Glossary
Investment Advice
Investment Advice is the personal recommendation by a financial services provider to a client to buy, hold, or sell specific financial instruments. Unlike Discretionary Asset Management, the client makes the investment decisions themselves; the adviser provides recommendations based on the individual Risk Profile.
At a glance
- Investment Advice is a regulated financial service under FinSA (Art. 3 lit. c) when tailored to client needs.
- Where the advice takes the client portfolio into account, the financial services provider first carries out a Suitability Assessment (Art. 12 FinSA); where it advises on individual transactions without regard to the entire portfolio, it carries out an Appropriateness Assessment (Art. 11 FinSA).
- Investment Advice is not the same as Discretionary Asset Management: with advice, the client decides for themselves.
Frequently asked questions
A recommendation qualifies as Investment Advice when it relates to a specific financial instrument, is tailored to the client's personal situation, and can reasonably be understood by the client as an individual recommendation. General market information or analysis without a purchase recommendation is not considered advice (FinSA Art. 3 lit. c).
Part of the topic
Financial Advice
Sources: FINMA · Classified Compilation (fedlex)
This entry is for general information purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice. It is a simplified summary of the legal position and tax treatment.