True Wealth Review 2024 – Pros & Cons
| Updated: |(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)
Are you looking for a low-cost and reliable Robo-advisor?
True Wealth is a leading Swiss Robo-Advisor. It is the first Robo-Advisor, having started eight years ago, and it is also the cheapest.
In this in-depth review of True Wealth, I look in detail at their investment models, fees, and security.
| Management fee | 0.50% |
|---|---|
| Product Costs | 0.13%-0.20% |
| Investing strategy | Passive |
| Investing products | ETFs |
| Minimum investment | 8500 CHF |
| Currency conversion | 0.10% |
| Customization | Very high |
| Sustainable | Not by default |
| Languages | French, German, and English |
| Custody bank | BLKB and Saxo Bank |
| Users | 24’000 |
| Established | 2014 |
| Headquarters | Zürich, Switzerland |
True Wealth
TrueWealth is an excellent Swiss Robo-advisor with very affordable prices, making it the best Robo-advisor for serious investors.
- Very customizable
True Wealth is a Robo-advisor founded in 2013 by Oliver Herren (the founder of Galaxus!) and Felix Niederer. And the service became available to the public in 2014. As such, it is the most mature Robo-advisor in Switzerland. They now have more than 24000 clients in Switzerland. And they manage more than 1400 million CHF (as of 2023) of assets for their clients. These are quite impressive numbers!
True Wealth has two main selling points:
- Low fees
- Simple investing
These are significant advantages for people choosing Robo-advisors. Another cool thing is that they have a virtual account. It means you can open an account and test many things. And only later can you decide whether you want to transfer money. You can convert your virtual demo account into a real one anytime.
You can use their investment services from your browser. If you prefer, you can also use their mobile apps on iPhone and Android. The mobile application has all the features of the web application.
True Wealth is available in English, French, and German! This choice of languages is great since most Robo-advisors are only available in one language.
So, we will analyze True Wealth in detail!
Investment Models
First, we see how True Wealth invests your money. But before that, I should mention that True Wealth has two custodian banks: Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank (BLKB) and Saxo. It is important to mention that since this can impact which funds are being used.
True Wealth follows a passive investing strategy. True Wealth is only investing in index funds. Specifically, they are investing in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) from Ireland with BLKB and in ETFs from the US with Saxo. This is an important distinction since this will make the portfolio with Saxo more tax-efficient in regard to US dividends. I wish they would disclose that properly!
Using passive index funds is great news! Passive investing is the best way for most people to invest.
With True Wealth, you can invest up to 99% in stocks, the highest Robo-advisors offer. It is good to keep a little cash to pay the fees without liquidating the shares, which would be less efficient.
You cannot choose the ETFs you invest in directly. Instead, the Robo-Advisor will decide on a portfolio for you. Based on several questions the tool will ask you, a portfolio will be designed based on your needs. But do not worry—you will have your say in it!
They will ask many questions to evaluate your risk tolerance. For instance:
- How long and how much do you plan to invest?
- How long and how much do you plan to divest?
- What would you do if your assets lost 10% of their value?
- And so on.
Once you answer these questions (it will take you two or three minutes), you will get your portfolio. For instance, here is mine after answering them:
It is an interesting portfolio. It makes quite a lot of sense to the general public, and based on my answers, I can understand why they would choose it. However, for me, it is not aggressive enough.
However, the default portfolio is not an issue because you can customize the portfolio! Customization is a great thing about True Wealth! You have great freedom in customizing your investment portfolio!
First, you can configure each of the asset classes. For instance, you can remove all bonds, real estate, and natural resources. You can also increase the allocation of bonds or have more cash.
In my case, I set the portfolio to the maximum allocation to stocks (99%). You can choose the portfolio that suits your needs the most. They always keep 1% cash at a minimum to help rebalance and pay fees.
The optimization can go even further. You can customize the composition of each of the asset classes per region. For natural resources, you can choose between metals and diversified natural resources.
For me, this is an excellent level of customization. Some people would like to go one step further by choosing ETFs directly. But, I would argue that if you want to select your own ETFs, you should not invest with a Robo-advisor in the first place. You should invest by yourself with a broker account.
Overall, the investment system of True Wealth is excellent. You will invest only in low-cost funds. And you can customize your portfolio up to the details.
Fees
Now, we look at the fees. If you are investing for the long term, investing fees are extremely important.
With True Wealth, you pay two fees:
- The fees of the ETFs depend on your portfolio.
- The management fees depend on the size of your account.
Together, these two fees are what you will lose to fees every year.
The fees of the ETFs will depend on your portfolio. I have seen that it will vary from 0.13% to 0.2%. The most expensive ETF is the Real Estate ETF. If you do not invest much in Real Estate, you are unlikely to go higher than 0.2%. My very aggressive portfolio has only 0.13% fees!
Together, True Wealth’s total fees will be between 0.63% and 0.70%, on average. These fees are excellent.
The default management is 0.50% per year. If you have an extensive portfolio, it can go down even lower. From a 500’000 CHF portfolio to an 8’000’000 CHF portfolio, the fees will decrease from 0.50% to 0.25%! For instance, a 1’000’000 CHF portfolio will only cost 0.39%. These low fees are a great result. You can find the details on their website. If you plan to retire early and invest with a Robo-Advisor, it is terrific for your future.
There is an extra fee on top of this: the stamp duty tax. If you want details about this, I have an article about the Swiss Stamp Tax. This fee is paid on each purchase and sale of ETFs. It will cost you 0.15% for a foreign ETF and 0.075% for a Swiss ETF.
It is difficult to say how much this will cost in the percentage of your portfolio since it is also based on the purchase price and sale price. Also, it is not due each year. Overall, it should add up to less than 0.05% per year. It is a pity that True Wealth does not include this in their total fees! It would make things simpler.
Finally, you will also pay a 0.10% fee for each currency conversion done by True Wealth. This fee is the best currency conversion fee of all Swiss Robo-advisors.
Overall, the fees of True Wealth are excellent! When you compare with other Swiss Robo-Advisors, they have significantly lower fees! In total, you can invest for a minimum of 0.63% TER!
Robo-Advisors are a tradeoff of simplicity versus cost. You can save on fees if you do not mind the hassle of investing alone. Of course, the fees are higher than for DIY investing. But if DIY investing is not for you, Robo-Advisors are the next best thing.
If you are not convinced that fees are important, I urge you to consider what investing fees do to your retirement money.
Opening a True Wealth account
Opening an account with True Wealth is very simple and can be done entirely online. I will not describe each step since you only have to follow the workflow; there is nothing special about it.
On the other hand, it is essential to choose your custodian bank with care during onboarding. As mentioned before, the Saxo custodian bank may give you better tax efficiency if you invest heavily in US stocks. And it is very critical to mention that changing custody bank is very difficult and involves selling everything and buying it back with the new bank.
Once you have created your base account, you must undergo a risk assessment. This is how each Robo-advisor works in Switzerland. They will ask you a few questions to establish your risk profile.
They will propose a portfolio for you based on your risk profile. You can change it, but you will be warned that if you go higher, you may be outside of your risk tolerance.
Deposit and Withdrawals
We can also take a look at how funding and withdrawing work.
First, I need to mention a downside: True Wealth has a minimum of 8500 CHF to invest with them. 8500 CHF is too much of an entry point for many people who want to get started. And many people would probably like to try the service without investing that much money. On the other hand, you can test the service by creating a virtual account.
To fund your account, you can deposit money by transferring money to a personal IBAN. Your cash is held in your name at the custodian bank account, so you get a personal IBAN.
Interestingly, you can deposit CHF, EUR, USD, and GBP! This is an excellent feature.
You can also withdraw your money from the interface. You can only transfer to an account in your name. You must close your account to withdraw less than 8500 CHF.
Withdrawing and depositing money into your True Wealth account is quite standard. There are no surprises here.
Is it safe to invest with True Wealth?
You must consider its safety if you invest significant money in an online service.
First, we look at how assets are stored. Your assets are not held by True Wealth itself. Instead, a custodian bank holds your assets. True Wealth uses two custodian banks:
- Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank (BLKB)
- Saxo Bank Switzerland
You can choose which one you prefer. In both cases, your shares are protected from the bankruptcy of True Wealth since they are held in your name. With BLKB, you have unlimited protection for your cash. With Saxo Bank, your cash is protected up to 100’000 CHF. In most cases, your cash will be safe since you should not hold that much cash.
In the case of both custodian banks, they cannot lend your securities to other investors. Not allowing securities lending improves the safety of your assets. And this is a nice guarantee provided by True Wealth.
So, you are very well protected against bankruptcy or a takeover of True Wealth.
Is True Wealth Secure?
Now, we can also examine technical security. We do not want a hacker to steal all our assets!
For that, all communication with True Wealth will be encrypted. And you can use Second Factor Authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security. I highly recommend that you do so for each online service you use. They are offering support for the most used 2FA platforms. So this is great!
On top of that, you can only transfer your assets to an account in your name. This limitation is very good for security! If a hacker took hold of your account, they would also have to hack your bank account to get your funds. This security makes it unlikely to lose your assets!
Overall, I think True Wealth’s technical security is as good as it can be. It seems that True Wealth is very security-aware, which is excellent news for its investors.
Do not forget that the most significant security problem is the human factor. So, you need to take online security seriously.
Sustainable Investing with True Wealth
Sustainable investing is very popular these days.
And fortunately for investors who are motivated by this, True Wealth also lets you invest sustainably.
When you design your portfolio from True Wealth, you can choose between two investment universes:
- Global: All stocks for each asset class
- Sustainable: Only stocks from sustainable companies for each asset class
So, you only have to change a single thing, and your entire portfolio becomes focused on sustainable investing.
When you choose the sustainable universe, True Wealth will use Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) ETFs from MSCI. So, all the ETFs will be replaced by their SRI equivalents.
These ETFs are more expensive than the base ones. So, the total fees of your portfolio will be higher if you choose sustainable investing. For instance, the portfolio I selected for me had total fees of 0.63% and went up to 0.80% with the sustainable universe.
I think that the True Wealth system for Sustainable Investing is quite good. I wish that the ETFs were cheaper. But that is not something that True Wealth has much control over. Their approach to sustainable investing is similar to that of most other Robo-Advisors.
If you are not clear about that, read what is Sustainable Investing, ESG, and SRI.
Investing for your children with True Wealth
As of 2023, you can open accounts for your children with True Wealth.
With that, the legal representative can open an account for the child in the child’s name. This account is then managed by the representative until the child is 18.
Once the child is 18, the account can be transferred to his management directly.
This feature is great because there are few options to do that in Switzerland.
True Wealth Reputation
It is important to look at the reputation of any financial service before using it.
Overall, the reputation of True Wealth is quite good. They have 4.9 stars out of 5 on their Google Reviews (out of 31 reviews). Reading the reviews, people are really happy about multiple points:
- The service is very easy to use;
- The performance is good;
- True Wealth is very transparent;
On the negative side, I could only find two complaints:
- The lack of a mobile application. But this is now addressed since True Wealth has mobile applications as well.
- The lack of proper phone support.
I also looked at some reviews on TrustPilot, but there are only 15 of them. Some people complained that the performance was lower than the S&P500’s. I wanted to mention that review because many people misunderstand ETF Robo-advisors.
True Wealth manages a fixed index ETF portfolio for you. They will not perform any magic to perform better than the market. You can get S&P500 performance (minus fees) at True Wealth by only holding this index in your portfolio. The main advantage of a Robo-advisor is ease of use, not performance.
So, overall, the reputation of True Wealth is really good, and customers seem very happy.
Alternatives
We should quickly compare True Wealth with some alternatives.
True Wealth vs Selma
|
Perfect to get started
|
Cheapest Swiss Robo-Advisor
|
|
Primary Rating:
4.5
|
Primary Rating:
4.0
|
|
Great Robo-Advisor
|
Very affordable
|
|
Pros:
|
Pros:
|
|
Cons:
|
Cons:
|
|
Security:
Good
|
Security:
Good
|
- Beginner-Friendly
- Degressive Fees
- Great diversification
- A good strategy with ETF
- Little customization
- Outstanding fees
- Very customizable
- Great diversification
- A good strategy with ETF
- High minimums
- Not always easy to use
Selma is another well-known Robo-advisor from Switzerland. Both are quite similar in their investment strategy.
There are two main differences between these Robo-advisors:
- Selma is simpler to use if you know nothing about investing
- True Wealth can be significantly cheaper
So, if you are looking for the cheapest Robo-Advisor, True Wealth is the way to go. On the other hand, if you are looking for a beginner-friendly Robo-advisor, you should go with Selma.
For more information, you should read my in-depth comparison of True Wealth vs Selma.
FAQ
What is the minimum you can invest with True Wealth?
You need at least 8500 CHF to start investing with True Wealth.
How much will you pay in fees for True Wealth?
You will pay a management fee of 0.5%. On top of that, you will have to pay the fees of the funds. The total should amount to about 0.65% to 0.70% per year. If you have more than 500’000 CHF, you will pay lower fees, all the way to a minimum of 0.25%.
Who can invest with True Wealth?
All legal residents of Switzerland that are at least 18 years old can invest with True Wealth. True Wealth is planning to have children’s portfolios in the future, to invest for your children.
What happens if True Wealth bankrupts?
If they go bankrupt, your assets are safely stored in a custodian bank. Your cash will be protected by up to 100’000 CHF in case of bankruptcy of the custodian bank.
Can we use a TrueWealth account to invest for children?
Yes, True Wealth offers portfolios for children and young people. The portfolio can be open by the legal representative. And once the children are of age, the account can be transferred fully.
Can we open a True Wealth account from abroad?
No, True Wealth is only open to Swiss residents.
Who is True Wealth good for?
True Wealth is great for advanced investors that want to use a Robo-advisor and minimize their fees.
Who is True Wealth not good for?
True Wealth is not the best to beginners, being a bit more complicated than some other alternatives.
Can you reclaim US dividends withholding with True Wealth?
It depends on the custody bank you have chosen. If you use BLKB, 15% will be withheld and you cannot reclaim it. But with Saxo, they will use US ETFs and this will allow you to reclaim these 15% in your DA-1 form in your taxes, making Saxo more tax-efficient than BLKB.
True Wealth Summary
TrueWealth is an excellent Swiss Robo-advisor with very affordable prices, making it the best Robo-advisor for serious investors.
Product Brand: True Wealth
4
True Wealth Pros
Let's summarize the main advantages of True Wealth:
- Fees are significantly lower than other Swiss Robo-Advisors.
- Great investing strategy with passive investing.
- Can deposit money in several currencies.
- Excellent customization of your portfolio.
- You can invest sustainably with True Wealth.
- True Wealth has good security.
- Your assets are well protected in case of bankruptcy.
- Very transparent information.
- Relatively simple to use.
- Free demo account that you can use directly.
- Fully featured mobile application.
True Wealth Cons
Let's summarize the main disadvantages of True Wealth:
- Different tax efficiency based on the custody bank used.
- Cannot change custody bank later.
- You need at least 8500 CHF to invest with True Wealth.
- Stamp Duty is not included in the management fees.
Conclusion
TrueWealth is an excellent Swiss Robo-advisor with very affordable prices, making it the best Robo-advisor for serious investors.
- Very customizable
Overall, I am impressed by True Wealth. They are proposing a great investment system at a very low cost. And on top of that, the freedom to choose your portfolio is high! You can decide on your exact portfolio. In the long term, True Wealth is a great service for a serious investor.
They are among the cheapest Robo-advisors in Switzerland. And these low fees will make a significant difference in your returns in the long term. Furthermore, the fact that you can tune the portfolio to your needs will make it good for most people.
However, I would prefer if they had a lower minimum. The minimum of 8500 CHF for investing is steep for many people who want to get started. I would also prefer if they properly disclosed the differences between the two custodian banks. Indeed, a US-heavy portfolio would be more efficient with Saxo than with BLKB, and it is not disclosed! I think this is a major issue in transparency.
Keep in mind that I do not use a Robo-advisor. I invest in stocks by myself in a broker account. DIY investing is more complicated, but I pay much lower fees than with a Robo-advisor. Ultimately, it is a tradeoff, whether paying an advisor or doing it yourself.
It is also worth mentioning that True Wealth offers a third pillar account. This offer is directly integrated into the main application, and you can manage all your assets holistically. You can find more information in my True Wealth 3a review.
If you want to know how it compares with other alternatives, read my comparison of True Wealth and Selma. Or, if you want more information about True Wealth, read my interview with Felix Niederer, the CEO.
What about you? What do you think about True Wealth?
Recommended reading
Learn easy ways to optimize your finances and save thousands in Switzerland with our exclusive e-book. Learn about the most cost-effective financial services tailored for savvy residents and expats!
Get Your FREE Swiss Money-Saving Guide
Hello Baptiste. I’ve read review of Selma and Truewelth and wonder which one to choose for a low risk profile, absolute beginner investor. Both seemed a good option to me. I have minimum they asked for after all I got and want to start with low risk options until I will maybe in a situation of loss tolerance. The reason for my extremely low tolerance is that I have zero financial support in Switzerland or abroad and no one to borrow me even 10 CHF. From what I read both options are great.
I was contacted by finance advisors as I am consider “wealthy” as I bought a property but I want to get outside my bank and don’t want to pay financial advisors.
I customize my portfolio regularly depending on markets. currently i invest maximum in shares. i am impressed by their speed in investing. also you get regular info by mail as “coffee talks” by their ceo F. Niederer. The only disadvantage is you cant have 2 portfolios, for example one for balanced and one for more aggressive
Thanks for sharing your experience, Denis!
I also agree that it would be interesting to have multiple portfolios for experimenting.
I use Truewealth since beginning Nov 23 and i am pleased with their performance (15%) and their services. I withdraw some money to check them and the funds were in my bank account after 2 working days. You can modify easily your portfolio in various assets… the best is to open a test account first and see how it works.
Thanks for sharing, Denis! Are you using the default portfolio? They have indeed a very nice level of customization.
Hi Baptiste,
Thank you very much for taking the time to do these reviews it has been really an invaluable help for me.
I was wondering if you had the opportunity to have a look at TW’s new optimised strategy and I would be very interested in your thoughts in particular regarding the new proposed investment mix strategy with partial currency hedging.
Hi SP
I do not really understand this change. They allowed us to remove currency hedging on the 3a which is great but allowing us to add currency hedging in the untied assets is not that great in my opinion.
They mention it increases diversification, but for me it’s the contrary. There is more diversification by using foreign currencies than by using CHF instead.
And they also mention it is for the long term, while I believe that currency hedging is only good for short-to-medium term.
Thank you very much for your input. Good thing one can opt-out
Hi!
I am interested in opening TureWealth for my child.
One question – when he reaches 18, can he withdraw it all as well? If so, is there a big fee to do so?
Thank you.
Hi Michaela
Once he reaches 18, the account will be transferred from the parent to the child. At this point, the child can do what he wants with the account, including selling everything and closing the account. I don’t think there is any fee from TW, but the stamp duty is due. And of course, the child may sell at the wrong time, but that’s up to the child (well adult).
I too can only recommend True Wealth. It is an excellent robo-advisor. And their support is superb: fast and elaborate.
Thanks for the review, Baptiste.
Hi Roman
Thanks for your feedback on True Wealth!
Hi I’m an expat in Swiss in my thirties and only starting out with investing. Your blog is incredibly helpful! I wanted to play safe and started with an investment fund with my bank (UBS) around 3 years ago. However their fees are not extremely transparent for me, and I have now started an account in Truewealth as well and just peg it to the S&P500. Given I already paid a bunch of fees with UBS, does it make sense to withdraw my account at UBS and transfer it to Truewealth? Since the market seems quite low now, I was thinking to compare the two accounts in the short term and see if perhaps UBS returns are actually higher than Truewealth to justify their fees. I don’t have much of a network for financial advice so I would really appreciate any insight!
Yes, large banks are not known for their transparency in fees (nor their affordability).
Both strategies make sense. If you are convinced True Wealth is better, you should transfer now. But if you doubts or want to test it out, keep both n paralle until you know which one suits you best and then transfer.
Thanks indeed Baptiste for doing such a thorough review. This truewealth ad popped up today when i was in You Tube, and it talked for 2 minutes and obviously it was in Swiss German which I could not understand, but found their website. It looks quite user friendly and low management fee. I have an advanced dynamic/management with UBS and the fees are really high at 1.99% which eats everything away and not to mention I went and checked in 7 years of investment of my principal amount the total return is -0.7% to date, very depressing. No idea what it does either. Then you have VOO etc. which you pays 0.03% and let’s not even mention how that has performed in the same period. I may check out the TrueWealth with a test account, 0.5% is not bad compared to 1.99% but then it is still 10 times more than 0.03%…The only thing is CHF is always strong vis a vis USD although S&P has probably done much better than SMI or the SMI-100 whose name I forgot. Thanks!
Sorry to hear that, -0.7% in 7 years is quite depressing indeed. Even the SPI did much better than that. And as you said, VOO is even much better.
True Wealth will definitely lower your fees significantly compared to UBS. However, if you really want to lower to the most, you could invest in VOO directly with a broker. You will have to see which is your preferred investment method.
Good luck with your future investments.