Our Take on Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 100
The only Swiss 3a with a Bitcoin allocation. 5% iShares Bitcoin ETP on top of an OLZ minimum-variance equity sleeve.
Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 100 ranks #43 among 82 3a investment funds in Switzerland. It's an actively-managed strategy combining 94% OLZ Optimized ESG factor equity with a 5% iShares Bitcoin ETP barbell allocation, held in a personal securities account at Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich. The most distinctive 3a product on the Swiss market.
5% Bitcoin in Your Pillar 3a: Smart or Reckless?
Descartes is the only Swiss 3a provider with a Bitcoin allocation. Competitors stick to index strategies, sustainability tilts, or Swiss home bias. Descartes added BTC explicitly for asymmetric diversification: 5% exposure that can move very differently from the equity sleeve in either direction.
All-in cost is 0.74% (0.54% weighted TER plus 0.20% flat fee). On CHF 50,000 that's CHF 370 per year. That's 3 bps cheaper than Descartes Minimum Risk 100 (no BTC) because the 5% Bitcoin sleeve is sitting in iShares Bitcoin ETP which is a low-cost wrapper. The BTC allocation isn't a cost penalty.
What Actually Stands Out
The Bitcoin exposure is held via iShares Bitcoin ETP, not direct BTC custody. That matters: you get regulated ETP exposure inside a 3a-compliant wrapper without any private-key custody risk. The ETP is physically backed by Bitcoin held by an institutional custodian.
The equity sleeve uses OLZ Optimized ESG factor funds: OLZ Equity World ex CH Optimized ESG (69%), OLZ Equity Switzerland Optimized ESG (15%) and OLZ Equity Emerging Market Optimized ESG (10%). So you get factor-based minimum-variance equity construction plus a 5% asymmetric BTC barbell. Custody at Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich with weekly trading in the 3a domain.
What Most Reviews Miss
The Bitcoin sleeve can swing the entire strategy's annual return materially. A 5% allocation that drops 50% costs you 2.5% on the total portfolio. A 5% allocation that doubles adds 5% to the total. That's the asymmetric tradeoff Descartes is explicitly buying into. Honest review: most years it won't matter much, occasional years it will dominate the return.
The 10-year return of +111.00% is striking and reflects how the 5% BTC sleeve compounded through Bitcoin's multi-cycle run-up. That historic outperformance is not guaranteed forward: a different regime where Bitcoin underperforms could just as easily make this the dragging sleeve. The 3-year +25.90% sits above Descartes Minimum Risk 100 (+21.80%), suggesting the BTC sleeve added value recently.
The Bottom Line
Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 100 makes sense if you specifically want a small Bitcoin allocation inside your 3a as a long-horizon asymmetric bet, without dealing with custody yourself. Nobody else in Swiss 3a offers this. See how it ranks in our guide to the best 3a investment funds in Switzerland.
Verdict: A genuinely unique 3a strategy for investors comfortable with a structurally added crypto exposure as part of a long-horizon retirement portfolio.
Pros
- Good 3-year performance (+25.9%)
- No custody fee
Cons
- Active management = higher fees
- High stock allocation = more volatility
- No swing pricing protection
Product Details
At a Glance
- 94% stocks allocation
- TER: 0.54%
- Actively managed
- No custody fee
Fund Details & Allocation
Fund Details & Allocation
Asset Allocation
Stocks
94%
Bonds
0%
Other
6%
Investment Strategy
Actively-managed fund
Depositary Bank
Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich AG
Swing Pricing
No
Fees & Costs
Fees & Costs
Synthetic TER
0.54%
Flat Fee
0.20%
Custody Fee
Free
Performance Over Time
Historical performance of this investment fund. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
1 Year
+1.8%
3 Years
+25.9%
5 Years
+20.9%
10 Years
+111.0%
Retirement Projection
Based on max. contribution of CHF 7'258/year, age 30 to 65 (35 years), starting from CHF 0.
Compare to Similar Products
Frequently Asked Questions
- How does Descartes actually hold the Bitcoin in Minimum Risk BTC 100?
- Through iShares Bitcoin ETP (5% of the strategy), an exchange-traded product that's physically backed by Bitcoin held at an institutional custodian. You don't hold private keys, you don't manage a wallet. It's regulated ETP exposure inside a 3a-compliant wrapper, with all settlement handled by Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich.
- What are the underlying funds in Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 100?
- Five underlyings: OLZ Equity World ex CH Optimized ESG (69%), OLZ Equity Switzerland Optimized ESG (15%), OLZ Equity Emerging Market Optimized ESG (10%), iShares Bitcoin ETP (5%) and Swisscanto Money Market Fund CHF FT (1%). The OLZ funds carry factor-based minimum-variance methodology, the BTC sleeve adds the asymmetric barbell, the money market is a small cash buffer.
- Where is the depot held and who handles BTC settlement?
- Custody and execution at Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich AG in your own personal securities account. Lienhardt handles weekly trading across all five underlyings including the iShares Bitcoin ETP. There's no separate crypto wallet, no private-key management, no extra custody fee on the BTC sleeve.
- Are there entry, exit or custody fees on Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 100?
- No. Issuing fee 0%, sales fee 0%, custody fee CHF 0. The 0.74% all-in (0.54% weighted TER plus 0.20% Descartes/Lienhardt fee) covers everything including the iShares Bitcoin ETP fund-level cost. No per-transaction fee on monthly contributions or in-platform strategy switches.
How We Rated This Product
Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 100 was evaluated as a product using our weighted scoring system.
Ratings are updated monthly based on the latest available data. All products are evaluated using the same methodology.
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