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VIAC Invest takes the app that fixed Swiss pillar 3a and points it at your free savings: index strategies from 1 CHF, up to 99% equities, and a 0.25% administration fee that swallows custody, every trade, currency exchange and even Swiss stamp duty. The number that matters is not 0.25%, though. It is the 0.45% to 0.52% total that VIAC publishes on its own strategy page.
One of the two cheapest full-service ways to invest free assets in Switzerland, and the tidiest priced. VIAC’s 0.25% administration fee genuinely covers everything on VIAC’s side, stamp duty included, so what you see is what you pay with no per-trade levy hiding behind it. The catch is the fund shelf: 13 VIAC funds and nothing else, no crypto, and no joint portfolio for couples.
VIAC Invest pros and cons
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What VIAC Invest actually costs
VIAC charges an administration fee of 0.25% a year on the assets you have invested, and nothing at all on cash. That fee is unusually complete: custody, transaction fees, foreign currency costs, Swiss stamp duties and VAT and the e-tax statement are all inside it. There is no base fee, no performance fee, no retrocessions, no closing fee and no charge to pay money in or take it out. Then the funds cost their own money on top, between 0.09% and 0.27% depending on the strategy. Every figure below was read from VIAC’s own fee and strategy pages on 21 September 2026.
| Item | Cost at VIAC Invest |
|---|---|
| Administration fee | 0.25% a year on invested assets |
| Custody | Included in the 0.25% |
| Buying and selling | Included, no transaction fees |
| Currency exchange | Included, no FX margin |
| Swiss stamp duty and VAT | Included, not billed on top |
| Fund product costs | 0.09% to 0.27% a year, inside the funds |
| Cash held in the Invest account | Free, and earns 0.00% interest |
| E-tax statement | Free, automatic for every customer |
| Deposits and withdrawals | Free |
0.25% decoded. The administration fee is genuinely all-in for everything VIAC does. What it does not include is the funds you are actually buying, and those cost 0.09% to 0.27% a year. VIAC states the resulting totals plainly on its strategy page, which is more than most providers do: 0.45% to 0.52% a year depending on which strategy you pick. Quoting 0.25% as the price of VIAC Invest describes the wrapper and leaves out the contents, and it is the single most repeated mistake in Swiss fee comparisons.
The published total costs, strategy by strategy
VIAC’s strategy page gives a total cost per strategy that it defines as including asset management, custody, brokerage, foreign currency costs, stamp duty and all product costs including the target funds. That is the number to compare against other providers, not the 0.25%.
| Strategy family | Equity range | Total cost per year |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland 20 to 100 | 20% to 99% | 0.45% to 0.48% (Switzerland 100: 0.45%) |
| Global 20 to 100 | 20% to 99% | 0.46% to 0.49% (Global 100: 0.46%) |
| Global Sustainable 20 to 100 | 20% to 99% | 0.49% to 0.52% |
| Invest account (cash only) | 0% | Free, 0.00% interest |
Two things fall out of that table. The cheapest strategy is not the one most people assume: Switzerland 100 at 0.45% undercuts Global 100 at 0.46%, because Swiss funds avoid some of the costs a global portfolio carries. And the sustainable range costs up to 0.07 percentage points more than the plain global one, which is a reasonable price for the screen but is a price, and VIAC does not hide it.
What that means on CHF 50’000
Put CHF 50’000 into Global 100 and the whole thing costs about CHF 230 a year, stamp duty included, with nothing else to add. The same money in finpension Invest costs roughly CHF 240 a year, plus Swiss stamp duty of 0.075% or 0.15% on every purchase and sale. At True Wealth it is about 0.62% all-in, roughly CHF 310 a year. So VIAC Invest and finpension Invest are a tie of a few francs, and both are meaningfully cheaper than the established robo-advisor.
The stamp duty point is worth more than it looks. Swiss stamp duty is charged per trade, so it costs a lump-sum investor once and a monthly saver twelve times a year. VIAC absorbs it inside the 0.25%, and its own funds are largely exempt from it anyway. If you are paying in every month, that is a real advantage over providers who collect it on each purchase, and it is invisible in any comparison that only lines up annual percentages.
The strategies and the 13-fund shelf
You pick a family, Switzerland, Global or Global Sustainable, and an equity level from 20 up to 100, where 100 means a maximum equity weighting of 99%. Rebalancing runs automatically. For most people that is the entire decision, and Global at the highest equity level you can live through a bad year with is the honest default.
You can also build an individual strategy, weighting the underlying funds yourself at exactly the same conditions and the same fee. The constraint is what you are weighting: VIAC Invest holds VIAC’s own funds only, 13 of them, made up of two bond funds, eight equity funds, two real estate funds and one gold fund, with VIAC Gold at 0.28%. There is no crypto fund on the list and no third-party ETF. The funds are physically replicated, and VIAC says plainly that it avoids synthetic products because of the counterparty risk they carry.
Own funds is a trade, not a flaw. Holding only VIAC’s funds is what lets VIAC quote one inclusive number and skip the stamp duty, because it controls the whole chain. It also means you cannot hold a bitcoin ETP, a Nasdaq tracker or a Vanguard fund here, and if that matters to you it is a hard limit rather than an inconvenience. Decide which of those two sentences describes you before you open anything.
Gift portfolios, withdrawal plans and the rest of the app
You can run up to 10 Invest portfolios at once, each with its own strategy and its own name, added yourself in the app. A savings plan invests from 1 CHF automatically, so a standing order does the work without you logging in. A withdrawal plan does the reverse, paying you out on a regular schedule, which is aimed squarely at people drawing down pension money who want a monthly figure arriving rather than a lump sitting there.
The one genuinely distinctive feature is the gift portfolio for children. You invest for a child while remaining the beneficial owner yourself, which keeps the money under your control rather than becoming the child’s asset at eighteen. No other Swiss provider at this price does it, and for grandparents putting away a few hundred francs a year it removes the usual awkward choice between a bank savings account paying nothing and handing over control early.
One thing worth knowing before you sign up: VIAC’s Lifetime Reward. Join through an existing client’s invitation and your first CHF 1’000 is managed with no administration fee, for life. Invite people yourself and that fee-free amount grows by CHF 1’500 per active invitation, up to CHF 7’500. On a full portfolio it is worth roughly CHF 19 a year, which is small, but it is permanent and it costs nothing to claim. If you know someone who already uses VIAC, joining through them beats signing up cold.
Two things VIAC does not tell you, so do not plan around them. VIAC does not publish when deposits are actually invested, and it does not publish how long a withdrawal takes. Other providers state both. Treat VIAC Invest as a buy-and-hold account where money you put in arrives when it arrives, and do not use it for cash you might need on a specific date. If timing matters to you, ask their support and get the answer in writing before you fund it.
Is my money safe at VIAC Invest?
VIAC Invest is a different legal animal from the VIAC pillar 3a, and the distinction matters. The 3a sits in the Terzo pension foundation of Bank WIR. Invest is run by VIAC Invest AG, a Swiss fund management company owned 100% by the cooperative Bank WIR and supervised directly by FINMA. When you open an Invest portfolio, your contract is with VIAC Invest AG.
Cash you have not invested is held at VIAC Invest AG, and a default guarantee from Bank WIR secures that balance in full, including interest, if VIAC Invest AG were to go bankrupt. That is a different mechanism from the CHF 100’000 deposit protection you get at a bank, and on the face of it a more generous one, because it is not capped. Your fund units are held at VIAC Invest AG as fund management company and count as special assets, outside any insolvency estate, and the securities inside the VIAC funds sit at Regiobank Solothurn as custodian bank, again as special assets protected if that bank failed.
The practical read: the structure is sound, it is Swiss, and it is regulated at the level the product needs. The risk you keep is the one no licence removes, which is that markets fall and a 99% equity portfolio falls with them.
Who shouldn’t use VIAC Invest
Anyone who has not filled this year’s pillar 3a. VIAC’s own 3a costs between 0.00% and 0.44% a year, less than Invest, and the money comes off your taxable income as well, so the first CHF 7’258 of the year belongs there and it is not close. Anyone who wants a bitcoin or gold ETP, a Nasdaq tracker or any third-party fund needs finpension Invest instead. Couples who want one shared pot need finpension too, because VIAC has no joint portfolio. Anyone who wants to trade during the week belongs at a broker from the online trading comparison. And money you need within a couple of years should not be at 99% equities anywhere.
VIAC Invest vs the alternatives
VIAC Invest vs finpension Invest
This is the real comparison, and on price it is a tie. finpension Invest charges a flat 0.39% plus fund costs of 0.08% to 0.10%, so about 0.47% to 0.49% all-in, with Swiss stamp duty on each purchase and sale on top. VIAC Invest publishes 0.45% to 0.52% with the stamp duty already inside. A few basis points either way, depending on the strategy and how often you buy. Price should not decide this one.
The fund shelf decides it. finpension opens about 60 third-party funds from UBS, iShares, Vanguard and Pictet, including a bitcoin ETP at 0.15% and a gold ETF at 0.23%, and it offers a joint portfolio for two people. VIAC gives you 13 of its own funds, no crypto, no joint account, but it answers with the children’s gift portfolio, the Lifetime Reward and the inclusive stamp-duty treatment that helps monthly savers. My call: finpension Invest if you want to choose your own funds or hold a slice of gold or bitcoin, VIAC Invest if your pillar 3a already lives at VIAC, you are happy with a ready-made strategy, and you would rather have one app and one bill. I rate finpension Invest 4.7 and VIAC Invest 4.2.
VIAC Invest vs VIAC pillar 3a
Not a versus, an order of operations. The 3a comes first every year: it is cheaper at 0.00% to 0.44%, it carries free death and disability cover, and the contribution reduces your taxable income. Invest is where the money above the annual 3a maximum goes, in the same app with the same login. Fill the 3a, then let Invest take the overflow. Anyone doing it the other way round is paying more for less.
VIAC Invest vs True Wealth
True Wealth is the established Swiss robo-advisor, at about 0.62% all-in below CHF 500’000 and with a CHF 8’500 minimum to get in the door. VIAC Invest is roughly a quarter cheaper and starts at 1 CHF, so on cost and on getting started it wins comfortably. True Wealth argues back with breadth, running broader multi-asset portfolios out of the box and the longest track record of any Swiss robo. If you want the widest ready-made portfolio and do not mind paying for it, True Wealth still has a case. If you want the same job done for less, this is less.
VIAC Invest vs doing it yourself at a broker
Honesty first: one world ETF at a cheap broker like Interactive Brokers costs well under 0.46% a year, often a fraction of it. What you take on in exchange is every job VIAC does, which is placing the trades, rebalancing, currency exchange, the stamp duty paperwork and a tax statement your cantonal software will accept. If you enjoy that work, do it yourself and keep the difference. If you know from experience that you will not actually do it, 0.46% is a fair wage for the machine that does, and alongside finpension Invest it is the cheapest such machine in Switzerland right now.
There is no minimum deposit, no minimum fee and no minimum term, so you can open an Invest portfolio with 1 CHF, click through the strategies and read the whole cost sheet before anything real moves. If it is not for you, close it and you have spent a franc.
My rules for VIAC Invest
- Fill the pillar 3a first. Same app, cheaper product, and the contribution comes off your taxable income. Invest is for the money above this year’s 3a maximum, never instead of it.
- Compare on the total, never the 0.25%. The number that leaves your portfolio is 0.45% to 0.52%. Anyone quoting you 0.25%, including a comparison site, has left the funds out.
- Check the fund shelf before you open, not after. Thirteen VIAC funds, no crypto, no third-party ETFs. If that list is missing something you actually want, this is the wrong account and no fee saving fixes it.
- Set a standing order and leave it alone. The savings plan invests from 1 CHF automatically, the stamp duty is already paid for, and monthly buying is where this pricing structure quietly beats its rivals.
- Join through an invitation if you can. The Lifetime Reward makes your first CHF 1’000 fee-free for life and costs nothing to claim. Ask anyone you know who already uses VIAC before you sign up cold.
VIAC Invest FAQ
What is VIAC Invest?
VIAC Invest is the taxable investing product from VIAC, the Basel app best known for its low-cost pillar 3a. It invests your free savings in index strategies from 1 CHF, with up to 99% equities, an administration fee of 0.25% that already covers trading and Swiss stamp duty, and a free e-tax statement. It is run by VIAC Invest AG, a FINMA-supervised fund management company owned by Bank WIR.
What does VIAC Invest actually cost?
VIAC charges 0.25% a year on invested assets, covering custody, all trading, currency exchange, Swiss stamp duty and VAT. The funds cost a further 0.09% to 0.27%, so the published total is 0.45% to 0.52% a year depending on the strategy. Global 100 comes to 0.46% and Switzerland 100 to 0.45%. Cash in the Invest account is free and earns 0.00%.
Is VIAC Invest cheaper than finpension Invest?
Effectively no, it is a tie. VIAC publishes 0.45% to 0.52% all-in with stamp duty included. finpension Invest is 0.39% plus fund costs of 0.08% to 0.10%, about 0.47% to 0.49%, with stamp duty of 0.075% or 0.15% charged on each purchase and sale on top. A few basis points separate them, so choose on the fund shelf and the features instead.
Is VIAC Invest safe?
Structurally, yes. VIAC Invest AG is a Swiss fund management company owned 100% by Bank WIR and supervised directly by FINMA. Uninvested cash is covered in full, including interest, by a Bank WIR default guarantee. Fund units are special assets held at VIAC Invest AG, and the securities inside the funds sit at Regiobank Solothurn as custodian bank, also as special assets. The risk you keep is market risk.
What is the minimum investment?
1 CHF. There is no minimum deposit, no minimum fee and no minimum term, and you can run up to 10 portfolios in parallel, each with its own strategy and name.
Can I buy bitcoin or third-party ETFs with VIAC Invest?
No. VIAC Invest holds VIAC’s own funds only, 13 of them: two bond funds, eight equity funds, two real estate funds and one gold fund at 0.28%. There is no crypto fund and no third-party ETF. If you want a bitcoin ETP or funds from iShares or Vanguard, finpension Invest offers about 60 third-party funds instead.
Does VIAC Invest pay stamp duty for me?
Yes. Swiss stamp duty and VAT are inside the 0.25% administration fee rather than billed per trade, and VIAC’s own funds are largely exempt from it in any case. That is worth more to someone paying in monthly than to a one-off lump-sum investor, because stamp duty is charged per transaction.
Can I invest for my children with VIAC?
Yes, through a gift portfolio. You invest on a child’s behalf while remaining the beneficial owner yourself, so the money stays under your control rather than passing to them automatically. It is the feature that most clearly separates VIAC Invest from its direct rivals.
Should I use VIAC 3a or VIAC Invest first?
The 3a, every year without exception. It costs between 0.00% and 0.44%, less than Invest, it includes free death and disability cover, and the contribution reduces your taxable income. VIAC Invest is for money above the annual 3a maximum, in the same app.
Is there a VIAC referral code or bonus?
VIAC runs a Lifetime Reward rather than a cash bonus: join through an existing client’s invitation and your first CHF 1’000 is managed with no administration fee for life, rising by CHF 1’500 per person you invite, to a maximum of CHF 7’500. It is worth using if you know an existing client. Investing Hero has no affiliate agreement with VIAC, so there is no reader code on this page.
Compare & choose
The other comparisons on Investing Hero, each built the same way: every fee read from the provider’s own pricing page.
Where VIAC Invest sits next to the other managed options is on my Swiss robo-advisor comparison. If the money is for retirement, start with the pillar 3a comparison instead, because the tax-privileged franc always comes first.
How this review stays accurate. I took every number here from VIAC’s own fee, strategy and product pages on 21 September 2026, never from a comparison table, and I re-verify them whenever this page is updated. If you spot a figure VIAC has since changed, tell me and I will correct it openly.
Sources. Administration fee, what it includes, product cost range and the absence of base, performance and closing fees from VIAC’s Invest fees page; the per-strategy total costs, the 99% equity maximum, the 13-fund list and VIAC Gold at 0.28% from the Invest strategies page; the individual strategy, the 10-portfolio limit, gift portfolios, the withdrawal plan, the savings plan from 1 CHF and the Lifetime Reward tiers from the Invest features page; the legal structure, FINMA supervision, the Bank WIR default guarantee on cash, special-asset treatment of fund units, Regiobank Solothurn as custodian bank and physical replication from the Invest product page. All read 21 September 2026. finpension Invest figures from finpension’s own fee overview and Invest product page, read 20 September 2026. No comparison-site figures were used, and no number about a rival was taken from VIAC’s own comparison table. Investing Hero has no affiliate relationship with VIAC. Educational content, not financial advice.
