The Most Efficient ETF Savings Plan We Could Build
September 14, 2026
9 min read
The Most Efficient ETF Savings Plan We Could Build
Seven places where money leaks out — and how each one is closed.
In 30 seconds
- 0.39% management plus 0.06% product costs — 0.45% all-in on the world equity portfolio. Custody, transaction costs and the tax statement are included in the 0.39%.
- Transaction costs included: no fee per execution, even with weekly investing. That is why small contributions make sense too. Entry starts at CHF 500.
- Tax statement included: every year a ready-made tax statement for your tax return, with all positions, market values and taxable income. No piecing it together, no surcharge.
- Irish fund domicile: 15% instead of 30% US withholding tax on dividends, worth roughly 0.15% to 0.19% a year.
- Accumulating: income is reinvested inside the fund automatically, with no stamp duty on your side.
- Balanced through contributions: the weights are nudged back with every contribution, never through sales — so no reallocation costs.
- In the model that is roughly CHF 95,000 over 30 years against a conventional, leaky structure.
01What efficiency actually means
Most fee comparisons show one number: the management fee. That is about as informative as the base price of a car without wheels.
Between your salary account and a share of the world equity market sit several stations. Money can leak at each of them, and most losses are invisible because they are not billed as a fee but settled in the price, the exchange rate or a tax.
Efficiency therefore does not mean "low fee". It means having chosen the least lossy option at every one of those stations. Here are all seven.
02Leak 1: the fee per contribution
Many providers charge a fixed fee per execution. At CHF 2 on a CHF 100 contribution that is 2%, before anything is invested. At CHF 9 on CHF 20 it is 45%.
What we do: no fee per execution. Transaction costs are included in the 0.39% management fee — you pay nothing per purchase, however often and however small you invest. That is why there is no minimum contribution after entry — the percentage burden on CHF 20 is exactly the same as on CHF 100,000. The full arithmetic is in What is the minimum amount?.
03Leak 2: the currency conversion
The world equity market is not denominated in francs. Somewhere between your account and the fund unit, currency is exchanged, and retail surcharges of up to half a percent per transaction are common. This item hits every contribution rather than your assets — so it recurs in full every year, however large your portfolio has grown.
What we do: we buy both blocks in Swiss francs on SIX. No currency is exchanged on your contribution, so no surcharge arises: 0%. The currency risk of world equities remains — what you save is the surcharge, not the risk. In the model this single item is worth roughly CHF 2,800 over 30 years.
04Leak 3: withholding tax on dividends
The largest invisible leak. US companies withhold tax on dividends before the fund receives anything. How much depends on where the fund is domiciled — not where you live.
An Irish-domiciled fund pays 15% instead of 30% under the double taxation treaty. Because US equities make up roughly seventy percent of a world index, that is worth in the order of 0.15% to 0.19% a year.
What we do: Irish fund domicile, ISIN starting with IE. In the model that is roughly CHF 18,000 over 30 years — more than most investors ever compare in fees. Details in Irish ETFs: 15% Instead of 30%.
05Leak 4: product costs
The fund's own charge, shown as the TER. It is settled directly in the price, so you never see it on an invoice.
What we do: the world equity portfolio consists of two blocks with 0.06% product costs together. Both hold the shares physically — they do not use swap arrangements in which a counterparty delivers the index return. Which funds those are, with ISIN and costs, is set out on The Building Blocks.
On top comes our management fee of 0.39%. Together that is 0.45% all-in. Both numbers belong together: charging little for management while using expensive products does not make anyone cheaper overall.
What the 0.39% includes
| Portfolio management and balancing of the blocks | included |
| Custody fee | included |
| Transaction costs, even with weekly execution | included |
| Annual tax statement | included |
| Market updates, guides, calculators and real people to talk to | included |
| Management fee per year | 0.39% |
| Fund product costs (TER) | 0.06% |
| Total all-in | 0.45% |
And the tax statement?
Accumulating funds generate taxable income too — it just isn't paid out. It still has to appear on your tax return, together with the holding and its market value at year-end. Doing that yourself means working through contract notes, ISINs and the tax administration's price list.
What we do: every year you receive a ready-made tax statement with all positions, values and taxable income, which you carry straight into your tax return. Some providers charge extra for this document; with us it is included in the 0.39%. Not a cost item in the narrow sense — but one evening less of paperwork every year.
And securities lending?
Physically replicating funds may lend securities against collateral and earn from it. The fund used here may do so as well: according to the prospectus, equity index funds may have up to 50% of the portfolio on loan at any time, and at least 80% of the gross revenue is credited to the fund, while the lending agent receives up to 20% for operational costs.
That is a side income which partly offsets the product costs — and at the same time the one point where even a physical fund takes on counterparty risk. It is secured by collateral, but it is not zero. The amounts actually earned are disclosed in the fund's annual report.
We mention it because nobody else does. Any provider writing "physically replicated, therefore no risk" has not read the prospectus.
06Leak 5: reinvesting dividends
A distributing fund transfers income to you. Then it sits in your account until you do something with it. And usually you do nothing — the amount is small, arrives mid-month and blends into your salary.
The honest framing: reinvesting diligently costs almost nothing, only stamp duty, spread and some waiting time. Not reinvesting costs roughly a third of the final value in the model. On CHF 500 a month over 30 years, that is nearly CHF 200,000.
What we do: the fund used is accumulating. Income is reinvested internally, immediately, with no stamp duty on your side and without you having to remember. The full calculation is in Accumulating or Distributing.
07Leak 6: rebalancing
If a portfolio consists of five or seven building blocks, their weights drift continuously. So it gets rebalanced: sell, buy, restore. Every one of those movements costs stamp duty, spread and possibly currency conversion — at roughly 5% annual turnover, about 0.03% a year.
What we do: the world equity portfolio consists of two blocks, and we balance them purely through new contributions. Nothing is ever sold to rebalance, so no stamp duty and no spread arise. Inside the blocks the balance between regions and sectors arises within the fund anyway, at a level where neither Swiss stamp duty nor retail spreads apply. More in Two Holdings Beat Seven.
08Leak 7: you
The largest leak appears on no fee table, and it is also the only one we cannot close for you.
Research from Vanguard, Morningstar and Dalbar converges on the same finding: between a fund's return and its investors' return sits a gap of roughly 1% to 1.5% a year. The cause is not a cost item but behaviour — selling in a decline, buying after strong years, pausing when it gets uncomfortable.
What we explicitly do not promise
We do not claim that our commentary recovers those 1% to 1.5% for you. That would be a return promise, and nobody can keep one. What we do is more concrete and more modest: when the market falls ten percent, we put it in context. When it falls twenty, we point out that historically those were the moments when adding paid off most. Whether you stay invested is ultimately your decision.
That is why the whole learning section belongs to the savings plan: the guide, the calculators and the articles on corrections and common mistakes. Not as an extra, but because this leak is larger than the other six combined.
09All seven side by side
| Leak | Typical burden | How it is closed |
|---|---|---|
| Fee per contribution | up to 9% of the contribution | no fee per execution, transaction costs included |
| Currency conversion | up to 0.5% per contribution | no conversion, 0% |
| Withholding tax | 0.15% – 0.19% per year | Irish fund domicile |
| Product costs | variable | 0.06% TER, physically replicated |
| Dividend reinvestment | up to 32% of final value | accumulating fund |
| Rebalancing | around 0.03% per year | balanced through contributions |
| Behaviour | 1% – 1.5% per year | context, not a promise |
What that adds up to
CHF 500 a month, 30 years, a 7% gross return. Once with this structure, once with a conventional leaky one: 1.20% all-in, a 0.5% FX surcharge per contribution, 0.03% of rebalancing, US domicile instead of Ireland.
With this structure: roughly CHF 558,000. With the leaky one: roughly CHF 463,000. A difference of around CHF 95,000, about 17% of the final value — without the market return having been any different in either case.
Model calculation on the assumptions stated, not a forecast. Actual results depend on market performance, provider and investor behaviour.
10What you can use it for
A monthly savings planentry from CHF 500, executed weekly
A lump sumbonus, inheritance, pension fund capital
For your childvia the children's account, where the horizon is longest
As a base alongside activethe cheap core a satellite can sit on
A solution for restricted pension assets is in preparation; terms and timing will be communicated once settled. How the savings plan relates to our active offerings is covered in Passive, Active or Both.
11What this savings plan is not
A section rarely found on product pages — and without which the rest would be worth less.
How large the swings can be is stated in the fund's own key information document: in the stress scenario shown there, the value is roughly 60% lower after one year. That is not scaremongering but a regulatory disclosure — and the most honest number available about this product.
It is not a return guarantee. Broad equity markets have long-run averages in the region of seven percent a year, with considerable volatility and individual decades well below that. Roughly one calendar year in four was negative. If you need the money in three years, this is not the right place for it.
It is not a timing tool. We do not know whether today is a good entry point, and neither does anyone else.
It is not automatically better than an index fund at your bank. If your bank offers the same fund with no fixed fee, no FX surcharge and comparable total costs, the difference is small. The seven leaks above are listed individually for exactly that reason: so you can compare rather than take our word for it.
And it does not steer. An index buys what is large. It asks no questions about valuation. For most investors that is the right choice — but it is a characteristic, not a distinction.
12Frequently asked questions
What does the arvy ETF Savings Plan cost?
The world equity portfolio costs a 0.39% management fee plus 0.06% product costs, 0.45% per year all-in. Custody, transaction costs and the annual tax statement are included in the 0.39%. There is no fee per execution and no minimum term; the entry point is CHF 500.
What is it invested in?
A world equity portfolio built from two blocks: roughly 88% developed markets and roughly 12% emerging markets, both physically replicating and accumulating. The details are on The Building Blocks.
Why does fund domicile matter so much?
Because it determines how much withholding tax is deducted from US dividends before the fund receives anything. Ireland achieves 15% instead of 30% under the double taxation treaty. With a high US weight in the index that is worth roughly 0.15% to 0.19% a year.
What happens to the dividends?
They are reinvested inside the fund automatically, because it is accumulating. No stamp duty arises on your side and you need do nothing. Tax treatment is unchanged: in Switzerland income is taxable in accumulating funds too. The annual tax statement reports it for you.
Do I receive a tax statement?
Yes, every year and at no extra cost. It lists all positions, their market values at year-end and the taxable income — including that of the accumulating funds — and can be used directly for your tax return.
Do I have to rebalance?
No. The weights are kept in line through incoming contributions, never through sales. That means no stamp duty and no spread arise.
Is there a minimum amount?
Entry starts at CHF 500. After that there is neither a minimum contribution nor a minimum term: because transaction costs are included, the percentage burden on CHF 20 is the same as on CHF 100,000.
How often is it invested?
Weekly. More frequent execution means a shorter average wait between contribution and investment. The effect is small, but it costs nothing — and over thirty years small effects accumulate.
What return can I expect?
No particular one. Broad equity markets have averaged in the region of seven percent a year over long periods, with considerable volatility and negative years. That is a historical average, not a commitment for your investment period.
Keep reading
Six leaks closed. One stays with you.
0.39% management including custody, transaction costs and the tax statement, plus 0.06% product costs. Invested weekly, from CHF 500 and with no minimum term.
This article was written by Thierry Borgeat, co-founder of arvy, and reviewed by Patrick Rissi, CFA, and Florian Jauch, CFA.
Disclaimer: arvy AG is a manager of collective assets authorised by FINMA under Art. 24 CISA. This article is for information purposes only and constitutes neither investment advice nor tax or legal advice. All amounts are indicative and depend on canton, municipality and personal circumstances. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
