Which is why, I know I must ask you that question if got the opportunity. I am not aware of Sunway Money, so far I been using Wise. I will look up into it

Thank you for the response and also the correction

Sunway money rates are even better than wise rates at least for SGD. Not sure about other currency.

I remember reading one of the post from you stating that you are actually moving from SGD to USD, you are using other avenue to convert SGD to USD?

Interactive broker. Spot rate. You cannot get cheaper than interactive broker as they are giving you USD at real time market rate without any markup unlike banks.

So you are saying converting from SGD to USD directly inside IBKR portal? or?

Yes. Deposit SGD into ibkr. Convert SGD into USD using ibkr. Yup only pay usd2.00/transaction regardless of amount.

I have never done this before but does that means we can do the same for MYR to USD?

Unfortunately you can't. IBKR does not accept transactions in MYR (deposits/withdrawals). So you either go through another currency like SGD or directly deposit USD (with the risk of transaction stucked during ACH for Wise and a bunch of ALMA stuffs/ask for proofs etc.)

You cannot deposit MYR. If you try you are basically doing TT via banks and it's expensive not to mentioned if you are doing it like every month or every few months like what I am doing.

If you like giving free money to banks, by all means go ahead.

ahhh understood. Currently my USD stuck in Wise, afraid to deposit it into IBKR. Which has prompted me to open an HSBC Premier, hopefully, i can use HSBC to create US bank account, transfer from Wise to HSBC US then HSBC US to IBKR

Got it. Of course cannot give free money to banks la, I am not rich to begin with

I learnt 2 things today.

1. Sunway Money has better rate for MYR to SGD
2. IBKR allow direct conversion from SGD to USD with 2USD charges per conversion




This post has been edited by MasBoleh!: Sep 1 2022, 11:17 PM

1. Not necessarily Sunway Money all the time. It's best to compare between the major money changers online, i.e. Instarem, Wise, Sunway Money, and BigPay. Wise used to be good but these days Instarem rates are kind of good for MYR-HKD transfer. Anyway, the rates change all the time, so be mindful of not sticking to one service provider forever.

2. Not just SGD to USD. IBKR offers tonnes of currency pairs. https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/tradi...-currencies.php

Note that certain currency pairs are not available and a "middleman" is needed. E.g., from SGD to CHF (Swiss Franc) and vice versa is not possible as there is no SGD/CHF or CHF/SGD currency pair for trading. So you either deposit CHF directly to IB or use "middleman" currency like USD/EUR.

1. Very good advice. I noticed you are using HKD instead of SGD, typically what are the common currencies you all been converting to from MYR apart of SGD/HKD/USD?

2. From the link it stated very vaguely, let me try to find the full list myself. But is very interesting you are using CHF (Swiss Franc) as an example CHF can be convert directly into USD hopefully. But why use Swiss Franc though, any advantage when comes to investment in that currency?

He's studying in HK. Convert to whichever currency you want to hold/invest/send your kids to in the future.

This post has been edited by Ramjade: Sep 1 2022, 11:38 PM

1. EUR (Euro) and Swiss Franc (CHF) (and in the future GBP for purchase of Anglo-American, Glencore etc.)

2. Yes, USD and CHF can be converted into one another on IB. Currency pair works in both directions. CHF, like EUR is used for European stock investments. There are lots of niche stuffs on European exchanges which don't command the same valuations like their US peers, but are good in their own rights.

First you have Swiss pharma: Roche and Novartis are listed on SIX (Swiss stock exchange) in CHF (Novartis has a level 2 ADR on NYSE though) and smaller players like Lonza, Alcon (contact lens) etc. Then you have Nestle, world's biggest food company listed on SIX (in CHF) too. You can have exposure to Siwss bank like Julius Baer or UBS as you like. Or building materials (Holcim and Sika AG), or luxury goods Richemont and Swatch.

For starters, an equal exposure to Roche, Novartis and Nestle will do the job (they collectively account for 51% of the SMI index, the blue-chip benchmark of Swiss stock market).

Swiss dividends are taxed at 35% by default, and reducable to 15% by filling up Form 60 to be submitted to the Federal Tax Administration at Bern every 3 years. Withheld dividends will be paid out of Swiss National Bank in CHF, so you need a saving account to deposit CHF or risk forex markup/TT fees during receival.

---------------------------------

For EUR, you can have exposure to industrial gas (Linde, Air Liquide), luxury goods in France (LVMH, Kering, Hermes etc.), utility (Engie SA in France), aircraft manufacturing/defense (Airbus).

This post has been edited by TOS: Sep 1 2022, 11:55 PM

wow, these are very new details. Thank you so much to you and also Ramjade for willing to share out wonderful knowledge all the time to an extend of typing it in long paragraph

Most of the time, people in LYN only focus on NYSE, SGX and our very own Bursa. Maybe I missed out, I have yet to encounter any threads that openly discussing SIX and EUR. This excited me because due to my work, there's an opportunity for me to open a swiss bank account with UBS and also possibly earn some Swiss Franc.

I am just worry I am asking too many newbie questions and appeared to be spoonfed And is there any telegram group or something where there are people really actively discussing investments counters?

Actually HKEX is pretty much discussed also: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4832883/+1200

As for threads that discuss SIX and EUR, yes, I usualy post these materials in the IBKR thread: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4843925/+6020

That's because IBKR remains the only major stock broker with access to SIX and EUR products (barring the local banks and brokerages).

It would be nice for you to start a thread on opening bank account in Switzerland. I am interested to enjoy banking secrecy there too. Do let us know the steps/procedures for a tourist/work visa holder to open bank account in Switzerland. I assume only HNWIs can open bank accounts there, but I may be wrong. Don't be afraid of trying out new things.

And no, your questions are perfectly normal. SIX is mostly for retirees and "value/old-economy" stock investors. The Swiss counters do not command high valuations like their US tech peers, you can tell from the industries: pharmaceuticals, food & beverages, luxury goods etc. Long-term capital gain is around 6-8% p.a., with dividend yields of around 2% p.a. And they are not as liquid as the big US markets, thus they avoided the limelight.

I don't join any social media (except LinkedIn ) nor am I aware of any Telegram group. I would advise you to refrain from joining such groups as you never know what the true intention(s) of these group starters is/are; a pump-and-dump scheme might be in the works. If you find out that the group always have messages like tips and focus on penny stocks/illiquid counters, you should be very cautious.

But to be honest, I hardly hear people discuss Swiss pharma or Nestle in any chat groups. Boring counters for the massess, but long-term investors will always find value in these counters.

Sure. When I have the chance to temporary working at Switzerland, will share the info on opening a bank account. I saw my colleague used UBS.

SIX do not command high valuations but like you said it is their blue chips and been very very stable, so are both of their economy and currency. I would say, this is a market that worth to be look into. And also, their central bank is listed in the SIX too and been earning very nice profits. Hard to goes wrong with SIX hahahaha

That’s true, i was too excited and too eager to have such conversation that I ended up didn’t thought much of the consequences behind. And I think forum is a sunset platform so wonder where would a neutral investment discussion will take place other than lowyat forum

You are the first that mentioned Swiss pharma and Nestle in SIX that i knew. I knew dividend magic used to mentioned Nestle but that is in Bursa

I won't bother with Swiss. Cause I always pro US. US companies are superior to Swiss except their banks. Never ever bet against the US economy. If you want to invest why settle for 2nd best when you can buy the best?

It's about making your money work most efficiently..By buying Swiss stocks, you are not maximising your money working efficiently. That's why I invest only in US companies.

There are dividend tax in Swiss and there are dividens tax in US. However there are no caoital gain tax in US for us. Hence use that. Pay less tax and keep the savings and invest in. How? Buy spy or qqq etf and sell covered calls on them. Generate 1% per month tax free money. That's what my friend in sg doing. It's the safest tax free way cause you are investing in etf. There's no timing market or choosing what to buy. Yea you calmed them back from Swiss govt but you need to file a tax file with them and do it every year. Do you want easy hassle free Vs you want to file tax return for small summit dividends?

But then again the choice is yours. It's your money. That's why I only invest in US and US listed Canada companies cause US listed Canada companies, their dividends are only tax at 15% Vs Swiss at 35%. I don't bother with dividend investing in US.

If you want to do dividend investing, stick with HK, SG, UK some part of Europe and Canada. Cause some part of Europe and Canada their dividend tax is only 15% Vs US at 30% and there's no need to file any tax return. Make your life easier. My way is always keep it simple. Don't complicate things. Why do you want to complicate our life with more paperwork? Our life is already complicated. I don't need additional layer of complications.

To sum it up, my investment style is
1. Never bet against the US market.
2. Buy quality companies, why settle for 2nd best?
3. Pay less tax where possible.
4. Keep it simple.
4. Keep your cost low.

This post has been edited by Ramjade: Sep 4 2022, 09:06 AM

4.5 already

Otw to 4.80 then 😆

Malaysia Boleh 💪