findependent experience and review 2024

Last update: 17.09.2024 08:36

findependent makes it possible to invest even small amounts in an ETF portfolio. After a few years of using findependent ourselves, we can share our findependent experience with you. Especially since findependent is currently making a name for itself with crowdfunding. Reason enough to report on our findependent experiences again. Find out in the article whether findependent is right for you.

Who is findependent?

findependent is a highly interesting Swiss fintech company that wants to make investing with ETFs possible for everyone. findependent was officially launched in February 2021. We at Smolio have been following the development of findependent for a long time. We conducted an interview with founder Matthias Bryner back in 2021 and have spoken to him a few times since then. The company is based in Lenzburg and the office is in Aarau. The first investors were friends and family, followed by private start-up investors and the investment company Backbone Ventures. Around half of the company is still owned by the team around the founder.

Matthias and his team have extensive expertise in finance and technology. The platform is aimed at private investors and offers them simple and inexpensive options for asset management.

More than 12,000 customers (June 2024) manage CHF 120 million there, with around 1,000 new customers joining every month in the second quarter of 2024. Customer ratings on various platforms are very positive, with app ratings of 4.7 stars in the App Store and 4.8 stars in the Play Store (with 700 ratings).

findependent offers five ready-made investment solutions with different equity ratios and performance features. The total costs stated include management and custody fees as well as product costs.

findependent also offers the option of putting together an individual investment solution from around 30 pre-selected ETFs. This option is available from an investment amount of CHF 5,000 and is subject to the same fees as the ready-made investment solutions.

What are the costs for findependent?

There are three types of costs for findependent:

1. Degressive management and custody fees: No management and custody fees are charged for the first CHF 2,000. From CHF 2,000, the management and custody fee is 0.40 % per year. From CHF 50,000, the flat fee falls to 0.35% and in further steps to 0.29% p.a. Use our voucher code Smolio to have even CHF 3,000 managed free of charge - for life.
2. Product costs for the ETF: 0.12 % to 0.23 % per year, depending on the investment amount and the selected investment solution.
3. External costs when buying and selling ETFs: stamp duty, exchange rate surcharges for ETFs in foreign currencies and trading spreads

There are no extra fees for deposits/withdrawals and no transaction fees.

We find that, overall, findependent offers a transparent and fair fee structure that is significantly more favorable compared to traditional asset managers. The ongoing costs range from 0.52 % to 0.65 % depending on the strategy, with the first 2,000 francs even being permanently free of charge. findependent offers a cost calculator on its website, which you can use to calculate the expected costs for your own investment amount.

Our findependent experience of opening an account

The registration process is user-friendly and efficient and can be completed in 10 minutes:

• Online registration
  • Download the findependent app on your smartphone
  • Start the app and begin the account opening process.
  • Enter your name, your cell phone number and your e-mail address.
  • Verify your cell phone number.
  • Use the voucher code Smolio when opening an account and benefit from a higher fee discount for life.
• Create investment profile
  • Answer the questions about your investment character, your investment objectives, your risk tolerance and your knowledge.
  • findependent suggests a suitable investment solution based on your answers. You can accept this suggestion or choose a different strategy.
• Identity check
  • Take a photo of the front and back of your ID/passport.
  • Make a face scan for identity verification.
  • Sign the contract digitally in the app.
• Account opening
  • As soon as your profile has been created, you can deposit money. The minimum investment amount has been lowered to 500 francs to support the vision of "Investing money for everyone".

Conclusion: The registration process is quick and easy. Identity verification via Video-Ident is convenient and saves time compared to traditional methods.

Our findependent experience 2024: These points are quite unique

Investing for children: The long investment horizon of children and young people makes them ideal for investing in shares. With the option of investing for children, you can use findependent to provide for your offspring or a godchild easily and flexibly at an early stage. To do this, you need to open your own findependent account and add a separate investment goal in the app. The investments in findependent are legally yours until you transfer them to the child or have them paid out later. As soon as the child comes of age, they can open their own findependent account and you can transfer your target's investments to them free of charge. To do this, simply select "Transfer" for your target in the findependent app.

Low entry hurdle: With a low minimum investment of just 500 francs, findependent makes it possible for practically anyone who wants to do so to enter the world of investing. In addition, no management or custody fees are charged for the first 2,000 francs of assets, which makes it even easier to get started. This compares with a minimum investment of CHF 8,500 with Truewealth.

findependent experiences: what advantages does findependent offer compared to Truewealth and finpension?

Our findependent experience shows that the solution is characterized by the following points compared to competitors such as True Wealth or finpension:

• Cost structure: findependent offers a lower management fee (0.40% p.a.) compared to True Wealth (0.50% p.a.), but a comparable or slightly higher ETF cost structure compared to finpension. As already mentioned, the first CHF 2,000 are free of charge.
• Simplicity and ease of use: findependent offers an uncomplicated investment process that is particularly suitable for beginners. The app has a simple and clear design, which makes it very easy to use.
• Flexibility: findependent offers various predefined investment strategies to choose from. In addition, you can put together your own ETF investment solution from an investment volume of CHF 5,000.
• Transparency: findependent's cost structure is clear and understandable. The company also provides detailed information on the ETFs used, which ensures transparency in the investment process.
• Children's custody accounts: findependent makes it possible to open separate investment goals for children and transfer them later free of charge. This enables parents to start making financial provision for their children at an early stage.

In our view, these advantages make findependent particularly attractive for beginners and cost-conscious investors who want to invest their money themselves, simply and transparently.

What are the disadvantages of findependent?

Despite the many advantages, our findependent experience also shows a few disadvantages:

• No flat rate for administration and product costs: the product costs are added to the fees for findependent. There is no real "all-in" fee that is transparently comparable.
• Restrictions in the investment universe: findependent mainly offers equities and bonds. Alternative asset classes such as commodities are missing from the standard portfolios.
• Exchange rate fees: at 0.5 %, there is still room for improvement.
• App-based only: findependent is only accessible via a smartphone app. There is no desktop version.
• No 3a pillar: Unlike truewealth or finpension, there is currently no pillar 3a offer.
• Disadvantageous management fee for large investment sums: Although the fees are very low compared to traditional banks and comparable providers and gradually decrease from investment sums of >50,000 (unlike with finpension, for example), the management fee of 0.4% of the investment sum is higher than if you manage your portfolio yourself. With a renowned Swiss online bank, for example, you only pay CHF 100 p.a. up to investment sums of CHF 100,000, which corresponds to 0.1%.

How safe is findependent?

findependent attaches great importance to the security and protection of client assets. In 2023, they received approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA as a licensed asset manager and are therefore subject to regulatory supervision. The company opens accounts for its clients at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg.
Here are the most important security features in detail:

• FINMA regulation. This supervision ensures that all legal requirements and regulations are complied with.
• Protection of customer deposits up to an amount of CHF 100,000 by the Swiss deposit protection scheme (esisuisse). This means that even in the event of Hypothekarbank Lenzburg's insolvency, deposits are protected up to this amount. In the event of findependent's bankruptcy, customer deposits are not affected anyway, as they are not held by findependent itself, but by the bank.
• Custody of client funds at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg. The clients' securities belong to them at all times and are not included in the bank's balance sheet, but are so-called special assets. In the event of the Hypothekarbank's bankruptcy, the client deposits would not form part of the bank's bankruptcy estate, but could be transferred to another bank.
• Modern encryption technologies and security protocols to protect customers' data and transactions. This includes SSL encryption and regular security checks.
• Regular reports and a transparent presentation of investment strategies and costs ensure that customers are informed about the status of their investments at all times and can understand how their money is being managed.

These security features show that findependent attaches great importance to the protection of client funds and data. In our view, findependent offers a high level of security for investors. Client funds are clearly separated from the assets of the company and the custodian bank.

What is the goal of findependent crowdinvesting 2024?

The company pursues two main objectives with crowdinvesting:

1. Customer loyalty: The most important aspect for findependent is to bind existing customers more closely to the company by allowing them to become co-owners. Bryner emphasizes that customer loyalty is even more important than fresh capital.
2. Raising capital: Although it is not the main goal, findependent would like to raise additional funds through crowdinvesting. The company is aiming to raise at least CHF 2 million, with the possibility of increasing this to a maximum of CHF 5 million if the campaign is very successful.

findependent deliberately issues participation certificates instead of shares with voting rights. This indicates that the company wants customers to participate financially, but wants to retain control over the management of the company. Bryner says that this decision was made primarily for administrative reasons.

Summary of performance features

Summary of findependent experience and review 2024

findependent wants to make investing as easy as possible. To this end, they offer a user-friendly, transparent and modern platform. This is characterized by simple handling and low entry barriers. Security features such as FINMA regulation and the separate safekeeping of client funds at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg offer a high level of protection.

In addition, findependent is one of the cheapest digital asset managers in Switzerland. Since our voucher code Smolio even allows you to manage your first 3,000 francs free of charge for life, you can simply try out findependent without obligation and test whether the investment app meets your investment needs.

findependent's investment solutions are therefore an exciting option if simplicity, low entry barriers and low management fees are particularly important to you in a robo-advisor.