The new retirement account (Altersvorsorgedepot) starts on 1 January 2027. Thanks in part to a new partnership with Vanguard, our standard account will be free of charge at launch and will offer particularly broad diversification.
When we asked people at the beginning of May what they want from the new retirement account, two things stood out: high transparency and low costs. We understand that very well. With the old Riester model, opaque structures and immense costs led to frustration and heavily eroded returns in most cases.
We say again and again that our product range follows the goals of investors, not any commission interests. We now show that we mean it with the planned conditions for the so-called standard account. “We offer full transparency and will bring the state-subsidised standard retirement account to market free of charge at launch,” explains Matthias Lamberti, our Chief Innovation & Product Officer.
Using the long-term return opportunities of the capital markets
From 1 January 2027, the new retirement account finally makes it possible to do without the high costs of contribution guarantees in subsidised retirement provision, and instead to use the long-term return opportunities of the capital markets together with state allowances. The retirement account comes in several variants. One of them is the standard account, which has special rules.
The principle: a more offensive investment, such as an equity ETF, provides the return opportunities. A more defensive one, such as a bond ETF, offers a kind of safety buffer, because bonds fluctuate much less than shares. The further away retirement is, the higher the equity share. The closer retirement comes, the more money moves into the bond share.
Strategic partnership between quirion and Vanguard
For our standard account, we have entered into a strategic partnership with Vanguard, the second-largest ETF provider in the world. On the equity side, the very low-cost Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap gives investors a stake in around 10,000 shares worldwide (ongoing charges: 0.07%). The bond side, with the Vanguard Global Aggregate Bond EUR Hedged, will also be very low-cost and highly diversified (ongoing charges: 0.08%). In both cases, diversification helps to reduce the risks of investing considerably.
“Together with Vanguard, we want to show that people do not have to spend their time on their retirement provision, but on the life it makes possible,” explains Lamberti. “Instead of confusing fund constructions, our standard account relies on two of Vanguard's best and most broadly diversified products worldwide.”
Vanguard is a pioneer of index investing and has made it popular since the mid-1970s. Because the company is set up as a cooperative, low costs are part of its DNA. The goal: to make the return opportunities of the capital markets available to as many investors as possible. Banking pioneer Karl Matthäus Schmidt pursued the same goal when he founded quirion in 2013. With Quirin Privatbank, he had already committed fully to independent advice without any product commissions in 2006. With quirion, he brought robo-advice, and with it digital wealth management, to Germany.
Further alternatives in preparation
Besides the standard account, whose main features are now designed, we at quirion are working on further offers for the retirement account. “One variant will follow our core concept for the investment strategy, and so take a path that is even a little more refined by scientific criteria,” Lamberti underlines. “In both offers, we leave no one on their own. Our personal customer service and our financial AI quirion.ai will make getting started as easy as possible for first-time investors.”
The new retirement account can only be opened from 1 January 2027. “But if you do not want to miss anything, you can already register with us now, free of charge and without obligation, for our new standard in retirement provision,” explains Lamberti. “We will get in touch as soon as the retirement account can be opened.”
If you want to get an impression in advance of how state subsidies and the return opportunities of the stock markets work together, you can see it with our retirement calculator. One thing quickly becomes clear: “The reform is a huge opportunity,” Lamberti stresses. “We want to do our part so that as many people as possible take this opportunity.”
Register for quirion's retirement account without obligation.
