Which part? I don't recall any issues with filling in application so not sure which account numbers you refer to

TD Ameritrade Asia does give you your new account number on one of the forms you print out if that's what you mean.

Hi,

1. Yup - that's the same process. Looks like TDAA also requires TT to US (I haven't done this yet as I had existing funds in TDAM which were moved across instead)
2. Minimum deposit used to be $2000 I believe with TDAM, according to TDAA FAQ it's $3500
3. That's actually set by FINRA I believe not individual brokers - so the $25,000 balance for pattern day trader is the same

I've added "Foreign Brokers" to the title too.

Actually the main reasons for opening TDAM in the past were the commission free ETFs - no trading fees on most of the popular ETFs as long as you held them for I believe 60 days minimum. That doesn't exist on TDAA anymore. But you can use TOS for the free / live data rather than needing subscriptions. Actual trading fees are much higher than IB though.

Holdings are protected by SIPC

http://www.sipc.org/for-investors/what-sipc-protects

Depends on activity too ... if you have trades monthly then those will be offset from the inactivity fee iirc

Indeed

If you have a USD account in Malaysia that's more convenient - of course you need to exchange to fund that account sometime also.

Yup

Last time I checked I didn't see any commission free ETFs at all in TDAM Asia, I'll check again next time I log in.

But yeah you can just buy 1 stock / ETF. The commission free ETFs Maden TDAM great for buy and hold!

Again for longer term stuff (which is all I have at the moment) I've gone with the Ireland domiciled equivalents which aren't traded on the USA exchanges (avoids half of the 30% Witholding tax on dividends!)

I think 500-1000 USD probably isn't worth it to be honest

You need to consider the fees for depositing funds etc too - if you were to deposit $10,000 or $500 your TT charges will be about the same, eating up either 0.5% or 10%!

I meant Ireland domiciled ETFs, I trade them though Interactive Brokers - not a broker in Ireland. They're traded on different exchanges ( i.e. LSE) which Interactive Brokers has, but TDAM / Asia doesn't.

This post has been edited by rjb123: Oct 29 2016, 01:26 PM

Can't advise on local brokerages as I have no experience in using those.

Regarding the estate tax if you were to pass away that's true - however in the case of Ireland domiciled ETFs those wouldn't count towards that amount as those assets aren't cosnidered US domiciled

A US domiciled ETF for example or cash inside your US broker would be.

For larger amounts have you looked at buying non-USD domiciled ETFs? Not for actively traded ones.

Example is Vanguard VUSD traded in USD on the LSE. Ireland domiciled for holding US assets (SP 500 fracker)

That way it's more efficient in regards to the withholding tax too. They're traded less so the liquidity isn't as good, but for long term holding and just topping up that shouldn't be much of a concern.

This post has been edited by rjb123: Nov 10 2016, 08:13 PM

Ah yes these don't have options and aren't traded on US exchanges

But they do the job for boring buy and hold

This post has been edited by rjb123: Nov 10 2016, 10:28 PM

Normally even more than $20 when you take into the account the charge at the receiving side too!

I don't think any amount is too small to start - but the numbers don't make sense if you're only funding with $500 or so each time due to the charges. With brokers like IB once you have the account open you can also fund internationally, like local deposit from a Singapore account which doesn't cost anything.

You can come up with a plan - how much you plan to invest, how often you plan to deposit

Then spend an hour and work out 2-3 or whatever different scenarios to see what the difference is. Foreign brokers have higher minimums and more expenses for transferring funds - but much cheaper trading charges, less spread on foreign exchange, and the ETFs tend to have much lower annual fees than your UT equivalents.

Funding in your account .

Ireland domiciled ETFs hold different assets - you can take a look here : https://www.vanguard.co.uk/uk/portal/invest...ts/all-products

Yeah there's a lot out there to choose from.

I haven't touched anything for quite long as been very busy with work - currently it's a mixture of the below :

VUSD
VEUR
VHYL
VFEM
VAPX

These are all Vanguard ETFs but Ireland domiciled.

I don't currently hold any REITs or gold. Still have some in BND through TD Ameritrade

IB is for sure the cheapest overall from commissions to foreign exchange spread and margin rates - but they're not a "low deposit" broker - you need to start with initial funding of $10,000.

Also no issues on large withdrawals - only time had a slight delay was when hitting the $600K over 5 business days limit (not on my personal account unfortunately!)

TDAM only has access to US exchanges I believe.

Currently I only trade on IB.

I used TDAM before (US) for the commission free ETFs then had those holdings moved to TDAM Asia when they were migrating accounts.

I did open a TD Luxembourg account before without researching properly and the fees are high, no real benefits I can think of at all.

I don't think they have any commission free ETFs - that was only in US and as posted before, this was removed when the platform changed to TDAM Asia.

Can't really recommend any others - aside from TD the only other platform I use and have signed up for is IB.