Just over a year ago, I decided to centralize all my share and ETF holdings and moved them completely to Scalable Capital*. Unfortunately, the portfolio transfer didn’t go entirely smoothly at the time. Now the next move is imminent, although this one should be much less stressful and bring a few advantages for me. The reason: Scalable Capital will be managing the securities account itself in future and is introducing its own stock exchange and its own ETFs without further ado.
In doing so, the neobroker is trying to counteract the impending loss of revenue due to the ban on the payment-for-orderflow procedure, which will be implemented next year according to the European Union. Scalable Capital will not only take over custody account management in the future, thus making itself independent of Baader Bank, but has also developed the “European Investor Exchange” (EIX) together with the Hanover Stock Exchange in order to be able to earn money from order fees in the future and, as an exchange, continue to collect commissions from third-party providers while remaining favorable for customers.
More trading venues, higher interest rates
Even after the switch, customers can trade with Scalable Capital* from as little as EUR 0.99 and even buy and sell shares and ETFs without additional fees with the Prime+ subscription. Selected savings plans will remain free of charge. The previously available trading venues Gettex and Xetra will also remain, the costs for these will not change initially, but their conditions are likely to become more expensive in favor of EIX at the latest with the abolition of PFOF.
There are also changes to the clearing account: In future, this will be parked at the partner bank Deutsche Bank and can be invested in the background in money market funds from major asset managers. In return, Scalable will pass on the ECB interest on a deposit of up to 50,000 euros even in the free Free Broker. This is currently 2.75% interest per year. With the Prime+ model for 4.99 euros per month, the higher interest rates are of course also available, but on a balance of up to 500,000 euros.
However, it should be noted that the statutory deposit guarantee only provides protection for up to 100,000 euros and does not cover money market funds. If you want to be on the safe side, you should fall back on a normal call money account.
The changes at a glance:
- 2.75 % interest p.a. (variable) up to €500,000 in PRIME+ and €50,000 in FREE from partner banks and money market funds at Scalable
- New IBAN for deposits at Scalable; the previous IBAN at Baader Bank remains unchanged
- All custody accounts in the Scalable app, change in profile
- No additional costs, the PRIME+ fee is still only charged once and is debited from Scalable (primarily, depending on the balance) or Baader
- Quick start: Your own savings plans, price alerts, portfolio groups and watchlists can soon be automatically transferred to the Scalable custody account
Existing vs. new customer
If you decide to open a securities account with Scalable Capital* today, you open it directly with Scalable Capital and thus automatically benefit from all changes. Existing customers, on the other hand, must actively agree to the change and will then initially have two custody accounts in their profile: the new Scalable custody account and the existing custody account at Baader Bank.
In the course of the fourth quarter, all holdings will then be transferred from Baader Bank to the new Scalable custody account. Until then, existing customers will have two custody accounts and two clearing accounts, whereby the higher interest rates and access to the new stock exchange will only be available via the new Scalable custody account.
An ETF of its own
But that’s not all: the neobroker has also launched its own world ETF in collaboration with Xtrackers, the German asset manager DWS. The Scalable MSCI AC World Xtrackers UCITS ETF is based on the MSCI All Country World Index and uses hybrid replication, which means that the assets it contains are both physically purchased and synthetically replicated.
This is intended to create cost advantages on the one hand and enable more precise market replication on the other, but also entails a higher risk for the investor.
The Scalable ETF will waive an annual fee in the first year and then charge 0.17%, making it one of the cheapest ETFs on the market. The fund reinvests its profits. Just a few weeks after its launch, the fund’s assets already amount to just over 95 million euros. The WKN is “DBX1SC” and the ISIN is “LU2903252349”.
