Should thank Trump, I get to buy cheaper next round

Great - SPDR's SWRD 0.12% Total Expense Ratio vs iShares' IWDA 0.2%. Once the volume and AUM grows (which shouldn't be too long), I'll start collecting unless iShares drop their TER to compete.

You have the option to keep it, and add all world index ETF from now on. Lump both as your global portion, and when it's time to rebalance and sell global because it is over weighted in your portfolio - sell SXR8 first.

Higher volume = tighter bid/ask spread

Yup, simply there's no trade on those 2 counters - it's not UK holiday today, the other 2 world indexes IWDA and VWRD are kicking and exchanging hands

Yup taxed at full 30%, even as a Singaporean it's worth getting it via London Stock Exchange ticker CSPX for the volume, tax discount and auto invest factor.

I'd say once you hit the RM50,000 mark, it's time to wave goodbye to StashAway and wear the big boy's pants with an international broker.

Alternatively via TradeStation, and USD denominated funds:
i. FAST to IB's SG Citibank: free - I believe honsiong has access to SG bank account
ii. Convert SGD->USD: USD2 min - convert up to ~USD33,333 before paying more
iii. 1 share of whichever rocks your boat IWDA/CSPX/VWRD: USD56.33 / USD283.28 / USD84.34
iv. Commission GBP1.5 equivalent in USD (~USD1.95) min, or 0.12% of trade value - buy up to ~USD1625 in value before paying more

The above works well for SGD2000 bi-monthly buy in.

Bonus: Step 0. MYR->SGD - we all have a few Malaysian relatives and friends working in Singapore that sends money back every month right? Strike up a win-win rate

You open a SG Maybank/CIMB account which can do FAST Transfer. Interactive Broker’s Citibank SG account is where you’ll transfer to.

Can’t find any laws prohibiting that, afterall it’s perfectly legal to exchange money notes with your friends and family. It’s the same mechanism as Instarem/MoneyMatch - the pool of MYR nevers leaves Malaysia and SGD never leaves Singapore

USD2 conversion process is done within Interactive Brokers - you convert at spot rate and pay 0.6bps (0.0006) of value traded or min USD2

Maybank iSavvy
i. yes you park $500
ii. I submitted forms to my local Maybank branch - they courier to Singapore for me (via DHL!)
iii. debit card is free no charge
iv. initial funding $500 can do with Instarem

CIMB SG FastSaver is another option:
i. no fall below fee, no debit card
ii. has FAST transfer which is the thing you need in this case
iii. initial funding $1000 - requirement is to do FAST transfer for initial funding $1000, but members have reported success performing CIMB MY -> CIMB SG and via Instarem
iv. high-ish interest for a Singapore account, not that you should park money too long - 1% p.a. for first $50,000, 1.5% after up to $75,000


I hold both accounts, pros of having Maybank:
i. outside the local big 3 DBS/UOB/OCBC - Maybank is top 7, is a qualified bank by MAS standard and back in Nov 2018 broke off from Maybank Berhad to form Maybank Singapore Limited
ii. if you plan to open a CDP account to trade shares with local brokers (whether paranoia of nominee account or want to attend AGM), Maybank supports EPS for shares
iii. 'teh tarik' funds every month between 2 accounts to keep from being dormant, I don't want to have to head down to Singapore just to re-activate a bank account

This post has been edited by roarus: May 18 2019, 10:08 PM

1. No platform or inactivity fee - 0.5% stamp duty is waived for LSEETF
2. No fees under my Trade Confirmation statement, only commission
3. I didn't even activate my Maybank iSavvy debit card, therefore I did not request for a CIMB SG one
4. Confirm no annual fee for debit card

My statement comprising of:
1. SG stock SGX - SGD3.75 commission
2. US stock NYSE ARCA - USD1 commission
3. UK ETF LSEETF - USD1.91 commission (GBP1.5 equivalent)
4. SGD->USD - SGD2.72 commission (USD2 equivalent)


This post has been edited by roarus: May 18 2019, 10:49 PM

So it seems it boils down to how often you push in EUR4000. If monthly, dude go for the mother Interactive Brokers directly - you'll hit USD100k in no time and enjoy tiered commission pricing. 2,3,4 months once is probably fine - 6 months or more is probably a drag and cost of opportunity

I struck a deal with my friend at half of Instarem's rate - we pre-agree on the date and session of exchange e.g. date, morning/afternoon/evening. On that day and session I'll capture screens of:
i. Instarem - how much MYR it'll cost me to buy SGD
ii. CashChanger.co - how much MYR he'd get for that same amount of SGD (sub this for whatever money changer your friend uses)
iii. Shared Google sheet between both of us with formula to calculate based on Instarem's rate and half of the fee rate

My friend pretty cincai, as long as he's getting more than CashChanger.co he's happy enough. I offer him bonus service to key in captcha if he wants the money in ASNB too (best effort of course).

Not much difference in this case really, volume for both are high and the price for a slice is about the same. I guess GBP will have the advantage if funding is allowed in GBP via Instarem?

Old article (RIP John) - but to set expectation to 4% level even though historically it's 9-ish-close-to-10%
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/22/jack-bogle-...ext-decade.html

No one knows if this is the tail of a bull run or we have another extension 2-5 years to go

No, it wasn't in my radar.

Spread is similar to IWDA, and it's young so the price per slice is lower as well. Tracking error looks good too.

1) Shouldn't be an issue, AUM size looks healthy and growing and it's physical replication
2) I believe it's the same treatment as Ireland @ 15%, but do a search to confirm

Overall, not bad looking

Edit: Should've taken account spread as %
LCWD, 2 cents bid/ask spread at last done 10.62
0.02/10.62*100 = 0.1883%
TER: 0.12%

IWDA, 2 cents bid/ask spread at last done 57.98
0.02/57.98*100 = 0.0345%
TER: 0.20%

Looks like you're still dodging on TER but taking on spread hit at the moment

This post has been edited by roarus: Jun 24 2019, 10:56 PM

Got written response from TradeStation Global support confirming no inactivity fee when queried late Apr 2019

This is what I got from a rep named Oscar


TradeStation is US market only (US domicile, with SIPC protection), TradeStation Global covers US and outside (UK domicile, regulated by FCA)

Fees, or rather broker commission I'm assuming you were referring to:
https://www.tradestation-international.com/...ng-commissions/

Er, why 50/50? That's a risk profile for a person in the 50's gliding into retirement

This post has been edited by roarus: Jul 4 2019, 12:05 AM

They might have lowered the commission for US exchange, traded a counter (NYSE ARCA) in small amount back in May to cure an itch and was only charged USD1

This post has been edited by roarus: Jul 10 2019, 10:06 PM

Thanks for testing out as well, which exact exchange did the trade happen? You can see this via Reports > Statements > Trade Confirmation

Perhaps they indeed did lower the rate, but have not updated the commissions table yet.

Wait, you're attempting to send GBP to IB's UK Citibank, and then convert to USD? Isn't the fund you want on LSE available in GBP?

They blocked your application or something? Do talk to TradeStation Global support regarding this fabulous offer you saw on their main page: https://www.tradestation-international.com/global/