Swissquote, custody account management costs CHF 80 per year, which would mean that the "break-even" point would be reached at a custody account volume of CHF 53,333. After that, a flat custody account fee would be more favourable than a percentage fee on the assets under management.
However, this calculation does not take many factors into account. Probably the most important: the "labour hours" required to set up and maintain the depot yourself.
Hopefully this simplified view will still give you an idea.
This is suitable for many beginners and can pay off: Gaining initial experience comfortably with a robo advisor such as Finpension Invest and if the custody account becomes very large and the fees need to be reduced, you can still switch to a broker (and invest on your own).
Hello Eric
Thanks for your good blogs!
Wouldn't it make sense to invest in short-dated CHF government bonds, so you wouldn't have to go interest rate hopping and also have a correlation advantage if these bonds are combined with equities?
However, I have so far realised that these bonds are rather expensive. Approx. 0.8% of the amount at both Swissquote and Saxobank.
Do you have a more elegant solution so that you don't have to go interest rate hopping? 😉
Kind regards Kili
Hello Kili,
Thank you for your question!
Two requests: Can you please give a little more context to the question? And can you please post it directly to the appropriate post? I don't think it belongs to the Finpension investment solution here, does it?
Thank you very much!