Broker is closing - unsure how to best continue

[sebi13]

I have ~65k euros invested: 75% in an developed world ETF, 15% in an emerging market ETF, 10% bonds. My current broker (Degiro) is closing its operation in my country (as they have been bought by Flatex and continue with this brand only). Degiro provides an option to move the ETFs to Flatex, it's free since degiro provides all necessary information, this would not result in any taxes as the ETFs are not sold (and thus no profit has been generated). The problem i have with Flatex are it's high fees, mainly because you pay 5.9€ on every dividend payment and etf purchase.

I receive 7 dividend payment/year. Currently, I purchase ETFs once per month, so my yearly fee would be 112€. If I buy ETFs only every quartal, the fee would be reduced to 65€. Still a lot of money.

Another option is to switch to a completely new broker. As far as I compared different brokers, InteractiveBrokers is the one with the lowest fees in my country. The problem with these two options is that I would have to pay taxes on my gains. Since opening my account on Degiro, I made about 10k euros profit. Thus I would have to pay ~3k euros taxes.

If I would start from scratch; I would probably opt for creating an Interactive Brokers account.

I could also use two different brokers, e.g. transferring my current portfolio (for free) to Flatex and in parallel open an account on InteractiveBrokers for future investments. But I would still pay 5.9€/dividend payout, so I don't think this is a good idea.


I'm not sure how to best continue. I could sell my ETFs, pay 3k in taxes and start fresh on interactive brokers. But 3k are nearly 2 month's worth of investments, so I really don't want to rush this decision. What would you do in my situtation?

[yachi]

Are you saying you can only move cash to InteractiveBrokers, but not ETTs and dividend stocks?  Why is that?

[Malossi792]

Just transfer your existing holdings to the broker of your choosing.
They will do it for free to flatex, but you can also choose any other broker for a fee.

[draco44]

Another option is to switch to a completely new broker. As far as I compared different brokers, InteractiveBrokers is the one with the lowest fees in my country. The problem with these two options is that I would have to pay taxes on my gains.

I don't know the financial rules in your country but I would double-check on this. To my knowledge when you transfer in kind assets to a new brokerage, you simply move your investments as is with no selling or buying involved and no tax consequences either. I'd call InteractiveBrokers and find out what their process is for fund transfers. It's possible Degiro may charge you some kind of account closure fee, but hopefully that's all you'd have to deal with.