FSM Sg usd8.8 /0.08% per transaction.. plus TT fees to sg is way cheaper than to US or other country. But bear in mind, u need very large amount maybe 30-40k and above to gain from etf. if small ikan bilis amount. the withholding tax, transaction fees will eat large part of yr profit.. better to earn local stock /UT if have smaller warchest

Hi all,
any comments on Malaysia's myETF titan50 that tracks 50 top companies in the US from NASDAQ NYSE etc?
the annual expense ratio is 0.475% not including brokerage fee.. quite high but its no hassle for us in Malaysia. thanks

FSM SG have yearly platform fees for US market. Not good platform.

Hi, I'd like to say thanks for making this guide first, I'm still reading through it, just wanted to confirm a few things if that's okay.

1. IB's inactivity fee is only charged for those under 100k or total commissions during the month under $10, if my commissions are over $10 then I'd be fine regardless?
btw, IB has eliminated the 10k requirement ( https://www.investopedia.com/news/interacti...ccount-minimum/ )

2. Can one hold onto an Irish domiciled ETF while trading short-term on a US-Domiciled ETF? What are the main differences between them except for the WT %?

3. If I have an SG bank account, is it overall cheaper to deposit into my IB account via it? My income etc are RM.

4. IB allows one free withdrawal per month, does this mean if I don't go withdraw more than once per month, it's basically free to withdraw? When it comes to withdrawing. can you convert your funds into SGD and then to a SG bank account, or it's better to just put it directly into an MYR account.

5. TDAM Asia's website is apparently not secured on my end, are they any good or should I just stick to IB? Seems like they don't have commission free ETFs too.

Edit: 6. Does Malaysia have a tax identification number? Should I just leave it as a No while opening an account for IB?


Thanks again for this informative post.

This post has been edited by Ladszy: Aug 26 2018, 04:42 PM

1. If your commission is over USD10, you won't get charged

2. Sure why not? From what I know, not so liquid means harder to buy and sell at the price you want.

3. Of course as you just transfer the money into IB like how you do a normal fund transfer to your friend/family. No additional TT charges + fees impose by banks.

4. I don't think it stacks up. One means one. Yes can withdraw into your SG bank account. They don't support RM due to nature of our currency. Yes you can cash out in RM but it's going to be more expensive.

5. Stick with what works for you.

6. Your income tax no.

rjb123please correct me if I am wrong.

any TD ameritrade singapore active user here?
would like to know the account opening time (read the old post mentioning take at least 1 month), and is it possible to wire to the ameritrade from my etrade account (FAQ mentioned doable but would like to confirm)

Hi ramjade, would you know if 8securities has access to irish-domiciled ETFs?

This post has been edited by GloryKnight: Aug 26 2018, 07:14 PM

All looks correct.

If you have an SGD account in SG that’s probably the best way to cash out - depends on the end goal. But if you plan to change into MYR you’ll have to pay currency spread somewhere!

Took no longer than 2 weeks for me from the time I posted my documents to the account being opened. I think the postage took 1 week so effectively they only took 1 week to open my account from the time they received my documents.

Thanks fellas. I'm a bit curious, why do we need to submit our local tax information to them?

Also, are SPY500 & VOO good options? Both tracks the S&P 500, or should I buy other ETFs and have one which tracks the S&P 500?

For my long term hold, I use VUSD (USD on LSE) ... it’s been quite a while since I looked into the alternatives.

It’s normal, if you use any overseas bank or broker they’ll always request this.

Nope. Read carefully. Irish ETF are listed on LSE. 8 securities does not have access to UK market.

Anti money laundering stuff. Is initially for US to track where rich people keep their money.

Guys i registered an account with IB and tried to transfer funds over the counter at HSBC but got rejected by the branch manager because say IB is not approved by BNM. Anyone faced this problem?

The branch manager doesn't know what they're doing.

Show them this if you want to argue: http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsite/fxadmin/ne...1_Residents.pdf

This is from HSBC's own website: https://sp.hsbc.com.my/liquid/6399.html

This post has been edited by Aurora Boreali: Aug 27 2018, 08:06 PM

Great thread on these funds, guys.
Just to ask, what is the minimum fund to buy US Index Fund and how to buy?

I think it’s more of a case that banks don’t like it - they prefer to sell you overpriced products which track the same indexes but with a hefty sales charge and management fee!

They told me to speak to BNM and get approval from BNM (provide the name of which BNM officer who gave the approval so that they can counter check) before proceeding with transfer. Otherwise they say based on their experience, BNM will likely reject the transfer or make it difficult to repatriate the monies later in future.

This post has been edited by sukhwin79: Aug 28 2018, 12:49 AM

Once again he's BS-ing you. Just do your homework and read and understand the links I pasted above and go and argue with him if you really want your money out. You only need BNM's approval if you have domestic ringgit borrowing and are converting/sending more than RM 1 million out.

See this section in the HSBC link. Don't make me spoon feed you again:
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What types of transactions are impacted following the new BNM Notices on FEA Rules?

Difficult to repatriate money back? Lol. Seriously what a load of BS. BNM doesn't want money coming back in? See this clarification from BNM itself as old as 2016:

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/busines...light-on-funds/

“No approvals are required from Bank Negara for any resident to receive inward fund transfers from non-residents into any bank account in Malaysia,” it told The Star in response to questions.

Apart from that, it does not monitor the inward transfer of funds into accounts of companies or individuals unless the local bank handling the transaction suspects something amiss.

Shows that HSBC is a joke. I've never banked with them and never will.

This post has been edited by Aurora Boreali: Aug 28 2018, 01:04 AM

It's a waste of time to argue with this banker. Maybe you should transfer a portion of your money to another bank, where you have an account and initiate the transfer from there.

The problem is that my USD account is with HSBC. I'm gonna go back there again today to talk about it.