Frequently asked questions on fees

You send funds to an account named Finax Klienti, held at Tatra banka. We keep all client money separate from our company money, which is strictly supervised by the National Bank of Slovakia. Your money is then sent to foreign managers, where we use it to buy securities (ETFs) on the stock exchange. After signing in to your Finax account, you can keep track of your account value at any time.

Yes, Finax is regulated by the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS). You can find the authorization from the NBS here.

Finax participates in the deposit protection system through the Investment Guarantee Fund. Your assets are protected up to 50 000 euros. As a securities dealer, we follow very strict rules when managing your assets and we keep your assets strictly separate from our company’s assets. You can find more information on the page www.garancnyfond.sk.

In the upper right corner, click on „Login“. Below, you will find a link labelled „Forgotten password?“. Please follow the instructions provided.

The custody of our securities is handled by KBC Bank, a Belgian bank which is one of the European leaders in the field of asset custody. KBC owns, for example, ČSOB in the Czech Republic and Slovakia or K&H Bank in Hungary.

Finax invests your funds in a way that aims to make the returns tax-exempt. We use a combination of tax advantages under the applicable legislation. To be sure that your returns will be tax-exempt, you need to follow the correct procedure when withdrawing money or ending your investment. We will inform you about this.

All of this applies provided that you are a Slovak tax resident. If you pay tax in another country, please check the possible tax aspects of your investment in that specific country.

Finax provides account information and documentation through its platform to support clients with record-keeping and tax reporting where required. Clients remain responsible for meeting their own tax obligations. The information above is intended for Irish tax residents. Tax treatment may differ for individuals who are tax resident in another country. The tax treatment of investments depends on the applicable legislation and the individual’s personal circumstances and may change in the future.

Finax does not provide tax advice. Clients should consider seeking independent professional advice where appropriate.

You can claim income tax relief on your PEPP contributions at your highest marginal rate(either 20% or 40%). This effectively reduces the "net cost" of your investment:

Higher Rate Taxpayer (40%): A €1,000 investment only costs you €600 out-of-pocket.

Standard Rate Taxpayer (20%): A €1,000 investment costs you €800 out-of-pocket

The amount you can contribute tax-efficiently is capped by your age and an annual earnings limit of €115,000
o Age Group

Max Relief Limit (% of Income) by age group:
o Under 30 - 15%
o 30 – 39 - 20%
o 40 – 49 - 25%
o 50 – 54 - 30%
o 55 – 59 - 35%
o 60 or over - 40%

Unlike regular investments, which are subject to a 38% Exit Tax (as of Jan 1, 2026) and a mandatory "deemed disposal" tax every 8 years, a PEPP grows entirely tax-free.

At retirement you can withdraw 25% of your total fund value as a tax-free lump sum, up to a lifetime limit of €200,000.

How much do I save on taxes compared to mutual funds?

While direct shares are taxed at 33% (CGT), they often trigger immediate tax on every dividend payment. By contrast, our ETF portfolios allow your entire gain to stay invested and compound.

Finax charges an annual fee of 1% + VAT on the value of assets under management (the total value of assets, i.e., securities and cash). The fee is charged monthly.

We also offer various discounts on the portfolio management fee. For instance, if you refer a friend who opens an account, we will manage 1,000 euros of your savings at no charge.

Check the ongoing promotions to obtain even higher discounts.

Here's an example: You have invested 20,000 euros and referred a friend who invested 10,000 euros. Both you and your friend have a discount of 1,000 euros. Assuming the month in question has 30 days and the value of your account remains unchanged over time, the monthly fee would be calculated as follows:
(20,000 - 1,000) * 0.0123 * (30/365) = 19.21 euros

The portfolio management fee is charged continuously each month. Each day, we calculate a fee equal to 1/365 (1/366 in a leap year) of the annual rate, based on the value of the account on that day. At the end of the month, we add up the daily fees and charge them to you.

Example: You invested 20 000 euros. Let us assume the month had 30 days and the value of your account changed as follows: for the first 15 days it was 20 000, for the next 5 days it was 20 500, and for the last 10 days it was 20 300.

20 000*0,012*15/365 + 20 500*0,012*5/365 + 20 300*0,012*10/365 = 19,90 euros.

No, you do not have to pay any extra fees if you decide to close your account.

Yes, you can combine our discounts. However, when registering through a special link (referral by a friend, affiliate link, or other special promotion), only one discount can be used. Nonetheless, this means that you could potentially have the entire account managed for free!

Finax does not charge a fee for investment advice, but you may be charged one by the distributing financial agent. The financial agent’s fee for providing investment advice may be charged from the client’s investment account held with Finax.

The maximum investment advice fee is 4% of the deposit value. The investment advice fee may be paid in advance from the target amount of deposits (express), gradually from the target amount (accelerated), or continuously from each deposit (standard).

At the same time, if investment advice is provided by a financial agent, they should, where possible, propose the most suitable product for you, taking into account your circumstances, from the various financial products available.

a) you have allowed access to camera in the pop-up window/ on mobile phone by pressing "Allow" (the functionality may slightly differ among different browsers and smartphones)
b) you are making the registration on a screen that has a camera (if you are using multiple screens, drag the web browser window to the screen with camera)
c) the camera is not covered with tape for security reasons,
d) the use of camera is allowed in the settings of your browser. Here is a guide on how to find the browser settings: Chrome, Firefox, Safari.

a) you are uploading the type of document that you have selected from the allowed document types
b) all four corners of the document were positioned in the frame and the document is not askew
c) you are not covering a part of the text or photo with your fingers
d) the uploaded image is not blurred
e) there is not a window or a too bright background behind the document while taking the photo

a) the photo or uploaded image is not blurred
b) the photo corresponds to the photo on your identity card
c) your face is not covered, you do not wear sunglasses and there are no other people around you
d) there is not a window or too bright background behind you
e) only a passport is acceptable for Irish citizens.

a) you do not have a headgear or glasses on,
b) if you wear glasses on your identity card photo, try to do the live verification with and without glasses.

You should send money by bank transfer from an account held in your name at a European bank. When you send funds to Finax’s collection account at Tatra banka, your funds will be credited to your investment account on the day they are received, provided the correct variable symbol or recipient note is included. If the payment is sent to another bank, the money will appear in your account the day after it is received in Finax’s bank account. We then make portfolio purchases every week.

The minimum deposit for a one-off investment is €10.
The minimum deposit for a regular monthly investment is €10.

To help us credit the funds to your account quickly, please use the correct variable symbol. The payment instructions are as follows:

If you have cash, we recommend depositing it into your account first and then transferring the funds to us to avoid suspicion of money laundering.

When you send funds to Finax’s collection account at Tatra banka, your funds will be credited to your investment account on the day they are received, provided the correct variable symbol or recipient note is included. If the payment is sent to another bank, the money will appear in your account the day after it is received in Finax’s bank account. We carry out purchases on the stock exchange every week, usually on Tuesday, but we reserve the right to move the investment day to another day of the week in the event of holidays in Slovakia, Germany or the countries where we operate. Funds processed by the Friday of the previous week will be invested.

Example for payments to Tatra banka: You enter the transfer order in your bank on Wednesday. The funds will be in Finax’s client collection bank account on Thursday, when they will also be credited to your investment account if you entered the variable symbol or message for the recipient in the correct format. They will usually be invested on the following Tuesday, which will normally appear in your account by Thursday.

Example for payments to another bank (Citibank): You enter the transfer order in your bank on Wednesday. The funds will be in Finax’s client collection bank account on Thursday and you will see them in your online account on Friday. They will usually be invested on the following Tuesday, which will appear in your account on Wednesday.

The minimum deposit for a one-off investment is €10.
The minimum deposit for a regular monthly investment is €10.

Currently, we accept transfers to our bank account as a form of deposit. Clients who already own securities traded on European stock exchanges can also transfer these securities to us. If you are in this situation, please contact our Customer Service department at [email protected] for advice on how to proceed. We are working towards being able to accept card payments in the future as well. Cash deposits are only accepted in exceptional cases and under the condition that the client can provide a proof of origin of the funds.

Finax will not penalize you if you stop depositing money on a regular basis, either permanently or temporarily. However, it's important to note that by doing so, you will likely not save enough to reach your target amount.

You can send amounts over 1000 euros at any time. We recommend sending amounts of 1000 euros and less monthly in the same amount. However, if you decide otherwise, we will not penalize you for it.

We carry out sales of securities on the same day as purchases. Withdrawal instructions received no later than 12 noon on the working day before the investment day (usually Monday) are included in the sales. It then takes two working days for the stock exchange to credit the funds to our account, which we hold for these purposes with a foreign manager. Selling the investment and sending the funds to your bank account may therefore take 3–10 days.

We send money to a current account held in your name and from which you sent us the funds. If you would like the funds to be sent to another account, the withdrawal form must be certified by a notary.

Finax is the work of two founders, Juraj Hrbatý and Rado Kasík. They came up with the whole concept and together decide on the company’s future direction and progress. The company itself is owned by one of the founders – Juraj Hrbatý. In August 2019, the venture fund Growws Sicav, a.s., which has Slovak owners, invested in Finax. We are therefore a Slovak company, with Slovak management, Slovak owners, and we pay taxes in Slovakia.

We have done everything we can so that you can invest without us meeting in person. We understand, however, that your deposit represents savings you worked hard for. If you insist on seeing us, you are very welcome. Arrange a meeting with us by phone and come to see the company and the people to whom you are entrusting your savings.

Our capital amounts to 858,322 euros. Similar to banking, brokers must maintain sufficient resources to cover the risks associated with their business operations. This is one of the fundamental parameters monitored by the National Bank of Slovakia.

To find your account number, log in to Finax, where you see the accounts you have. Clicking on the account will show you the account details. One of the items is the account number.

Finax offers the following unique solutions:

• A transparent model of investing in specific ETFs - a broad equity basket and a conservative bond portfolio.
• Minimal fees for portfolio management, including zero fees for purchases/sales, performance, rebalancing, and more.
• We strive to maximize returns and are unaware of any other product that can provide a better return in the long run.
• Tax-smart approach.
• Automated rebalancing.
• Option to buy fractional shares – we can purchase positions consisting of less than one ETF unit for you, creating a quality, diversified portfolio even with a minimum deposit.
• A user-friendly environment.

Savings accounts at banks contain guarantees that your funds will not lose value. However, this also means that their interest rates are typically very low, often failing to keep up with inflation. Hence, the purchasing power of your savings will likely decrease over time. In contrast, investing in an account with Finax offers the potential for higher returns. While the account's value may fluctuate in the short term, you have the ability to adjust the level of risk according to your preferences, and in the long run, it is highly likely that you will earn significantly more compared to a traditional bank savings account.

Absolutely! You can invest as a company. Please feel free to contact our Customer Service Support, and we will provide you with guidance on how to proceed.

Upon finishing the registration, you click on the “plus” button in the Coach section and hit “Add a bank account”. Follow the instructions, and after a few minutes, your last payments will appear.
Your consent with loading the data will be valid for a 180 days. It will then be necessary to renew it. Don’t worry, it will only take a few seconds.

Upon connecting your bank, it may take a few minutes for the transactions to appear in Coach. Registering the payments from the current day may take more than 24 hours to complete. If the payment has not appeared yet for a longer period of time, it is most likely a failure from the side of your bank.

If your payment has not been assigned a category, you may do so yourself, manually. If the payment recurs, e.g. grocery shopping at your local grocery store, you may set up a rule, for it to always appear in that category. All you need to do is to write the word base from the payment’s description, save it and you won’t have to repeat yourself ever again. The already set-up rules can be changed in the settings section.

For example, if you make a transfer between your accounts, Coach will categorize this transaction as both an expense on one account and as an income on the other, which may distort your financial analysis. There's two ways to change this. Either you set up a rule for all internal transactions - you tap the "More" button in the main lower menu and you turn off "Include internal transactions" in the "Bank transfer" section. The second option is to change the settings for just one particular transfer - in the payment's detail, you turn off the "Include in the analysis".

If you withdraw cash, and you use it for one transaction, you just need to assign one category to the entire expense. If you use the cash for more transactions, you may click on Split the payment and assign two or more categories.
If you are not sure what to do with the withdrawn cash yet, label the payment as “ATM withdrawal” and the Coach will automatically increase the cash in your digital wallet by that amount. Don’t forget to add the cash payments by the + sign afterwards.

Currently the directive (PSD2) doesn’t allow us to access the information on credit card payments or any other credit products for that matter (mortgage, consumer credit etc.). However, this may change with the new directive (PSD3).
For now, it would be the best to create a separate cash account for your credit card, and write down the expenses manually, just like with cash payments.

Client data safety is our top priority. The data transfer from your bank to Finax is handled through the https protocol and through so called your bank’s AISP certificate verification. The data storage is located on our own servers.
The access to your data is generated by your bank, upon the token’s expiration or manual Data processing consent withdrawal, we are unable to further load new transactions.
Payment account data and transaction history is loaded from your bank. However, it’s impossible to use the Coach for the payment initialization or changing your bank account settings. The data flow is one-way only, from your bank to Finax.
Personal data access is strictly limited to an absolutely necessary amount of people, and we work primarily with their anonymized version.
We can’t see or save your internet banking login credentials when connecting your bank accounts. In the background, you login directly through your bank, and we obtain an authorization token with a limited validity.

Your portfolio consists of ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) that replicate the performance of the world's largest economies. Depending on your risk level, you will own up to 6 equity ETFs and up to 4 bond ETFs, representing 80% of the global economy. The ETFs in your portfolio are designed to track the performance of the following:

1. US stocks of large companies
2. US stocks of medium-sized companies
3. US stocks of small companies
4. European large and mid-sized companies
5. European small companies
6. Stocks of companies from emerging countries
7. Global Government Bonds
8. European corporate bonds
9. European high-yield bonds
10. Government bonds of emerging countries

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a basket of stocks or bonds that replicates the performance of an index, commodity, or other investment instruments. ETFs, unlike mutual funds, are traded on the stock exchange. One of the primary advantages of ETFs is the favourable tax treatment, as the earnings from ETFs are not taxed if held for more than a year. The value of ETFs closely mirrors the movement of major indices such as the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Euro Stoxx 600, and others. Finax utilizes ETFs as part of the equity and bond components of the portfolio.

Your portfolio consists of two parts: shares (riskier) and bonds (more conservative). Your return depends greatly on the ratio between these two parts. In general, the riskier the portfolio (the higher the share component), the higher the return you can expect, and vice versa. Over the long term, the best ratio of return to risk is provided by a portfolio with an 80% share component.

If you are not yet a client, click “I want to start”. After identifying your risk profile, we will tell you the likely value of your investment, as well as a pessimistic and optimistic scenario.

Over time, the value of your investment changes. Some assets grow more, others less, and some may fall. The composition of your portfolio may move away from the ideal (target) composition – the portfolio has drift. To maintain the same balance of risk and return, when the drift becomes too large, we sell what you have too much of and buy more of what you have too little of. Long-term measurements show that regular rebalancing increases portfolio returns by 0.35% to 0.5% per year compared with a non-rebalanced portfolio. Over 20 years, this may ultimately bring you up to a 40% difference in return compared with the original deposit.

The reason is simple. If shares grow quickly and their share in the portfolio increases, you sell them at higher prices and buy bonds that have not grown as much and are cheaper relative to shares. Conversely, when the stock market falls, you buy shares that are cheap at that time and sell bonds that are expensive relative to shares at that time.

We rebalance the portfolio based on measuring drift. Drift is a value that measures how much the composition of your portfolio differs from the ideal composition. If the drift value increases too much, we will rebalance the portfolio. However, we also take taxes into account.

Illustrative example: The ideal proportion of large US companies in the portfolio is 25%. If the value of this part of the portfolio is higher than 27.5% or lower than 22.5%, we will try to rebalance the portfolio while taking the tax aspect into account.

When investing, you often hear phrases such as “The value of your investment may fall as well as rise over time” or “Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns”. These phrases are repeated so often that investors can almost stop noticing them.

At Finax, we want to make sure you understand what risk means.

Savings you keep in your bank are guaranteed by the government up to 100 000 euros. This means that if the bank were to fail, you can be sure you would get your cash back.

This does not apply to investments in shares or bonds. With investments, no one can guarantee your return. The value of companies on the stock exchange can rise or fall. If a company is not doing well, its share price falls; if it is doing well, its share price rises. The same applies to index funds, but in a broader context. If the whole economy is doing well, indexes rise, and the opposite is also true. At the same time, even governments can sometimes have trouble repaying their debt. This is why investing involves risk.

So why do people invest? Because, over the long term, investments usually offer higher growth than money simply sitting in a bank account. In general, the higher the risk, the higher the potential return. So if you can accept the risk of a loss, your investment will probably reward you with a higher return.

At Finax, we believe that by choosing a widely diversified portfolio, with the right balance of shares and bonds tailored to the client’s investment, we can maximise returns and minimise risk.

If that were the case, investing would be completely simple. However, companies that did well over the last decade may not do well today. With Finax, you invest in the largest companies in the world. When a company joins this important group, you will be there too; and if it leaves, it will leave your portfolio as well. When modelling your expected returns, we relied on a very detailed study of historical returns and tried to model them as well as we could. We learned a lot from this, but we cannot rely on it completely.

Investment literature, as well as most people who deal with investing, say that shares are a risky investment. What they mean is that shares have high return volatility (their spread, fluctuation). This is why anyone with a short time horizon should not invest in shares.

Shares are a suitable investment mainly for long-term investors. For a short-term investment horizon, Finax offers more conservative portfolios.

Most of our portfolios are denominated in euros. This means that if you deposit funds in a currency other than the euro, we will first convert the amount into euros before purchasing ETFs on the stock exchange. The only exceptions are the products Złoty Portfolio and Złoty Bond Portfolio, which are denominated in Polish zloty, and Elite client Brokerage accounts, which can be held in US dollars.

You can choose the currency in which you'd like us to display your investment returns. If you choose a display currency that differs from the denomination of your portfolio, we will first convert the portfolio's value into the display currency using ECB exchange rates, and then calculate the return based on the converted amount.