Information on Survista Financial Advisors AG
Survista Financial Advisors AG (hereinafter “Survista”) offers services in the field of asset management, investment advice and other investment services and ancillary investment services and has its registered office at Stockerstrasse 12, 8002 Zurich, Switzerland. Survista is registered as a stock corporation in the Swiss Commercial Register.
As an asset manager, Survista is licensed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA, Laupenstrasse 27, 3003 Bern) in accordance with the Swiss Federal Act on Financial Institutions (FINIG) and supervised by the supervisory organization “AOOS”, Clausiusstrasse 50, 8006 Zurich. The provision of financial services by Survista is subject to the provisions of the Federal Act on Financial Services (FIDLEG). Survista is affiliated with the Ombudsman’s Office OFS, Scheuchzerstrasse 44, 8006 Zurich.
How can I contact Survista?
The client can communicate with Survista in the languages German, English, French and Italian. Survista can be reached as follows:
Address: Stockerstrasse 12, 8002 Zürich
Telephone: +41 44 405 28 00
Fax: +41 44 405 28 04
E-Mail: info@survista.ch
Internet: www.survista.ch
Further details on the communication between the parties are regulated individually by contract.
What are the terms and conditions of the contract?
The rights and obligations between Survista and the client in connection with the provision of financial services shall be governed by the individual service agreement. This client information serves as supplementary information.
In which categories are the clients classified?
Survista is obliged to classify the client as a retail client, professional client or institutional client. The scope of the individual duties of conduct varies depending on the client segment. New clients are informed about their classification and existing clients are only informed about a change of their existing classification.
Retail Client
A retail client is considered to be one who cannot be clearly assigned to the professional client or eligible counterparty category. By being classified as a retail client, the client enjoys the highest level of protection.
Professional Client
Professional clients are considered:
- Public corporations with professional treasury;
- Pension funds and institutions which, according to their purpose, serve the purpose of occupational pension provision, with professional treasury;
- Companies with professional treasury;
- Large companies;
- Private investment structures with professional treasury for wealthy retail clients.
A professional client has a lower level of protection than a retail client. In particular, Survista may assume for a professional client that the acting persons have sufficient experience, knowledge and expertise to make investment decisions and to adequately assess the associated risks and that the risks associated with the investment decisions are financially bearable for the client.
In addition, professional clients may waive the application by Survista of the rules of conduct pursuant to Art. 8, 9, 15 and 16 FinSA (information, documentation and rendering of account obligations) vis-à-vis them.
Institutional Clients
According to the law, institutional clients are only
- regulated legal entities such as financial intermediaries under the Banking Act (BA), the Financial Institutions Act (FinIA) and the Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA), insurance undertakings under surance Supervision Act (ISA);
- foreign clients subject to equivalent prudential supervision;
- central banks; and
- national and supranational public corporations with professional treasury operations.
They benefit from the lowest level of protection. The rules of conduct pursuant to Art. 7 to 19 FinSA per se do not apply to this client category.
Reclassification
You have the following options for changing the client segment:
- Retail clients may at any time request in writing from Survista a change of client classification to professional client if they meet at least one of the following criteria:
- The client has the knowledge necessary to understand the risks of the investments, based on personal training and professional experience or comparable experience in the financial sector, and has assets of at least CHF 500,000;
- The client has assets of at least CHF 2 million.
- Pension institutions and institutions with professional treasury which, according to their purpose, serve the purpose of occupational pension provision and companies with professional treasury may declare that they wish to be regarded as institutional clients instead of professional clients;
- Professional clients have the option of requesting a reclassification as private client;
- Institutional clients may declare that they wish to be considered professional clients.
Such a change also entails a change in the level of protection applicable to the client.
All declarations with regard to the change of client segment must always be made in writing.
The client is obliged to inform Survista of any changes that might affect his classification. If Survista realises that the client no longer meets the conditions of the of the client segment he is classified, Survista is obliged to take action itself and adjust the client segmentation. In this case Survista will inform the client immediately.
Which services are offered?
Asset Management
Asset management is aimed at clients who wish to entrust Survista with the discretionary management of their assets within the framework of the [EAM] investment policy and individually defined and written criteria (investment strategy). The investment strategy considers the knowledge and experience of the client as well as the investment objectives and financial circumstances of the client. With an asset management agreement, Survista is authorised to make investments at its own discretion in the framwork of its investment universe. The market offer taken info account may also include own products.
Investment Advisory
The investment advisory service is aimed at clients who wish to receive personal recommendations with regard to transactions in financial instruments. In contrast to asset management, the respective investment decision is always made by the client himself. With an investment advisory agreement, the decision-making power and thus ultimately the investment responsibility lies solely with the client. Deposits with investment advice may differ greatly in their orientation and structure from those with asset management. The law distinguishes between investment advice for individual transactions where the entire client portfolio is not considered (transaction-based investment advice) and investment advice considering the client portfolio (portfolio-based investment advice). The market offer taken info account may also include own products.
Execution-Only (on client request in relation to mandate)
Transactions with financial instruments that are not based on an investment decision or investment recommendation of Survista and that are carried out exclusively at the request of the client are treated by Survista as execution-only transactions. In doing so, Survista neither performs a suitability nor an appropriateness test (see below).
What are the costs of working with Survista?
In addition to the management fees individually agreed in the cooperation agreement, the product costs can be quantified in the range of approx. 0.39% – 0.45% p.a. (implementation according to model portfolio).
What is the test for suitability and appropriateness?
The suitability and appropriateness test by Survista are based on the information provided by the client and assumes its accuracy. If the client does not provide the requested information and data or only provides it insufficiently, Survista is not able to provide the services to the client in an appropriate manner.
Suitability Test
In connection with investment advice or asset management, Survista must obtain various information from the client. This includes – as far as relevant – information on:
- The client’s knowledge and experience in relation to the agreed financial service;
- The client’s investment objectives, including: Information on the time horizon and purpose of the investment, the client’s risk willingness and any investment restrictions;
- The financial circumstances of the client: Information on the nature and amount of the client’s regular income, assets and current and future financial obligations.
Based on this information, Survista draws up a risk profile with the client and agrees an investment strategy for the client.
Appropriateness Test
In the case of transaction-based investment advice, Survista must only check whether the investment recommendations made are appropriate for the client and must obtain information on the client’s knowledge and experience in the investment business.
Presumption for Professional Clients
If a client is classified as a professional client, Survista assumes that the client has the necessary knowledge and experience and that the financial risks associated with the investment decisions or recommendations are bearable for the client.
Proxy Relationships and Joint Accounts
In assessing the knowledge and experience of legal persons or in the case of a power of attorney, Survista focuses on the person acting vis-à-vis Survista. If the authorised person is only collectively authorised to sign, all persons concerned must have the necessary knowledge and experience. When assessing financial circumstances and investment objectives, Survista always focuses on the account holder. In the case of an account with two or more account holders, Survista always focuses on the person with the weakest financial circumstances or the lowest risk capacity.
Which market offer does Survista take into account when selecting financial instruments?
The investment universe considered when making investment recommendations or investment decisions by Survista is determined by Survista’s applicable investment guidelines.
The investment universe of Survista may include its own as well as foreign financial instruments to cover the desired markets and forms of investment.
Where can the client turn in the event of a dispute?
Survista always strives to provide the best possible service for its customers. Should the customer nevertheless be dissatisfied with the service provided by Survista, he has the option of initiating a mediation procedure with a recognised ombudsman (“FINOS”, Talstrasse 20, 8001 Zurich).
Status: September 2023