GBP denominated funds are expressed in pence (cents). CSP1 23,568.00 = 235.68

You can also check out VUSA (dist) as alternative

Just go to the Trade Confirmation report I mentioned previously and you should be able to confirm if you're on TradeStation from the Account Information section

Wasn't it established previously in this or All about ETFs/ Foreign Brokers thread that you can't Instarem USD directly to IB's Citibank USA account?

Perhaps when Ramjade and I applied they thought the signature was the ID holder's signature, only when more Malaysians applied they realised it was the Ketua Pengarah's signature instead

Anyway, the Oscar dude wasn't bad at answering my questions (answered to quotes as well!), he even called from London but too bad I was in a meeting so can't talk and he replied to my queries via email instead.

I sent my questions in a form of numbered list instead of paragraph, so he just replied directly below each.

Perhaps best if you can request for him to call you, and remember to specify time since London is 7 hours behind.

VTSAX is the mutual fund equivalent of VTI etf. VTI in turn has VOO (S&P 500) + whole bunch of small caps. All are heavily taxed since US domiciled. Both VTI and VOO has pretty much mirror like correlation and only few ticks apart.

Consider instead VUSD the Irish cousin of VOO with discounted tax rate. Or cast a crazy wide net and cover the whole world, both developed and emerging market with VWRD.

Stamp duty is waived for ETFs in good 'ol London Stock Exhange

I'm using TradeStation Global. I get access to SGX as well over CapTrader with no access to SGX.

Experience should be the same if you're using Interactive Brokers's Trader Workstation, WebTrader or IBKR Mobile.

MYR -> SGD -> TSG convert to USD. Partly because I can get funds cleared into TSG from my local bank within 1 hour and the other part because I'm horny over LSE's higher trading volume.

I only got charged commission USD1.91 for my previous 2 rounds of trades ~USD1.4k. I calculated back then it was roughly equal to GBP1.5.

I use Trader Workstartion (TWS), and converted via FXCONV (only available in TWS). Only difference is using IDEALPRO a virtual FX position is created and it bugs me because I'm OCD like that.

If it doesn't bug you then WebTrader/IBKR Mobile is fine to use.

Step by step for TWS:
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/119895805-post5420.html

This should give you an idea how it would look like if you did FXCONV vs IdealPRO


IdealPRO is more suitable forex players, where a position is maintain to be closed easily.

Both have same conversion fee and rates, just the matter of preference. Personally I don't like seeing a FX position along with my holdings.

Yup, drove me up the wall the last time I accidentally used IdealPRO that I spent additional USD4 closing the position and redoing it with FXCONV

As far as I know it can only be done via TWS

Assuming you're buying and holding. Safest way without live data would be:-
1. Wait about 1 hour from LSE FSX opening, to allow things to settle down after the initial opening institution trades
2. Checkout CSPX SXR8 last done price from google.com/finance
3. Put a limit order with the last done price +1 cent (e.g. last done 258.43, you'll bid 258.44)

I do get that 3% and non live data warning too and just choose to accept it every time

Update: Corrected LSE -> FSX (Frankfurt Stock Exchange) and CSPX -> SXR8

This post has been edited by roarus: Aug 21 2019, 10:49 PM

Both stocks and ETF can be purchased, here's a full list of products you can buy and the fees
CapTrader: https://www.captrader.com/en/account/commissions/

TradeStation Global: https://www.tradestation-international.com/...ng-commissions/

Give Instarem a call, when they did my KYC last year I recall the rep telling me they can do KYC for some cities out of KL

BigPay got option for USD transfer?

I can only see Philippines (PHP), Indonesia (IDR), Singapore (SGD) and Thailand (THB)

Non UK & Aus residents get an account with eToro's entity domiciled in Cyprus. CySec has very weak regulation, home to many dodgy forex and options brokers. Be warned

More concise answer - decision would be depending on:
i. How much one would periodically like to invest (CapTrader vs TradeStation Global decision)
ii. If one readily holds EUR/GBP/USD currency and can transfer over (EUR/GBP/USD denominated fund decision)
iii. If one believes S&P500 will continue to outperform others like Nikkei and Euro indexes (just throwing a curveball)

1. monthly USD 1k.
TradeStation Global (https://www.tradestation-international.com/pricing/):
USD denominated: 0.12% or minimum USD1.91-1.95 (GBP1.5 equivalent) ~USD1,590 before 0.12% exceeds GBP1.5 equivalent
EUR denominated: 0.12% or minimum EUR1.71 ~EUR1425 before 0.12% exceeds EUR1.71

CapTrader (https://www.captrader.com/en/account/commissions/)
0.1% or EUR2 - 4 depending on exchange. No mention of USD denominated listed on London Stock Exchange

2. holds readily USD and EUR. For now, I avoid GBP. Really don't know what's gonna happen after Brexit.
Both can accept USD (Citibank NY) or EUR (Citibank Germany).

Doesn't matter if you have a USD S&P500 fund mixed with EUR S&P500 fund. Once you've paid for units of a fund you're holding the value the underlying companies instead of denomination currency.

If you're OCD enough you can spend USD2 (TradeStation) to convert and buy only 1 denomination fund. CapTrader conversion fee depends on which currency you're selling (https://www.captrader.com/en/account/commissions)

3. I think I'll choose S&P500 and Euronext 100. Ratio 9:1.
Won't comment on allocation, everyone has a preference/region specific bet.

You can go crazy with the ETF screener here:
https://www.justetf.com/en/find-etf.html?groupField=index

From there you can copy the ISIN code and look it up in https://www.investing.com and check out the cross listing on other exchanges + other info like denomination and volume

If it's domiciled in Ireland + physical replication + issued by iShares/Vanguard/SPDR it's safe enough. I have personal preference of accumulating funds

If you're talking about hedged class of a fund, in my opinion is I wouldn't bother - it's still a 50/50 gamble and you might end up hedging for lower returns in the end. Plus the currency forward contracts adds up to the total expense ratio. Unless you know something about that currency pair and really you should be trading currency futures instead of accumulating index funds.

You really shouldn't be. If you go to the airport and buy a box of chocolate and it costs GBP1 / USD1.3 / EUR1.15 it doesn't matter which currency you pay for it - in the end you end up with a box of chocolates, not GBP or USD or EUR.

What you might be worried about is the spread and volume of the particular denominated fund, theoretically market makers will swoop in and arbitrage premiums/discounts and this brings it back to fair price. I believe a fund that tracks the ever popular S&P 500 index by iShares/Vanguard/SPDR would have multiple active market makers

This post has been edited by roarus: Nov 5 2019, 08:53 PM