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Are there any costs for switching to sustainable investing?
Are there any costs for switching to sustainable investing?

There are no costs for choosing the sustainability preference, but indirect costs can occur.

Laurène Soubrier avatar
Written by Laurène Soubrier
Updated over a year ago

There are no costs for choosing the sustainability preference. Due to selling some investments and buying sustainable alternatives, indirect costs can occur.

At Selma, you can decide whether you invest in sustainable products or not. Sustainable products are chosen based on ESG (Environmental, Social & Governmental) criteria.

Read this guide to find out how to adjust your investments before your money gets invested.

In case you're already investing with Selma, indirect costs can occur.

How the change works

Once you turn "sustainable investing" on or off, Selma will sell all your investment products of the old plan, and will buy investments according to the new plan.

Details on indirect costs

Selma does not charge extra costs for buying or selling investment products. The indirect costs are made of the "spread" and the exchange rate.

The spread

As you buy and sell at different prices (this is called “the spread”), you may lose some money on that price difference – market prices move extremely fast and can not be predicted.

The exchange rate

Some of your investments (between 0% and 92%, depending on your investor profile) are bought in other currencies than Swiss Francs (like Euro and US Dollars). In order to make the transactions using your Selma account, currency changes happen.

These costs only occur once – when you turn sustainable investing on or off. All future investments will be done according to your new plan and there will be no extra costs.

And: Save money by already choosing your investment preference before you transfer money to your account. You can find out how it works here.

Example costs for investments worth 5'000 CHF

Please be aware that the costs vary based on the products Selma chooses for you. In this example, 80% of the portfolio is invested in currencies other than Swiss franc.

The spread (approximately)

0.30%

15 CHF

Exchange rate for sales | Other currency products (~80% of portfolio)

0.25%

10 CHF

Exchange rate for buys | Other currency products (~80% of portfolio)

0.25%

10 CHF

Total indirect cost

0.70%

35 CHF

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