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.)

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. 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

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.

Can try US government bonds or large blue chip corporations CD if you want to. Be mindful of cost though.

This post has been edited by TOS: Sep 11 2022, 11:20 PM

Ah you mean Moomoo cash plus. https://dollarsandsense.sg/moomoo-cash-plus...hile-investing/

Unfortunately IB does not offer that (the interest rates are very low unless you deposit large sums https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/accou...rest-rates.php). What we do is we usually transfer in money before we want to buy stocks.

It's good that Moomoo gives you that flexibility.

This post has been edited by TOS: Sep 12 2022, 01:25 PM

https://www.sinchew.com.my/20230628/%e7%bb%...96%b2%e6%80%81/



Interesting statistics. MYR FX market daily trading volume is about 15 billion USD. Malaysia FX reserves amounts to 115 billion USD.

If BNM really wants to play hard, our foreign reserve may evaporate in days.

Some interesting reads from Sinchew:

https://www.sinchew.com.my/20230710/%e9%a9%...89%b6%e6%8c%81/

https://www.sinchew.com.my/20230710/%e9%a9%...1%e5%ae%883-45/

4.7625

https://www.sinchew.com.my/?p=5066893

Lowest since January 1998.

Wah front page on Sinchew Finance lol

https://www.sinchew.com.my/news/20231019/finance/5068168

Bloomberg reports (with paywall): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/202...-china-weakness

Paywall-free version available on Yahoo Finance: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ringgit-fall...-002236214.html

and also Business Times Singapore: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/internatio...-after-yen-year

Counterparty risk, geopolitical risk etc. USD deposited in Malaysia is not the same as USD deposited in US or Singapore or Switzerland. Also depends on which bank you deposit your USD.

For the records, US FFR is about 5.5% at the upper end. Banks buy T-bills at around 5.5%, earn some money from the spread and minus costs, give you FD 5% ++, reasonable right?

Otherwise, you can just go straight to the T-bill market and buy T-bills at rates very close to the FFR.

The same way as how banks in Malaysia make money from your MYR FD, by lending out your money to others.

You can trust Cubalagi. He works in the financial industry.

A less profitable and stupid way is to buy US T-bills at a higher rate and sell it to you at a lower rate. They can make a profit of mid-teen basis points, depending on the relative pricing power of banks vs customers.

He has (at least) 30 million USD fees to be sucked by his bankers. We can't afford that luxury. Something to note.

But rich people tend to stomach more volatilities. Losing a couple of hundred ks is no big deal...

Age-wise he may be retiring or is retiring now. So long-term for you is old, but for him means "death". It's relative...