As of 18 June 2024, PostFinance is reportedly the first major Swiss retail bank to offer its customers access to the saving plan function for ETFs, shares and themed certificates.
Philipp Merkt, Chief Investment Officer at PostFinance said:
“Thanks to their simplicity and cost efficiency, saving plans are experiencing growth and increasing popularity among investors.”
Put simply, a saving plan works like a standing order. Philipp Merkt explains:
“Customers can use the saving plan to buy securities regularly – weekly, fortnightly or monthly – and automatically via the PostFinance e-trading platform.” Saving plans offer a great deal of flexibility: customers can take a break at any time, and they can also adjust their maximum investment amount based on their current financial possibilities.”
Customers can choose from “a wide range of e-trading products: there are a total of 30 different ETFs, i.e. five per issuer.”
The partners for the ETF saving plan service “are the leading issuers iShares, Invesco, UBS Asset Management, Amundi, Xtrackers by DWS and Vanguard.”
ETF stands for exchange traded funds.
These are funds that are “traded on the stock exchange and directly track an index, such as the SMI.”
Unlike many traditional funds, ETFs are “managed passively, which means lower administrative and distribution costs.”
The share saving plans allow customers “to use e-trading to buy around 300 shares from the most important indices such as the SMI, DAX or Dow Jones.”
Several PostFinance themed certificates will also “be eligible for the saving plan.”
The saving plan function will initially “be available in the desktop version of e-trading. Integration into the PostFinance App will follow at a later stage.”
The saving plans are an “execution-only” product, which means that PostFinance does not offer any advice on the product.
As covered, PostFinance Ltd is one of Switzerland’s retail financial institutions.
They claim to serve as “a diversified, innovation-driven financial service provider.”
At PostFinance, you can expect to work on current and future ways of “managing Switzerland’s money, helping to drive the digitization of the Swiss financial sector forward.”
They offer customers fresh solutions and smart money-related innovations.