Hey, im new here , just wanna ask whether i can invest in index fund such as Vanguard or Fidelity from msia and if yes how to do it? im going to start work probably next year and i dont wanna waste my money in bank

Currently, there is no mechanism to invest directly from Malaysia into the index fund you mentioned above.

Xuzen

Tumpang thread, are there local index funds to invest in?

saw this in the star paper few days back....
Sunday, 11 September 2016
Investing in ETFs in Malaysia

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/busines...fs-in-malaysia/

i read a post titled "Public Mutual, PM/PB series fund" and there was a user named wankongyew commenting there was no true index fund in msia. That was in 2009, so is his statement still true now 2016?

read post # 4?
any truth to it?

There are no local index funds worth investing in in Malaysia. I'd suggest getting a foreign broking account and investing in the US ones.

CIMB I trade allow you to buy index funds in US but due to the cost, that might not be that feasible unless it is not small volumes.

This post has been edited by zacknistelrooy: Sep 13 2016, 01:37 PM

IF U want to go an extra step:

Open an a/c with TDAmeritrade Asia (located in SG) and it is very cost effective - even the dividends aren't charged the "handling fees" like those charged by iTrade & HLeB

Note - not saying the local brokers aren't worthwhile.
Just stating for the extra initial hassle AND new funding, TDAmeritrade Asia may be more worthwhile depending on one's usage. I have accounts in all 3 brokerages ("graduating" from one to another ma)

Note 2 - i opened my a/c online + email only, then funded via MY bank transfer to TDAmeritrade US.

Note 3 - TDAmeritrade Asia's heldesk is very patient & clear on "how to" for me - and i tend to ask lots of Qs before executing, to make sure things go smoothly

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Sep 13 2016, 04:28 PM

No, you can't.

ETF is the benchmark and charges is lower than mutual funds, local funds manager is unlikely to introduce soon.

Why pay extra fees for an index fund?
Invest straight into the index, S&P, Dow, etc through your broker.

It's proven that the index has beaten most of the hedge funds in returns.

If I'm not mistaken, the Malaysian market based ETFs have extremely low volumes. Took a look a few months back and didn't like it.

well i researched abit more about etf, it does have the characteristic of index fund, but both are different

yea, im not investing in msia index fund or whatnot, my main aim is the US, im becoming a passive investor first while i learn the other investments

This post has been edited by mapeyeo1: Sep 14 2016, 07:47 AM

what did u invest in? index fund or ETF?

but if i invest straight into the index, will i have the diversification level as what the index fund provides? and do i need to rebalance my portfolio itself?

yea i know index has beaten most of the hedge funds and mutual funds most of the time after comparing costs, thats why im into passive investing first

U are looking to do passive indexed investing and U are asking such a Q?

Does it matter ETF or Mutual Funds? U do know Vanguard has BOTH types right?

U do know Vanguard is one of the largest provider of indexer funds (mutual funds & ETFs) and is generally the lowest cost provider right?

Does it affect your investing methodology if i bought either or none?

hm... reason of question is fuzzy, thus bestEST answer is still useless

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Sep 14 2016, 09:01 AM

unless they have office here, else it might be very expensive to invest in overseas fund or stock market.... i was stupid enuff to believe to my friend to invest in aus shares with small amount like RM3k but the fee itself is killing me.... RM300 for the fees, meaning i can only break even when the share rise 20%! so please take note of this TS, unless you have huge fund... else the min charge will eat into your profit.

An index is already a diversification in itself because it consists of many stocks.

You have to diversify yourself into other indices/bonds/ETFs, etc.
Especially the emerging markets, very good return.

The only thing you need to fear is when the market crashes. Sometimes it takes a long time for the market to recover. It's good if you have a stoploss. On where, when and how to place it is a little bit complicated.

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This post has been edited by lukenn: May 24 2025, 01:13 AM

If you are looking for a low-cost way of tracking the index, look at ETFs. Ask your broker to explain to you. Or I can recommend mine if you like, she's patient and good with new people Not sure if she still has time but I can ask

This post has been edited by wodenus: Sep 15 2016, 09:36 PM

cuz i thought the 2 were different things, but after more readings, i just knew that ETF is subset of index fund, and index fund is subset of mutual fund.

I assumed u were talking about traditional index mutual fund which is passively managed instead of mutual fund which is actively managed, so u asked me the question.

Yea i do know it provides the lowest cost.

There are 2 types of index funds, one is the ETF, the other is traditional index mutual fund like the Vanguard 500 Index. When i read about index fund earlier, i was confused with the name because it had a mutual in it, i thought index fund supposed to be passively managed but why the name mutual was there, hence i thought there was another type of index fund which is actively managed but after more reading i finally understood it cuz index fund is a subset of mutual fund, so it is logical that the mutual word is there too. Do correct me if my understanding is wrong.

As i said earlier, i did not know those 2 were the same. I thought there was some significant cost difference as it could alter my decision to buy which. As for why i want to know which u bought, cuz based on what i read, traditional index mutual fund is better for individual long term investors, so i might be able to find out ur rationale of buying ETF as a individual investor.

sorry if i quote again the same thing cuz i have another question regarding ur statement, anyway since investing in index fund means the diversification is there and i wont be doing the portfolio rebalancing , but if i invest straight into the index such as S&P, Dow, etc, i have to allocate how many portion of my money to which sectors myself, right? wont that be more troublesome as i can invest in index fund and the yearly expense might not exceed 1% itself?

thanks for ur advice

If you find it difficult to dissect, then I think index fund is for you, considering the fact that the fee is lower than 1%.

If you have a 100K, are you ready to pay 1K for the fee? Is it annually?

If you manually invest, in S&P index for example, you only pay about 500, once.

er.. ETFs do charge yearly fees but it's minute comparatively to local mutual funds'
http://etfdb.com/2013/complete-history-of-spy/
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/perfi...-etf-fees_N.htm
http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/nn/art...hey-Really-Cost

Well, you have not incorporate the spread.

er.. based on 1 or 0, there IS or NO management fees & other costs charged in ETFs?

Whether it is incorporated into the spread or not does not matter as others will argue the mutual funds' costs are incorporated into the NAV daily.

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Sep 18 2016, 10:40 AM

I also just opened an account with TD Ameritrade Asia

https://www.tdameritradeasia.com/tos/client/

You need to fund your account with USD3500 and they will rebate up to USD100 in transfer fees. Funding can be made either with cash T/T or share transfer from another local broker.

If you get a friend who has an account to refer you , he can can USD88 in referral fee

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This post has been edited by lukenn: May 24 2025, 01:11 AM

Kasi lu manyak manyak like!

Some people read some ang-moh or mat-salleh stuff and goes on a massive jerk-off and become an instant fan-boyz!

Xuzen

Question: Why in Malaysia, UTF like Kenanga Growth Fund can beat the index or benchmark year in year out for the past ten years?

Answer: Semi strong efficient market hypothesis

This post has been edited by xuzen: Sep 18 2016, 09:39 PM

i do know that, and i wont invest in overseas in the meantime, i just want to know ways to invest in US index fund so that when opportunity arises, i can capitalise on it

Alot of ppl invest in US index fund cuz individual investor average return and mutual fund return normally dont exceed index fund return. The reason might be US stock market is more efficient than Msia stock market,i dont know about that, just guessing.I read that big institutions are using advanced algorithms to trade, so it might make individual harder to make a good return.

But if it is easier to make money in Msia stock market, why not do it here, i just want to make my money grow at real rate, Even if Kenanga Growth Fund can beat the index for past 10 yrs, can it do so in the next 10 yrs? Anyway its return is quite impressive.

Im still learning stuffs so that i have more knowledge about how the financial market works, whether its in Msia or other countries, so if theres no opportunity in Msia already, i can utilise other opportunities in other countries.

Thanks for the insight

mutual fund fee is not efficient compare to etf.
if u take a look at MY etf, its performance is worst compare to MY mutual fund

You can buy ETFs like VOO from US Market using your Malaysian brokerage firm. You need to register for a international trading account but it should be free or cost is minimal. Depending on your broker, you may even buy it online by yourself.

I recently bought 10 shares in VOO and commission was approximately US$26. So commissioning is slightly under 2%

I don't think you can invest in an index fund but ETFs are alternative to index fund.

If you have trade ETFs before you will know that the fees are separated from the spread.

You have to look at other markets like the emerging markets, do not limited yourselves to the US markets.

Secondly, nobody knows where the top or bottom of the market is, not even Warren Buffet or George Soros. If you know, you could be the richest man in no time.

u should buy VTI to diversify the holding

hmmm , so investing in MY mutual fund is better for now cuz we might not know what the future lies

what are the miscellaneous fees in addition to paying the 2%commission?

First U said i've "not incorporate the spread" when i stated ETFs does have fees/costs charged

Then when i clarified YES or NO, U stated the second response.

Should have known better with such a nick.

Hope you can get your wish to access USA market. It is different because many times larger than rest of world combined and more transparent, strictly regulated.

One good read (listen) is http://paulmerriman.com/podcasts/ who specializes in Vanguard. A lot of what he says applies to all markets.

Wondering if two-way exchange conversion means no profit unless you reach the 10% level?

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This post has been edited by lukenn: May 24 2025, 01:11 AM

ermm...depends on wat type of index u meant. d main game plan for index play is , to diversified. lower risk n definitely lower return.

n buyin US mutual index funds, sometimes hav disvantage on us , d exchange rate, fees involve, problem rise when u wan claim devidend etc. jus work around wit wat u got in malaysia. there r few index funds / mutual funds dat tap into other asian / other country stocks/shares

ya, in my ignore list now, with the other genius UT seller.

anyhow, i just wanted TS to be clear that there ARE management fees & other costs involved in index ETFs, just like index mutual funds, even though it may not be apparent.

I am not bothered if you are going to response to my comments either.
I am just correcting your mistakes hoping it does not lead new investors into believing something which is wrong.
Your claims are just like some so called 'market gurus' or some 'economists' who know where the market tops or bottoms are.

It has been pointed out that US index funds beat most of the actively managed funds.
However, in the following article, the author warns:
http://www.kiplinger.com/article/investing...-opportuni.html

If what the author says is correct, then we can explain why US index funds outperform majority of the actively managed funds with the diagram attached.

Now, the question:
Why do many Malaysia mutual funds beat their benchmarks?

That is probably because not many investors buy Malaysian ETFs, thereby not able to push up the prices of the component stocks. (see post #13)

Of course, ignorant Westerners would think that internet access in emerging markets is very limited, and that information is disseminated much more slowly. As a result, Efficient Market Hypothesis doesn't hold true here as in developed markets

This post has been edited by river.sand: Sep 25 2016, 09:38 PM


Attached thumbnail(s)

Self fulfilling prophecy.

This post has been edited by troller2: Sep 25 2016, 10:25 PM

i'm confused. so you opened an account with TDameritrade asia but was able to transfer to tdameritrade US? how does that work?

1. My account was opened with TDAA (TDAmeritrade Asia), now TDASG, is a nominee brokerage account

2. TDASG is "held" by TD Ameritrade (TDA) https://www.tdameritrade.com/home.page
and
TDA's bank account with Wells Fargo Bank is under TD Ameritrade Clearing Inc.

3. Thus, when i transfer from my MY bank, i transfer to
a. Wells Fargo bank
b. into TD Ameritrade Clearing Inc account with Wells Fargo
c. specifying the Beneficiary as me with my account number with TDASG

Awesome thanks. How much does the custodian/correspondent bank charge you for TT clearing? I know maybank charges RM10 for TT but when i transfer to the US, their bank over there also charges a fee even though the brokerage themselves do not charge a fee. I hope this is clear. Thanks.

Clearing charges by receiving bank = USD20 per transaction.
Comparatively painful for miserable MYR to USD transfer

FYI - previously, with OptionsXpress, i was being charged USD25 per transaction.

IKR, i just sent some to vanguard and the clearing charged me USD23. i was hoping that TD asia will receive funds in SGD but unfortunately not. TT fees to singapore would likely have been cheaper than to the US.

btw, any idea if we need to file the 1099 as well if we already declared non resident alien with w8ben?

er.. IF U have an SG account, TDASG does accept SG payments (from what i read from my trading group la)

Dunno about U, personally, with my W8BEN done (updated yearly or +), i've not been required to file any other stuff for being A Non-resident Alien. Note, i've no whatnottaxnumber and stuff too (ie. i've not worked in US, have to USwhatevernumber, etc.).

Hi Mun Keong,

I do not have any experience in TT to oversea. Can I do it online instead say using Maybank? I have went through all the doc submission left funding only ... appreciate you can advice newbie like me.

Thanks Thanks.

pls note post# 58....i think he/she is seeking your advise....

hhehe - thanks to MUM highlighting/poking me, else it wont appear in my "NOTICE"

MyGarage88,:
1. Yup, i've done TT to US for OptionsXpress & TD Ameritrade (and TD Ameritrade SG/Asia when they offloaded all Asian customers to SG).

2. Yes, can do via Maybank online but miserable sums only MYR30K now i think
CIMB used to enable MYR50K online but now, i think due to BNM's pressure / ticking off, also MYR30K

Note - U may need very specific information on the FOREIGN TT like SWIFT Code, Beneficiary Account No. / International Bank A/C No. (IBAN), Routing No, ABA transit routing, etc.

Your overseas broker may be able to give U a sample PDF or data to use - depending on which online bank U are using to transfer.
Different banks' system, slightly different layout & terminologies - eg. for CIMB, i needed to plonk in the SWIFT & ABA in some weird field that did not say SWIFT or ABA.

You need to see if your foreign broker accept 3rd party bank in. If accept, you can get way cheaper rates than bank.

so the conclusion is?

i want an index fund, but must be low-cost. After those TT/transaction fee/forex, is it still worth?

how much per avg % is attributed to cost?

Yes. Provided
1) you get overseas cheap brokerage. Don't use local brokerage
2) you keep long term. Don't every year withdraw, put back in

tq bro....any step by step guide to handcarry me? haha

Already did. Not going to rewrite what I have been writing all these while.

cant find it bro =(

your earliest post is 28 Apr......

I posted all over the place in LYN Finance section
Good place to start
All about ETFs / Foreign Brokers, Exchange traded funds

haiz...still no method to access low-cost broad based index fund via ringgit?

sadding...ringgit why~

i saw one in bursa, dow jones, but 50 companies only...

FSMone. SG

still need convert from RM to sgd?