Our Take on Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 40
Defensive 3a with a small Bitcoin sleeve as the asymmetric kicker. Unusual at the 40-tier.
Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 40 ranks #58 among 82 3a investment funds in Switzerland. It's an actively-managed strategy combining 35% OLZ Optimized ESG factor equity, 5% iShares Bitcoin ETP and 60% Swisscanto money market, held in a personal securities account at Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich. The defensive version of the BTC barbell.
5% Bitcoin on a 40-Tier 3a: Diversifier or Wild Card?
Total risk-asset weight is 40%: 35% OLZ equity plus 5% iShares Bitcoin ETP. The 60% defensive bucket is Swisscanto money market. All-in cost is 0.67% (0.47% weighted TER plus 0.20% flat fee). On CHF 50,000 that's CHF 335 per year.
At this defensive tier, the 5% BTC sleeve is a much larger share of the total risk allocation: it represents 12.5% of the risk assets (5% out of 40%) versus 6.25% on the 80-tier version. That means BTC volatility shows up disproportionately in the portfolio's annual swings. Worth being explicit about if you're picking the 40-tier expecting a smoother ride.
What Actually Stands Out
The defensive structure with a Bitcoin kicker is genuinely unusual in Swiss 3a. Most defensive 3a strategies are pure conservatism: low equity, bonds or cash, no asymmetric bets. Descartes adds a small BTC sleeve specifically as an asymmetric diversifier with low correlation to traditional asset classes.
The 35% OLZ Optimized ESG factor equity sleeve uses minimum-variance construction across World ex CH, Switzerland and Emerging Market funds. The 5% iShares Bitcoin ETP is a regulated, physically-backed exchange-traded product. Custody at Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich in your personal securities account, with weekly trading in the 3a domain.
What Most Reviews Miss
The 60% defensive bucket is money market, not bonds. Bond percent on the strategy is 0%. So the defensive sleeve gives short-duration stability rather than bond duration. Combined with the BTC sleeve, you get an unusual triangle: factor equity, asymmetric crypto, cash. No bond exposure anywhere.
The 5-year return of +4.10% reflects exactly that structure: a defensive allocation with a small BTC kicker during the recent crypto cycle. The 10-year +31.30% is meaningfully above the non-BTC equivalent (+10.40%), with most of the gap explained by Bitcoin's historical compounding. Future returns are unlikely to mirror that pattern exactly.
The Bottom Line
Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 40 is structurally interesting but the cost-versus-impact case is sensitive to how you value the BTC sleeve. If you specifically want a defensive 3a with a small Bitcoin barbell as an asymmetric kicker, this is the only Swiss product offering it. See alternatives in our guide to the best 3a investment funds in Switzerland.
Verdict: A specialized defensive 3a for long-horizon investors who specifically want a structural Bitcoin sleeve even at lower equity quotas.
Pros
- No custody fee
Cons
- Active management = higher fees
- Below-average 3-year performance
- No swing pricing protection
Product Details
At a Glance
- 35% stocks allocation
- TER: 0.47%
- Actively managed
- No custody fee
Fund Details & Allocation
Fund Details & Allocation
Asset Allocation
Stocks
35%
Bonds
0%
Other
65%
Investment Strategy
Actively-managed fund
Depositary Bank
Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich AG
Swing Pricing
No
Fees & Costs
Fees & Costs
Synthetic TER
0.47%
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
+0.6%
3 Years
+10.6%
5 Years
+4.1%
10 Years
+31.3%
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
- Why is the Bitcoin sleeve still 5% even at the defensive 40-tier?
- Descartes keeps the BTC sleeve at a fixed 5% across all Minimum Risk BTC variants. At the 40-tier that's 5% out of a 40% risk allocation, so it's a relatively larger share of risk assets than on the 80- or 100-tier. Whether that proportion makes sense depends on whether you specifically want the BTC barbell on a defensive overall allocation.
- How is the Bitcoin exposure held inside Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 40?
- Through iShares Bitcoin ETP, a regulated exchange-traded product physically backed by Bitcoin at an institutional custodian. No wallet, no private keys, no separate crypto custody. The ETP trades in your Lienhardt depot alongside the OLZ equity funds and the Swisscanto money market position.
- What's in the 60% defensive bucket of Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 40?
- Swisscanto Money Market Fund CHF FT, a cash-equivalent fund. Bond percent on the strategy is 0%. The defensive sleeve provides short-duration stability rather than the duration or longer-dated fixed income exposure a real bond fund would provide.
- Are there custody or transaction fees beyond the 0.67% all-in?
- No. Custody fee CHF 0, issuing fee 0%, sales fee 0%. The 0.67% all-in (0.47% weighted TER plus 0.20% Descartes/Lienhardt fee) is the complete cost. Lienhardt custody, weekly trading and the iShares Bitcoin ETP fund-level cost are all baked in.
How We Rated This Product
Descartes Minimum Risk BTC 40 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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