Scalable Wealth FAQ
Find answers to the most frequently
asked questions about Scalable Wealth.
Account opening
Our service is aimed at persons residing in Germany or Austria. In addition, the following requirements must be met:
- You are at least 18 years old.
- You are not a taxpayer in the USA (not a "US person" according to US tax law).
- You have a current account that is held at a credit institution located in the SEPA area.
- You will invest the minimum amount.
Please also note that the custodian bank only pays taxes for customers who are taxable in Germany. If you are subject to tax abroad, you must carry out the correct taxation of all securities transactions yourself. We provide you a tax reporting for this purpose.
The Money Laundering Act (MLA) requires us to identify our customers. This identification is also in your interest, as it ensures a higher level of security in the customer relationship.
An MLA-compliant identification is carried out conveniently via POSTIDENT video or in the traditional way at a post office in Germany.
The identification is done via the POSTIDENT identification procedure by by our partner, Deutsche Post. With POSTIDENT, you can choose between the identification procedures POSTIDENT Video and identification at a post office in Germany.
You can also identify yourself with your foreign ID or passport via our partner POSTIDENT. You can access the IDs supported for POSTIDENT-Video here.
If your ID document is not supported for POSTIDENT-Video, you can carry out identification at a post office branch in Germany. You can find the IDs accepted at the branch here.
You can start the identification process conveniently in our app or online by logging in to your Scalable Capital account after completing the registration.
Once you have successfully completed the identification, you do not need to do anything else. The identification data is transmitted to Scalable Capital, and the opening of both the clearing account and the custody account is initiated. It can take up to three working days to open the accounts. You will be informed automatically as soon as the account opening is completed.
If any questions arise from the transmitted identification data, we will contact you proactively.
The reference account that you register with us must be a current account (payment transaction account) in your name at a credit institution located in the SEPA area.
The use of a overnight deposit account is not permitted. If your reference account is a joint account, you must ensure that you are registered as the beneficial owner.
The minimum investment amount for Wealth starts from a monthly savings plan of 20 euros or a lump sum of 1,000 euros.
However, partial payouts that would reduce the investment amount below 1,000 euros are not possible. In this case, you would have to cancel your contract and have your entire investment amount paid out, this is possible at any time.
As a regulated financial services institution, we are legally obliged to form a picture of your financial situation and other relevant circumstances. Only then are we allowed to recommend an investment strategy that is suitable for you.
At the beginning of the registration process, we will guide you through a questionnaire. Based on the information you provide, we assess which investment strategy best meets your investment objectives. Of course, we also check whether the risks associated with a particular investment strategy are financially viable for you and whether you understand these risks based on your knowledge and experience.
From this information, we determine your risk profile, recommend an investment strategy that is suitable, and implement it for you.
Currently we only offer single accounts.
You can hold multiple portfolios with different investment strategies at Scalable Capital. You can add additional portfolios in the customer area under "Home". Please note that a new clearing account and securities account must be opened for each new portfolio and the minimum investment must be deposited.
Deposits and withdrawals
The reference account that you register with us must be a current account (payment transaction account) in your name at a credit institution located in the SEPA area.
The use of a overnight deposit account is not permitted. If your reference account is a joint account, you must ensure that you are registered as the beneficial owner.
Deposit
Via the item "Payments" you can instruct a one-time payment in the Scalable customer area at any time, which will be debited from your reference account (current account) via SEPA direct debit.
Alternatively, you can also transfer the desired deposit to the clearing account belonging to the respective portfolio. You can find the IBAN in your web customer area under "Profile" and "Products" or in the mailbox document "SEPA mandates" in the top right-hand corner.
Transfers to your clearing account must be made from your stored reference account. Deposits that cannot be clearly assigned to you (e.g. PayPal, Payward, Transferwise) are not permitted.
Regardless of when a deposit to your clearing account is received by the custodian bank, the amount will be invested immediately, at the latest with the next adjustment of the portfolio in accordance with your investment strategy.
Withdrawal
Withdrawals can be instructed via the Scalable customer area on our website or via our app.
To do so, click on the "Payments" item and select "Payout." Enter the desired withdrawal amount and click on "Don't park, withdraw anyway". Check the details and confirm the payout.
Then create appropriate liquidity by selling securities in your portfolio. We will carry this out for you as quickly as possible, usually no later than the next banking day. After the proceeds of the sale have been received, we will transfer the payment to your checking account. The value date on your checking account will generally take five to seven banking days.
Your deposited balance will be invested after it is credited to the settlement account, but no later than the next rebalancing of your portfolio.
You can create a savings plan from a monthly savings amount of 20 euros. You can set the savings plan either during the account opening or subsequently in your personal customer area.
The direct debits for monthly savings plans are instructed by us on the first banking day of each month. Your reference account will be debited on the second or third banking day of the month and the amount will be credited to your portfolio at Scalable Capital on the following banking day.
Note: If you open the account with a monthly savings plan only, then the direct debit for the first savings installment will be instructed immediately after the account opening.
You can easily set up a monthly withdrawal plan in your Scalable account. To do so, open the "Savings Plan" section, select "Withdrawal Plan" there and then set the desired amount.
The withdrawal will be initiated on the first banking day of each month. The securities sales required for the withdrawal will be ordered automatically.
A withdrawal that would reduce the investment amount of your portfolio below the minimum investment amount is not possible. Instead, your monthly withdrawal plan will be deactivated.
You can view every single transaction and every securities event (such as distributions) both in the login area on our website and on your smartphone using our app. In addition, the custodian bank will provide you with a monthly account statement where you can view a summary of all transactions and key figures that have taken place.
Investment Strategy
Scalable Capital is not an active asset manager in the conventional sense. We offer passive investment with active risk management. Within the various asset classes (e.g. equities or bonds), we invest exclusively in passive ETFs and, where applicable, ETCs that track a specific market at the lowest possible cost. The weighting of the various asset classes is carried out dynamically on the basis of our investment and risk management technology on the one hand - and strategically on the basis of the management of the equity quota in our sustainable strategies on the other - and is thus active in the strictest sense.
We thus only make adjustments to your portfolio if your risk of loss is forecast to exceed or fall below a higher probability (dynamic risk management strategies) or if your portfolio weights deviate from the target weights (sustainable strategies). In this way, your investment risk is always controlled.
Unlike an active asset manager, we do not make portfolio reallocations based on opinions about the price performance of specific asset classes. An active asset manager selects individual stocks based on expected value growth (so-called stock picking). However, countless empirical studies show that this is not effective.
We use leading technology and the latest findings from capital market research and financial econometrics to manage portfolios. Unlike an active asset manager, we do not make portfolio reallocations based on subjective opinions about price developments of specific asset classes. Portfolio adjustments are essentially the result of deviations in the loss risks or target weights of the current portfolios from our clients' chosen risk category.
However, the actual trading, i.e., the execution of securities orders, takes place by a real investment team, which reviews and bundles the securities orders and finally passes them on to our trading bank.
In this way, we ensure that there is still a human control instance, which, however, does not actively intervene in portfolio management, but rather further develops, monitors and checks the system.
You can choose from the following investment strategies:
- Climate Protection
- Megatrends
- Dynamic Risk Management
- Allweather
- Value
- GDP Global
- InterestInvest
- World Classic
- World ESG
- World ESG+Gold.
Detailed information on all available investment strategies can be found here.
Even though we at Scalable Wealth attach great importance to selecting products according to sustainable criteria (more on this in the Sustainability Disclosure), the products available on the market currently generally do not yet fulfill the specified sustainability criteria according to EU regulation 2021/1253. This is due in particular to the fact that the fulfillment of sustainability preferences is usually unclear due to a lack of data. Scalable Capital will monitor the ongoing development of the availability and resilience of the data basis and, in the event of a corresponding positive finding, will reclassify the sustainable investment strategies within the framework of sustainability preferences.
Our sustainable investment strategies use ETFs with strict sustainability criteria. In the case of stock ETFs, products are generally used that take into account a high sustainability standard (SRI: Socially Responsible Investing (for more information, see the Sustainability-related disclosures). Furthermore, a so-called best-in-class filter is used in ETF selection: companies are compared with each other within their sector - only the most sustainable are subsequently selected.
The investment strategy can be changed after registration.
We have determined suitable investment strategies for you based on your investment objectives, knowledge and experience and financial circumstances. If there have been any changes, you can carry out the suitability check again and adjust your investment strategy.
To do so, log in to your client area and open the "Profile" section. Under the item "Products", then select "Change investment strategy", where you can carry out the suitability check again and adjust your investment strategy.
We would like to point out that in your interest, a change of investment strategy should really only be made if your circumstances have changed. For long-term wealth accumulation, it is important that you pursue your investment strategy consistently and do not allow yourself to be tempted into short-term action by daily events on the capital market.
Your portfolio is constantly monitored and if the weighting of the asset classes and ETFs no longer matches the target weighting of your chosen investment strategy, your portfolio is automatically adjusted. For example, if you choose an investment strategy with a 60% equity allocation, 60% of your investment amount will be invested in equities. If share prices rise sharply due to market movements, shares are sold and bonds are bought so that the target weighting of shares of 60% is restored.
Depending on the investment strategy, risk is managed differently and accordingly your portfolio is adjusted differently depending on the investment strategy.
For the "dynamic risk management" investment strategy, we continuously calculate the risk of your portfolio with the help of simulations. If your previously defined risk of loss (measured by VaR) deviates from the current risk of loss, your portfolio will also be adjusted.
Distributions ( for example, from dividends or interest) from the ETFs we use are credited to your clearing account and automatically reinvested in accordance to your investment strategy.
For the calculation of the percentage return, which is displayed in your personal customer area, we use the time-weighted method. The time-weighted return is adjusted for deposits and withdrawals and thus allows a direct comparison with a benchmark or an alternative portfolio.
To calculate the time-weighted return, the entire investment period is broken down into different time periods. Whenever a pay-in or pay-out occurs, the return up to that point is calculated and a new period begins. To obtain the time-weighted return for the entire investment period, the returns of the individual periods are multiplicatively linked.
Die in der Kontoübersicht angezeigte zeitgewichtete Rendite ist bereinigt um Ein- und Auszahlungen. Deshalb kann es vorkommen, dass Ihr Portfolio eine positive oder negative prozentuale Rendite aufweist, weil sich das zugrundeliegende Portfolio im Zeitverlauf positiv oder negativ entwickelt hat, Ihre absolute Rendite kann aber trotzdem negativ oder positiv sein. Dies kommt insbesondere dann vor, wenn der Großteil Ihres Portfolios auf einem relativen Markthoch bzw. Markttief eingezahlt und investiert wurde.
Zwei extreme Beispiele zur Illustration:
Sie haben einen initialen Anlagebetrag von 10.000 Euro bei uns angelegt. Anschließend steigt der Markt um 50% und Ihr Portfolio steigt auf einen Wert von 15.000 Euro. Nehmen wir nun an, Sie würden zusätzlich 1.000.000 Euro auf Ihr Depot einzahlen und der Markt würde umgehend um 10% fallen. In diesem Fall würde Ihr Portfolio über 100.000 Euro an Wert verlieren (deutlich mehr als Ihr initialer Gewinn von 5.000 Euro). Trotzdem wäre die prozentuale Entwicklung Ihres Portfolios positiv (50% gestiegen und nur 10% gefallen).
Sie haben einen initialen Anlagebetrag von 10.000 Euro bei uns angelegt. Anschließend stürzt der Markt um 50% ab und Ihr Portfolio sinkt auf einen Wert von 5.000 Euro. Nehmen wir nun an, Sie würden zusätzlich 1.000.000 Euro auf Ihr Depot einzahlen und der Markt würde umgehend um 10% steigen. In diesem Fall würde Ihr Portfolio über 100.000 Euro an Wert gewinnen (deutlich mehr als Ihr initialer Verlust von 5.000 Euro). Trotzdem wäre die prozentuale Entwicklung Ihres Portfolios negativ (50% gefallen und nur 10% gestiegen).
Investment universe & ETF selection
Depending on the investment strategy, we invest for you with different focus in asset classes or thematic areas. The investment universe includes all major asset classes: Equities, government bonds, secured bonds (Pfandbriefe and covered bonds), corporate bonds, real estate, commodities and money market.
To realize your investment strategy, we invest exclusively in ETFs (exchange-traded funds or exchange-traded index funds), ETCs (exchange-traded commodities) or other ETPs (exchange-traded products), each of which also fits your preferences, investment objectives and other characteristics when considered individually. Eight asset classes with up to 8,700 individual securities from up to 80 countries are covered.
The ETFs are selected in an extensive, multi-stage process. The most important quantitative and qualitative selection criteria here are:
- Low costs
- High liquidity
- Low tracking error
- Appropriate diversification
- Safe replication methods.
Investing in the capital market comes with risks. We therefore advise our clients to keep an immediately available emergency reserve for unforeseen events which should cover all of your current expenses and obligations for at least six months.
There is no minimum holding period or minimum term. Our service can be cancelled at any time. We invest exclusively in ETFs with exchange day tradability to provide you with the best possible liquidity.
However, a longer investment horizon can be advantageous for the investment and reduce investment risks. Especially in the case of negative performance, a longer holding period increases the likelihood that the portfolio can recover.
If Scalable Capital identifies a more suitable ETF in an asset class, the exchange for existing customers is carried out gradually. In contrast to a one-time sale of all old shares, an additional tax expense can be reduced in this way, if necessary.
Additional purchases in the event of further deposits or a higher target weighting of these asset classes are made exclusively in the new ETF, while sales always first reduce the holdings of the old product. The old fund is indicated to the customer by the marking "Phase-Out".
Should an ETF provider become insolvent, the assets managed by the ETF are protected from insolvency by their status as special assets. In the course of the insolvency proceedings, the insolvency estate as well as the claims of the creditors against this insolvency estate are determined and the creditors are served according to their claim. The assets managed by ETFs do not become part of the insolvency estate and are thus protected from access by the creditors of the investment company. Only the holders of the unit certificates of the ETFs are entitled to their pro rata share of the assets managed by the ETF.
Costs
The costs of the investment services consist of the remuneration of the asset manager Scalable Capital and the transaction fee for the securities trading of the custodian bank and add up to 0.75% p.a. until September 2022.
From 1 October 2022, investment services fees will be charged depending on the amount of the investment per portfolio.
The fee varies as follows:
- 0.75 % p.a. for a portfolio value up to and including 100,000 euros
- 0.69 % p.a. for the portfolio value above 100,000 euros up to and including 500,000 euros
- 0.49 % p.a. for the portfolio value above 500,000 euros
The calculation is made on a daily basis on the basis of the average client assets under management, and the asset manager and the custodian bank are invoiced separately on a monthly basis. The debit is made from your clearing account at the custodian bank. There are no further costs, e.g. for account and custody account management. There are also no hidden costs, front-end loads or other commissions. For details, please refer to our list of prices and services.
The costs of the financial instruments (ETFs) add up to 0.18 % p.a. on average. Due to changes in the weighting, fees and costs of the financial instruments as well as the exchange of financial instruments, the product costs are subject to fluctuations. The costs for the Megatrends investment strategy are shown separately and amount to 0,43 %.
The costs mentioned are already included in the market prices and would therefore also be borne by investors who trade in securities themselves.
The costs for investment services are calculated in stages depending on the amount of the investment. The amount of the investment per portfolio is decisive. If you have investments in different portfolios, these will be considered separately for the management fee.
The management fees are calculated in the following stages:
- 0.75 % p.a. for the portfolio value up to and including 100,000 euros
- 0.69 % p.a. for the portfolio value above 100,000 euros and up to 500,000 euros
- 0.49 % p.a. for the portfolio value above 500,000 Euro
Please note that the minimum fee for wealth management via ING is 75 euros p.a..
Example 1:
You invest 650,000 euros in a portfolio.
The first 100,000 euros are charged a fee of 0.75% p.a., the following 400,000 euros are charged a fee of 0.69% p.a. and the 150,000 euros above that are charged a fee of 0.49% p.a.
Example 2:
You invest a total of 120,000 euros, 60,000 euros of which are invested in each portfolio.
A fee of 0.75 % p.a. is charged for both portfolios, as the investment value per portfolio is decisive.
The calculation is made on a daily basis on the basis of the average client assets under management, the settlement is made monthly separately for the asset manager and the custodian bank.
In the respective portfolio you can view your paid fees and taxes under the menu item "Performance". For a display of the absolute values, you must first change the display from percent to euro.
We believe that only a truly independent asset management company can act in the best interests of the customer. That is why we do not accept any hidden costs or issue surcharges. If we receive such inducements, we undertake under the asset management agreement to pay you these inducements.
We only accept non-monetary benefits if they improve the quality of asset management and do not conflict with our clients' interests. These are, for example, financial analyses, information material, training or technical services. We will, of course, disclose the acceptance of these types of inducements to you.
Reporting & Taxes
You will receive a quarterly report on the performance of your portfolio in your Scalable mailbox. The report includes an overview of performance, benchmark, trades made, distributions, and other metrics related to your portfolio.
In addition, at the end of each year, you will receive an annual account statement. This contains the holdings in your custody account, but not the assets in your clearing account.
You can obtain an overview of your portfolio, including cash holdings, in your personal customer area. All relevant information about your account and securities account is provided there.
A tax identification number (TIN) is an international uniquely assigned number used for tax identification purposes. In Austria, the TIN corresponds to your national tax ID ("Steuernummer") and can be found on FinanzOnline or in your previous tax statements.
Due to legal requirements and the common reporting standards (CRS), financial institutions are responsible for collecting information from their clients regarding tax residence and the tax ID number. The latter allows the taxpayer to be formally identified, since it is attached to their name in the tax administration's database.
Your custody account is held with Baader Bank (our custodian bank) in Germany. As a result the capital gains of Austrian domiciled clients are neither automatically taxed in Germany, nor directly in Austria. Instead, taxes need to be declared via your yearly income tax declaration. Scalable Capital offers a free tax report to assist you with your tax filing. Additional information can be found here.
Note: This does not apply to withholding taxes (e.g. on dividends from equity holdings), which are levied locally and paid directly to the tax authorities of the respective country.
Please note: Scalable Capital does not provide legal and/or tax advice. If you have specific questions about your tax return, please contact your tax advisor.
Cancellation
You can request a cancellation via your personal customer area. To do so, open the menu item "Profile". The "Products" submenu takes you to a list of your portfolios. Via the button "Cancel portfolio" you can order the cancellation for the corresponding portfolio.
We will then sell the securities in your portfolio. Pending transactions will be brought to settlement beforehand. We will carry this out for you as quickly as possible, usually on the next banking day at the latest. Please note that even on trading days, same-day execution cannot be guaranteed.
We will then instruct the custodian bank to transfer your credit balance to the current account on deposit and close the account and custody account. The value date on your current account is usually within 6 to 9 banking days after the value date of the sales.
After your cancellation, you can still log in to your personal area and retrieve documents in your mailbox. There you will receive important documents, such as your annual tax certificate. However, if necessary, access to your personal area can also be deactivated. To do so, please send us an e-mail at service@scalable.capital.
Cancellation is free of charge and possible at any time.
Complaint
We take complaints seriously as each and every one of our clients are important to us. We believe you have a right to a fair, swift and courteous service at all times. We are a regulated entity, we treat our clients fairly and adhere to the regulations on transparency and protections related to financial services.
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction made by a client or potential client (complainant) to an investment services firm in connection with the latter's provision of an investment service or ancillary investment service. The term "complaint" does not necessarily have to be used. A complaint does not require a specific form.
Complaints can be made free of charge orally, in writing or electronically to the address below or to our other contact details, which can be accessed under https://at.scalable.capital/kontaktdaten in German and under https://at.scalable.capital/en/contact-details in English in their most current version.
Scalable Capital GmbH
Seitzstr. 8e,
80538 Munich,
Germany
Scalable Capital has established a complaints management function that is responsible for investigating complaints. This is the compliance department. You can reach it as follows:
Scalable Capital GmbH
Compliance Department
Seitzstr. 8e,
80538 Munich,
Germany
Please also see the “Complaints and disputes” section of our client documentation.
After the (potential) client has submitted the complaint, the complaint will be transferred to the client relationship management system (CRM).
The content of the complaint will be assessed (this may also include questions to the client), it will be determined whether the client's dissatisfaction is justified as regards its substance and, if necessary, a proposal for a solution will be developed. This is followed by consultation with a superior. Depending on the type, content and scope of the complaint, it may be necessary to involve the complaint management function at an early stage. Finally, feedback is provided to the (potential) client, in which Scalable Capital communicates its position regarding the complaint. The processing period between the submission of a complaint and the provision of feedback should normally not exceed five (5) business days. If no response can be provided within this period, Scalable Capital will inform the complainant of the reasons for the delay and the expected processing time.
If the client is not satisfied with our final feedback then they may contact the arbitration board of the Association of Independent Asset Managers Germany. The arbitration board of the Association of Independent Asset Managers Germany is responsible for any monetary disputes arising from or in connection with financial services contracts: VuV Ombudsman's Office, Stresemannallee 30, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, http://vuv-ombudsstelle.de/. Scalable Capital is a member of the Association of Independent Asset Managers Germany and is obliged under the latter's articles of association to participate in dispute resolution proceedings of the VuV Ombudsman's Office. The (potential) client therefore has the option of referring a complaint or other dispute to the VuV Ombudsman's Office.
Scalable Capital is not affiliated with any other recognised private consumer arbitration board.
The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution for consumers who reside in the EU (in accordance with Article 14 (1) of the ODR Regulation) at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. Scalable Capital does not participate in the online dispute resolution.
Irrespective of the option of appealing to the VuV Ombudsman’s Office, the (potential) client is free to file a civil action at their discretion.
In addition, clients may contact the complaints body of the national competent supervisory authority which may also provide for an arbitration procedure:
France: Autorité des marchés financiers – AMF
Italy: Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa – CONSOB
The Netherlands: Autoriteit Financiële Markten – AFM
Spain: Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores – CNMV
Austria: Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde – FMA.
There are risks associated with investing. The value of your investment may fall or rise. Losses of the capital invested may occur. Past performance, simulations or forecasts are not a reliable indicator of future performance. Please refer to our risk information.
12.3% p.a. interest + 1.2% p.a. bonus for 3 months. Up to €100,000. Interest offer by Baader Bank. Variable rate. Bonus by Scalable Capital. Bonus terms and interest conditions. Only with PRIME+.
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SCALABLE CAPITAL
INFORMATION
Scalable Capital GmbH
Seitzstraße 8e, 80538 Munich | Legal information
Responsible supervision: BaFin, Deutsche Bundesbank
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