Just started to search for good international broker to buy global/US ETF funds at cheaper rates (than Roboadvisors etc.)
So far shortlisted between this two anyone have experience with both of them?

Broker	Tradestation	TD Ameritrade
Commission	$1.5 per order	$0
Transfer	3rd Party Transfer accepted (Transfer Wise etc.) [should be ok from here]	Only Account Holder's transfer (sos)

This post has been edited by polarzbearz: Oct 18 2020, 04:08 PM

My bad, looked wrongly

$1.5 / per US order

Also found this website that compares broker - not bad. Between TD Ameritrade and TradeStation Global both seems to be strong contender. There's also IBKR but the inactivity/minimum commissions are really oof



This post has been edited by polarzbearz: Oct 18 2020, 05:01 PM

Just open international broker via Tradestation Global (Interactive Brokers). Save in the long run vs FSM


Sales charge 1.5% vs USD 1.50
Recurring Annual Mgmt Fee 1.8% (no double charge but still...) vs. Expense Ratio 0.75%
Minimum Initial investment 5k++ vs. as low as 1 unit (market price today @ 127usd)

https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=4843925&hl=

I won't recommend rm1k/month DCA via TSG/IBKR into ARKK. Even if you're only making 1 trade per month the fees will still add up in the long run. Take for example:


IBKR-TSG
- every month RM1000 is allocated for overseas
- convert MYR into SGD via TransferWise (approx. ~0.6% transferwise or ~RM9 gone, based on google rates vs. actual amount received via transferwise),
- commissions to do spot-rate exchange within IBKR (2 usd per conversion or ~RM8 gone)
- trade commissions (approx 1.5USD per trade or ~RM6 gone)
= basically RM23 in fees per trade (approx 2.3% in fees)

Via TSG-IBKR you'll be paying (2.3% upfront "SC equivalent" + 0.75% annual mgmt fee), whereas from FSM you'll get (1.5% upfront SC + 1.85% annual mgmt fees).

You'll have to really do some maths and compare it upfront before making that decision to DCA via international brokers (unless of course if it has 0% commissions) - every amount will yield different result/savings. Take another scenario as an example:

Stashaway
- every month RM1000 is allocated for 30% Risk index fund
- convert MYR into USD (0.1% spot-exchange rate or ~RM1.5 gone. super rough calculations)
- buy into various ETF's with 0 commission
= basically RM1.5 in fees, maybe slightly more but yeah approx 0.1~0.2% per trade?

General rule of thumb - the higher the amount you transfer out (in a batch) of Malaysia, you'll achieve better results due to savings on fees/commissions. Hence why most opt to only transfer when they have more than rm5k (or even better, above rm10K-30K) to achieve economics of scale.

This post has been edited by polarzbearz: Dec 13 2020, 10:04 PM

theoretically 0% will be cheaper (for the upfront fees) though in the longer run it's still good to "move over" to direct holdings via IBKR/TSG (for example) when you have sizable amount given the annual charges are different (0.75% vs 1.85%). You'll need to do some maths to compare for yourself.

You can also try to run similar calculations assuming buying US stock/ETF via FSM SG since their commissions are way higher than IBKR/TSG.

Tho examples I gave above was mostly TSG-IBKR and definitely not purchasing overseas stock via FSM SG/HK. I literally just "ran away" from FSM HK to TSG/IBKR last month cause of their commissions / other handling fees

This post has been edited by polarzbearz: Dec 13 2020, 11:37 PM

Yeah some forummers here did USD TransferWise as well - though it took 5+ days for fund verification (and some encountered rejects too )

But good to see that he (the blogger) was only charged flat $1.1USD for outbound USD transfer via Transferwise Bank Wire. I experimented with SGD and had the same finding - seems to be fixed "outbound" transfer fee from TW Borderless. Could be useful for future pathways leveraging TW Borderless.

I just don't understand why when I attempted this (via TW EUR my-name-borderless-account) and funded my T212, it accepts the fund but doesn't recognize the bank account as a withdrawal source

------
Still, no right or wrong but frankly I prefer the more inefficient method via HKD/SGD route (via HK/SG local banks) at this stage.
Typically I lose only between $1 ~ $2 depending on sum I transfer and I get the $ tradeable within the day (or less than 4 hours if I timed the transfers within working hours correctly)

You tagged wrong bear just saw this message by chance.

I didn't research into margins yet as I'm still uncomfortable with it so my IB is just pure cash account. Hassle but peace of mind

This post has been edited by polarzbearz: Jan 7 2021, 07:23 PM