Many years ago, I was a resident of the UK and I made savings from professional activities. I must admit, I have been careless in taking care of my savings in the UK. When I left the UK, GBP/CHF exchange was close to 1.4 CHF, but today its reduced to around 1.2 CHF. Reading/watching various articles on the internet and YouTube, it appears it may take years for the GBP to recover.

As I have no intension to return to the UK, I would like to close my bank accounts there. I have savings of approx. 30K and I wondering if now is a right time to move the money to CH and perhaps invest it in stocks so that it beats lost exchange rate faster and catches up by the time GBP recovers.

Alternatively, I have close family living in the UK, does it make sense to loan them the money so they can invest it in the UK ?

I am not an expert in investing or currencies, its just a thought I had and I am wondering if any of you are in similar situation with your funds in the UK and have any advise on this matter.

Thanks in advance.

If you invest the money in equities it doesn't matter whether your investments are denominated in CHF or GBP or Zimbabwean dollars. It's amazing how many people don't understand this. You can invest in GBP as a Swiss resident. For instance I have both a pound and a franc Degiro account.

Unless you are going to stick the money in a bank account (pretty pointless with no interest) there is no point in converting to CHF.

Additionally since you are a self professed beginner, my main advice would be:

- Don't invest with your Swiss bank. They will charge you are a fortune in management fees. For under 100k Degiro is probably the best provider.

- Have a think about what you want to invest in. Many people here are big fans of Smithson, which I think is particularly good for someone looking at a relatively low risk equity investment with the potential nevertheless for big returns.

I do have a Degiro account but only in CHF. Didn't know that I could also have one in GBP without being a UK resident. Let me check it out.
Thanks a lot.

Personally I wouldn't convert GBP to CHF now as GBP is low. Will it recover? I really don't know but I certainly hope so.

Try Interactive Brokers. You can send some GBP cash there and either invest it of convert it to other currencies if GBP goes up.

Sometimes you need to make a call but you only know what is best for you.

Last year I converted some GBP to CHF for some personal expenses at 1.27. I remember in 2009 it was 1.9... Now it is 1.2....

The point would be if you thought the exchange rate would get consistently worse in the future. Brexit and coronavirus play a part. Swiss National Bank interferes with the CHF currency market to prevent the CHF from becoming too strong.



Also if the OP is non-UK resident UK options might be limited. UK interest rates are generally always better than here though although you'll be lucky to find 1%. 0.5% would get you £150 per year.



If you loan it to your family, make sure it's done properly otherwise you'll probably lose it.


In Swiss terms 30k is peanuts.

Although if you invest through a fund, make sure they don't currency hedge (particularly if it's not to CHF!), or you are wasting money on something which gives you no or even negative value.