Descartes Index 100

A passive 3a where you can actually call a human advisor. That's the headline.

Descartes Index 100 ranks #6 among 82 3a investment funds in Switzerland. It's a passively-managed 99% equity strategy built on Swisscanto index funds and held in a personal securities account at Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich. Built for long-horizon investors who want index exposure plus optional human advice on demand.

Why Pay More Than VIAC for Pure Index Equity?

All-in cost is 0.64% (0.24% weighted TER plus 0.40% Descartes/Lienhardt fee). On a CHF 50,000 portfolio that's CHF 320 per year. VIAC Global 100 lands at 0.41% all-in, so you pay roughly CHF 115 more annually for a similar equity exposure profile.

Where does that extra cost go? Into the hybrid model. Descartes is the only Swiss 3a provider where you can pick up the phone and speak with a personal advisor at any time. Pure digital providers like VIAC and frankly don't offer that. Per Handelszeitung coverage, the higher fees haven't translated into lower net performance versus those competitors.

What Actually Stands Out

The underlying portfolio is built on Swisscanto index funds: Equity World ex CH Responsible (39%), Switzerland Total Responsible (35%), MSCI World ex CH FTH1 CHF (18%), Emerging Markets Responsible (7%) and 1% money market. Globally diversified equity with ESG screening baked in at the underlying level.

Your money sits in a personal securities account at Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich, not a pooled vehicle. Each client has their own depot with weekly trading in the 3a domain. That's cleaner ownership than collective foundations, and Lienhardt is a 150-year-old Zurich private bank handling the custody.

What Most Reviews Miss

There's no public ISIN and no per-strategy AUM disclosure. Descartes runs a whitelabel model where the strategy mix is constructed by Descartes and held at Lienhardt rather than packaged as a public fund. That's a transparency tradeoff. You can't look up the strategy on Bloomberg or check fund flows.

The 5-year return of +24.70% trails VIAC Global 100 (+51.49%) and frankly's top equity funds materially. Part of that is the all-in cost differential compounding. Part is timing of when the strategy launched. The 10-year +122.90% is more competitive, and the 1-year +4.03% sits roughly in line with the equity peer group.

The Bottom Line

Descartes Index 100 makes sense if you value having a real human advisor on call and don't mind paying about 0.23 percentage points more annually than VIAC for that access. See how it compares to cheaper pure-digital options in our guide to the best 3a investment funds in Switzerland.

Verdict: A solid passive equity 3a for investors who want digital convenience plus on-demand human advice without going to a traditional bank branch.