The Finnish SIP (Savings and Investment Policy) account is similar to the Swedish product “Kapitalförsäkring” in that 101 percent is paid out if the account holder passes away. However, there is no ongoing capital gains tax, as tax is paid only when the account holder withdraws money from the account. That way returns and dividends can be reinvested tax-free. The SIP-account is also beneficial for inheritance purposes as, unlike other Finnish account types, transfer to beneficiaries does not trigger any capital gains tax but only inheritance tax.
“Half a million Finnish savers invest through an insurance-based product today and total savings capital amounts to close to EUR 40 billion. The market is dominated by traditional players offering complicated and expensive solutions where savers are mainly presented with in-house funds. Nordnet’s endowment wrapper is unique in terms of flexibility, pricing and digital experience and I believe that our launch will make a difference for the Finnish savers”, says Lars-Åke Norling, CEO of Nordnet.
With Nordnet, savers can choose from a wide selection of investments including stocks, funds and ETF’s. Account opening and investing is completely digital. Deposits and withdrawals are free of charge and can be made at any time. Fund units can be bought and sold without redemption or subscription fees. The commission rate for domestic and Nordic financial instruments is 0.08 percent with a minimum commission of 5 EUR. The annual account fee is 0.35 percent for savings capital up to EUR 100,000 and 0.15 percent on capital exceeding that amount.
”The time is right to expand our Finnish operations into a new business area. Nordnet currently has over 550,000 customers in Finland, and for the equity savings account which was launched in 2020 we have a market share of around 70 percent of accounts opened. We already offer several pension and insurance products across the rest of the Nordics, and we believe that we have what it takes to make a significant impact in the Finnish market with our endowment wrapper”, says Lars-Åke Norling, CEO of Nordnet.
The launch in Finland is done through a branch of Nordnet’s Norwegian pension company Nordnet Livsforsikring AS, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swedish Nordnet Pensionsförsäkring AB. The head of the Finnish branch is Kaisa Alamäki who has a long experience in the finance and insurance industry at companies such as AllianceBernstein, Mandatum Life and Nooa Säästöpankki.
For more information about Nordnet’s endowment wrapper, please visit www.nordnet.fi/sijoitusvakuutus