If you’re hesitating between Descartes Invest and Swissquote Invest Easy, it means you want to invest without having to choose each security yourself or manage your portfolio daily. Which solution best meets your needs?
- from CHF 10
- 🇨🇭
- 3 strategies
Customisation ✔︎
Listed products ✔︎
Limited Bitcoin ✘
- from CHF 500
- 🇨🇭
- 4 strategies
Bitcoin ✔︎
Integrated with Swissquote ✔︎
Investments via certificates ✘
Overview
Descartes Invest is Descartes Finance’s investment solution, an independent Swiss wealth manager. It combines automated management and human support, with several approaches to build your portfolio.
Swissquote Invest Easy is Swissquote’s automated management offering. It lets you delegate your investments directly within the Swissquote ecosystem, with an approach designed to stay simple to use.
This article compares the free investment offers from Descartes Invest and Swissquote Invest Easy using the exact same criteria as their respective reviews. To see other options, also check out the comparison of robo-advisors in Switzerland.
Account Opening and Minimum Amount
Descartes invests money as soon as the balance reaches CHF 10, compared to a minimum of CHF 500 to activate Swissquote Invest Easy.
Descartes automatically opens a bank account with Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich during registration.
For Invest Easy, you must first have a Swissquote account. If you are already a client, you go directly to the “Plan” section. If not, you must first open a Swissquote account.
Descartes has a slight advantage if you want to start with a small amount. If you are already a Swissquote client, Invest Easy requires fewer steps.
Portfolio Management and Customization
Descartes allows for finer adjustment of the equity portion than Swissquote. It separates the choice of strategy from the equity allocation. First, you choose one of three strategies:
- Passive follows the markets with index funds.
- Minimum Risk aims to reduce fluctuations.
- Minimum Risk BTC builds on Minimum Risk and adds a portion of Bitcoin.
The questionnaire then recommends an equity allocation between 20% and 100%. You can modify these two settings at any time.
Swissquote Invest Easy does not allow separate adjustment of the equity portion. You choose one of four strategies. In the second quarter of 2026, each provides the following equity portion:
- Prudent allocates 21% of the portfolio to equities.
- Balanced allocates 52% of the portfolio to equities.
- Ambitious allocates 77% of the portfolio to equities.
- Bold allocates 98% of the portfolio to equities and 2% to crypto.
You cannot modify the composition of each strategy yourself. To change the equity portion, you must choose another strategy. However, Swissquote may review the composition and weightings during its quarterly review. To use multiple strategies, you must open multiple Invest Easy accounts.
In both cases, you cannot choose individual securities. If one of the four Swissquote strategies matches your desired risk level, the difference matters little. Otherwise, Descartes offers more flexibility to adjust risk without changing strategies.
Cryptocurrencies
Descartes has limited exposure to Bitcoin. The Minimum Risk BTC strategy invests between 1% and 5% of the portfolio in Bitcoin, depending on the risk profile. You cannot choose this percentage.
Swissquote offers much more flexibility with Crypto Boost. You can direct up to 25% of each new deposit to Bitcoin, regardless of the strategy. In the second quarter of 2026, the Bold strategy already includes approximately 2% crypto.
Warning: Swissquote does not rebalance the position after purchase. If Bitcoin rises, its share may therefore exceed the chosen percentage in the portfolio.
If you want a small exposure to Bitcoin, Descartes is the most logical choice. If you want to choose a higher share, Swissquote offers more freedom.
Adapted Profiles and Limits
Descartes is more logical if:
- You want to start with a small amount.
- You prefer to entrust your money to an independent manager.
- You want a small exposure to Bitcoin without choosing the percentage.
- You want to be able to contact a team if needed.
Swissquote Invest Easy is more logical if:
- You already use Swissquote.
- You want to pay less for management.
- You want to choose a higher Bitcoin allocation.
- You prefer a ready-to-use strategy rather than adjusting the strategy and equity allocation separately.
Neither solution is the right choice if:
- You want to choose the securities or funds yourself.
- You want to build a custom allocation.
- You are looking for a personal advisor who regularly monitors the portfolio.
🎯 If you hesitate between delegating and investing yourself, my guide to starting stock market investing helps you choose.
I’m looking for a solution that handles everything for me. So I spent hours choosing which one.
Neo, unsolicited opinion as usual
ESG Approach
Descartes has the advantage if you want an integrated ESG approach.
Its three strategies apply environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) criteria. Depending on the strategy, Descartes excludes certain sectors and considers ESG ratings as well as CO₂ emissions. You cannot modify or deactivate these settings.
Swissquote Invest Easy offers no ESG strategy. In the second quarter of 2026, the Prudent and Balanced strategies contain an ESG bond fund, but other investments do not follow a global ESG approach.
If you are not looking for any ESG filter, this difference alone does not justify paying more with Descartes.
Fees
Swissquote is cheaper on recurring annual fees:
| Solution and Strategy | Annual Fees |
| Descartes Passive | 0.86% to 0.90% |
| Descartes Minimum Risk | 0.93% to 1.05% |
| Descartes Minimum Risk BTC | 0.93% to 1.03% |
| Swissquote Prudent | 0,79 % |
| Swissquote Balanced | 0,79 % |
| Swissquote Ambitious | 0.74% |
| Swissquote Bold | 0.69% |
Even Swissquote’s most expensive strategy costs less than Descartes’ cheapest strategy. The difference is at least 0.07 percentage points, or CHF 7 per year for CHF 10,000 invested and CHF 70 for CHF 100,000.
Descartes charges stamp duty on transactions for the two foreign funds it uses. Swissquote charges a 0.95% exchange fee when depositing a currency other than the franc. Swissquote also charges trading fees for buying and selling Bitcoin with Crypto Boost.
For a portfolio funded in CHF without Crypto Boost, Swissquote is cheaper. If you use another currency or Crypto Boost, you must add the corresponding fees before comparing.
Advice and Support
Descartes has the advantage if you want to be able to discuss your investment with a team.
You can reach the Descartes team via chat, phone, video, or by appointment in Zurich. Descartes does not assign a dedicated advisor and does not provide regular personal follow-up.
Swissquote Invest Easy does not include any individual advice: you choose your strategy alone.
If you are not looking for any support, this point does not change the choice.
Comparison Table
| Criterion | Descartes Invest | Swissquote Invest Easy |
| Threshold to start investing | CHF 10 | CHF 500 |
| Customization | Strategy and equity allocation from 20% to 100% | Four predefined strategies |
| Bitcoin | 1% to 5%, depending on profile | Up to 25% of new deposits, without rebalancing |
| ESG | Criteria integrated into all three strategies | No ESG strategy |
| Annual Fees | 0.86% to 1.05% | 0.69% to 0.79% |
| Support | Accessible team, no dedicated advisor | No individual advice |
| Investments | Funds and listed products held with Lienhardt | “Tracker certificates” issued by Swissquote |
Price is not the only trade-off. Lienhardt holds funds and listed products in the deposit account. With Invest Easy, you hold a claim on Swissquote. This legal difference can weigh more heavily than a few hundredths of a fee.
Guarantees and Securities Custody
In the event of bankruptcy, securities held with Descartes are separated from the assets of the manager and the custodian bank. Invest Easy adds credit risk on Swissquote because the bank itself issues the certificates.
Descartes Invest
Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich holds the money and securities. If Descartes ceases operations, the securities do not enter its “bankruptcy estate.” If Lienhardt goes bankrupt, the securities are separated from the bank’s assets. Deposit protection covers liquid assets up to CHF 100,000.
Swissquote Invest Easy
Deposit protection also covers liquid assets up to CHF 100,000. Invest Easy uses “tracker certificates” issued by Swissquote instead of directly held ETFs.
You therefore depend on Swissquote’s ability to honor these certificates. This credit risk is in addition to market risk.
This risk does not change the daily operation of Invest Easy. It only matters if Swissquote becomes insolvent, but its consequences would then be significant. If you prioritize the legal separation of securities, Descartes is the most logical choice.
Conclusion
Between the two, I would choose Descartes Invest.
Swissquote Invest Easy is cheaper and offers much more flexibility with Bitcoin. Descartes allows for finer adjustment of the equity portion. But the criterion that sways my choice is how the investments are held: with Descartes, funds and listed products are held with Lienhardt, whereas Invest Easy relies on certificates issued by Swissquote.
For CHF 10,000 invested, Swissquote allows savings of at least CHF 7 per year. At that price, I prefer to pay a little more with Descartes rather than holding certificates whose redemption depends on Swissquote.
I would choose Invest Easy if I primarily wanted to reduce fees, if I already used Swissquote, or if I wanted to invest more than 5% in Bitcoin. In my case, how the investments are held weighs more heavily in my decision.
Also read
- Beginner’s Guide to Investing in the Stock Market in Switzerland
- Swissquote Invest Easy Review and Test
- Review and Test of Descartes Investment (robo-advisor)
- True Wealth investment review and test (robo-advisor)
- Review and Test of Yuh Investment Trading
- Review and Test of Alpian Investment Trading
- Review and Test of Yuh Investment Trading
- Review and test of Neon Investment Trading
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