Online asset management is the going trend. While numerous international service providers like Wealthfront and Nutmeg have been around for some time, the Swiss online asset management sector is still in its infancy.
The online broker Swissquote has delivered wealth management services for several years via its ePrivate solutions.
True Wealth, the online investment solution by Felix Niederer and Digitec founder Oliver Herren, is a more recent arrival.
Now, the Glarner Kantonalbank GLKB has entered the space with Investomat, an online asset management tool. The GLKB has churned out a number of interesting “omat” services recently, including solutions for online mortgages (Hypomat), online savings account (Kontomat) and online life insurance (Risikomat). In German, the word “Automat” defines a tool which automates a process.
The Investomat enables categorized investments of 5000 francs or more via exchange traded funds (ETFs). The cockpit lets the user simulate investments, view transactions and track investment progress.
A number of questions are presented to users which held determine their risk profile (risk tolerance and risk capacity).
One interesting feature is the way in which Hypomat users with a low risk tolerance are directed to a savings account solution (Kontomat) rather than to risk-prone investment vehicles.
Fees are comparable to those charged by other online asset management services. With an administrative fee equal to 0.6% of deposits, costs are well below those charged by conventional private banking services. However, they are slightly higher than similar multi-asset-ETF costs (True Wealth charges 0.5%).
Unlike conventional private banking mandates, Investomat does not include a personal consultation. Additionally, customer banking secrecy does not apply to the online solutions offered by the Glarner Kantonalbank, as per the user agreement.
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