Strateo vs Saxo Bank vs CornerTrader

Greetings. The deplorable interest rates at banks have driven me to play a more active role in investing my money, namely via an online stock broker. Has anybody used either Strateo, Saxo Bank or Cornertrader? Which of these Swiss platforms provides the best user experience and lowest fees?

The moneyland.ch online trading comparison paints a pretty clear picture of fees:

/en/online-trading-comparison

Warrants trading isn't currently possible with Strateo, unfortunately.

Strateo is one of the most affordable online brokers in Switzerland for most trading categories. Costs, service and security are all good arguments for this bank.

Saxo Bank is not a good option for passive investors. The bank actually closed the account of an acquaintance of mine because they did not trade frequently enough. The less you trade, the higher the fees you pay. From what I hear the tech side is not bad though.

Is Cornèrtrader the right broker for building a diversified ETF portfolio? Does anyone here have experience with this broker and know what ETFs it offers?

Thanks to all.

Hello,

I have an account with CornerTrader.

Yes, you can buy ETFs through them and in my opinion the selection of ETFs offered is sufficient to build a diversified, global portfolio. For example, all iShares Core ETFs for major regions are offered. It’s possible that not all of them are available, but I can find all of the ones which I am interested in.

The only disadvantage in my opinion is that available ETFs aren’t listed in their own category in the trading platform. You have to search for them using the search tool, which means you have to know exactly which ETFs you want (i.e. iShares Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF). I can’t get an overview of all available ETFs, even if I search for “ETF” in the search tool.

You can find information on ETFs on sites like justetf.com and get the exact titles so you can find them with the Cornertrader search tool. All in all it isn’t too complicated. Once you have found an ETF you are interested in, you can add it to a watchlist (you can create watchlists yourseld in Cornertrader).

Why not try opening a demo account to see whether it works for you before you commit?

Anyway, I hope my input helps somehow.

What are the options to withdraw my money from these platforms?

Cornertrader offers the TradersCard for 40 CHF per year. Is it possible to transfer money to another bank with this card or is there another option?

Withdrawing money is not the problem - there is no card needed.

There might be a fee to close the account though.

Biggest issue are transfer fees for equities where I you have to pay a lot with most Swiss brokers.

https://www.moneyland.ch/en/bank-transfer-fees-securities-comparison

CornèrTrader is updating its margin structure with effect from October 2, 2019.

Currently, CornèrTrader only automatically squares your positions when 150% of the margin is used. From October 2, 2019, CornèrTrader will square positions when 100% of the margin is used.

Also on October 2, CornèrTrader will use two different sets of margin criteria. A higher initial margin is required in order to open positions. Once positions are open, a lower maintenance margin applies.

These are major changes which impact forex and CFD trading (including trading in CornèrTrader’s CFD options). The changes do not impact stock trading (including ETFs) in cash.