Is it worth it to transfer from PostFinance to IBKR

[canukhed]

As per the title. I have some US shares and ETFs in a PostFinance E-Trading account. Is it worth it to transfer holdings to Interactive Brokers? Anyone who has done it would you recommend it?

I mean technically it’s possible. You need to fill out a form (on paper!) and fax or post it to PostFinance back office services. But they don’t disclose what the penalty or fees are for a transfer to another institution.

Is it financially better to just leave the depot as it is and make all future investments via IBKR?

 

[strobertofsalzburg]

@canukhed It depends :

First, you would have to find if the assets your hold are available on IBKR.

The you will have to find the transfer costs of PostFinance and compare that with the costs you would pay if you sold and bought back on IBKR

For example, I transfered my assets from Swissquote to IBKR last year and it costed me 53.85 fr per transfer because selling on Swissquote and buying back on IBKR would have cost more.

 

[tobiahjude99]

@canukhed Yes

You could also simply sell all and re-buy.
You pay a bit in spread, but you will have that recouped soon with lower fees.

E: forgot the fees from selling for postfinance. I dont know how big they are. If they are big, you should transfer your stocks.

Also you can buy US funds at ibkr. They are more tax efficient and cheaper. VT is simply superior to VWRL for example.

 

[shawnab]

@canukhed

You need to fill out a form (on paper!) and fax or post it to PostFinance back office services.

Lmao this alone shows what an absolute shitshow they are.

PfostFinance must be ridiculed until they stop pretending to be a bank, let alone a bank in the 21st century.

 

[datboi]

@canukhed Everything is better than PostFinance, so yes.

Also, IBKR is great and probably one of the best and cheapest brokers for Swiss people. Go ahead right away.

 

[canukhed]

@datboi Well at least PostFinance is order of magnitude better than UBS on terms of lower fees, better UI and ease of use.

 

[datboi]

@canukhed It always depends. I personally dont have any issues with the UI of UBS and it gives you a lot of possibilities for exporting, etc.

Regarding fees: Since me and my partner are sharing an account, we pay fees for the whole package but not individually - this is way cheaper than both having a single account.

 

[growth_17]

@canukhed I've been meaning to do this but their paper form is so confusing. Any advice there from someone who did it? Is this a DCT transfer? FOP?

 

[ch3ryl]

@canukhed I've emptied my old investments with PostFinance when they started charging the year-end tax receipt of CHF 90... For a computer-generated document...

 

[growth_17]

@canukhed oh and they absolutely disclose the fees of course:

Transfer from the e-trading custody account to a custody account at another financial institution
CHF 108.10 per security

which for me is cheaper to transfer as I have a large concentrated position there than to sell.

edit: you do not need to fax it, you can send them digitally: "To deliver securities to another financial institution, please complete the order form below and send it via e-finance or by post to the address indicated."

 

[canukhed]

@growth_17 After I saw your reply I searched again and did actually find the fee table at https://www.postfinance.ch/en/priva...trading/brokerage-fees-and-other-charges.html

OMG 108 chf per security for me more or less equals just not worth it. Maybe if you were holding just IV or I500 but my portfolio is a bit split. No way I'm wearing 1000 of costs to transfer.

But I don't know where you are getting your information about digital transfer. The in app "securities transfer" function just links to a PDF form (this one https://www.postfinance.ch/content/dam/pfch/doc/0_399/00339_en.pdf ) *which needs to be printed out on paper* and physically sent to them to process.

 

[tobiahjude99]

@canukhed That‘s insane.

How much does it cost for selling all?

 

[growth_17]

@canukhed if you ask the chatbot, it will tell you that sending it electronically is also fine via e-trading.

 

[canukhed]

@growth_17 The chatbot is an idiot though and doesn’t know sh*t.

 

[growth_17]

@canukhed *sigh*. maybe instead of reddit, you could have just you know, picked up the phone and called them?

lucky for you I am in the same boat as I want to transfer a position, and I called them, and they confirmed that I don't need to fax it, just send via internal message on e-trading.