Get out of Thinkorswim now! Better brokerages for retail investors to consider

On-line international brokerage TD Ameritrade was common amongst Singapore traders, particularly those that had been launched to it by means of numerous funding trainers or buying and selling course suppliers. Nevertheless, traders obtained a shock final week when TD Ameritrade introduced that their brokerage platform – Thinkorswim – will now not be serving retail traders in Singapore. Should you’re amongst these affected, right here’s what you are able to do.

PSA: Get out of Thinkorswim now

TD Ameritrade Singapore has said that you will want to both (i) proceed with turning into an Accredited Investor with them, or (ii) take steps to shut or switch your account by the next deadlines:

• The deadline to behave is 27 October 2023, after which a month-to-month cost of USD 50 shall be robotically deducted out of your account till your money steadiness is zero.
• The ultimate deadline to shut your account is 31 December 2023.

To keep away from paying USD 50 for basically nothing, please take motion now earlier than 27 October 2023.

Ought to I grow to be an Accredited Investor?

Firstly, even in the event you meet MAS’ standards and qualify to grow to be an Accredited Investor (AI), you’ll need to manually opt-in with TD Ameritrade in the event you want to proceed utilizing the TOS platform. The excellent news is, your monetary property held in a special financial institution may be mixed to hit the property threshold.

Nevertheless, ought to you register as an accredited investor with TD Ameritrade? That could be a completely different matter altogether, as you’d must weigh the advantages and penalties to resolve whether or not it is sensible to you. Extra importantly, as an Accredited Investor buyer, you’d now not fall underneath sure Singaporean buyer safety guidelines. Read more about the trade-offs here.

For individuals who don’t qualify or don’t want to register as an AI, you’ll now want to maneuver your property and change to a different dealer.

What about my property on Thinkorswim?

For money, you possibly can merely request for a wire switch to withdraw the money into your checking account.

For equities and/or choices, you possibly can resolve whether or not you favor to

1. Shut (promote) your current positions and reopen them once more (purchase) in your subsequent dealer. That is the best and quickest technique, as you’re utterly in command of the method and wouldn’t have to attend for any approvals. Your commerce will usually take as much as two (2) enterprise days to finish on TOS; as soon as your funds are cleared, you possibly can proceed to withdraw them to your checking account and over to your new dealer.
2. Maintain your open place and switch them to your new various dealer as an alternative. I wouldn’t advocate this until you’ve determined to change to Interactive Brokers, because the switch technique is way slower and comes with a number of limitations. To switch your account property, you’ll need to provoke the Switch of Belongings (TOA) in your new brokerage which can then require you to finish their types (both an Automated Buyer Account Switch Service (ACATS) switch, or a DTC / DRS switch).

Do word that there’s a US$75 payment for ACAT transfers from TD Ameritrade Singapore to different brokers, however the excellent news is that TD Ameritrade is waiving any switch or wire charges you incur this 12 months solely for whole account transfers and/or wire withdrawals. In different phrases, you’ll must do the whole lot all at one go.

For non-ACAT switch requests e.g. DTC or DRS, the method has an extended processing time and excludes non-securities objects i.e. money, choices and fractional shares. Throughout that interval, you will be unable to commerce on a few of your securities positions both, so to make issues easier, go for both (i) an ACAT switch, or (ii) liquidate and easily restart anew on one other dealer.

Finest Various Brokerages to Thinkorswim

Which brokerage to decide on actually is determined by what options and help you prioritise, or discover helpful. For example, in the event you insist on having all of your Singapore shares in your CDP account (like I do), then it’s possible you’ll favor to pay extra for an area financial institution brokerage or go for both FSMOne or POEMS to transact your native investments. Possibly you’re an skilled investor who trades throughout the US, Australia and London markets, during which case you’d possible already be on Interactive Brokers, POEMS or Saxo. Some folks worth investing solely in brokerages which have an area presence (i.e. with native hires (Singaporeans) and organising native occasions), so they like Moomoo SG or FSMOne.

Generally, when you began investing additionally issues, as a result of the brokerage choices out there to you then would have been completely different. Many older traders who began within the early 2000s would possible nonetheless be with their financial institution brokerages (e.g. DBS Vickers, OCBC Securities or Commonplace Chartered) or they’d be on FSMOne, which was Singapore’s first online-only discounted brokerage then.

As a beginner investor, it’s possible you’ll be tempted to easily go for the lowest-cost brokerage in Singapore. Nevertheless, as somebody who has been watching the scene evolve during the last decade, let me inform you why that isn’t excellent: as a result of the brokerages have modified their charges over time.

• Previous to 2000, the most cost effective was an in depth struggle between POEMS and Commonplace Chartered (non-CDP).
• Within the early 2000s, the most cost effective brokerage was FSMOne.
• Within the 2010s, DBS Vickers gave FSMOne a run for its cash for CDP traders when it lowered its charges for money upfront trades.
• In 2020, Tiger Brokers entered the scene and have become the most cost effective on-line dealer.
• In 2021, Moomoo SG launched and beat Tiger Brokers with even decrease charges.
• In 2022, Webull entered Singapore and have become the most cost effective for US & HK shares. In 2023, it eliminated its minimal funding requirement and is now presently freely giving probably the most beneficiant welcome sign-up rewards to draw new customers over to its platform.

Disclaimer: These are all based mostly off my very own reminiscence, so in the event you had been investing throughout this identical interval and spot any errors, please let me know in order that I can appropriate it. Thanks!

Should you select your brokerage solely based mostly on the most cost effective charges, it’s possible you’ll be setting your self up for disappointment sooner or later as or when your dealer amends its prices.

Nevertheless, you need to undoubtedly nonetheless evaluate so that you just clearly know the professionals and cons of every brokerage – that may provide help to make a extra knowledgeable resolution as to which account to open. My pal Kelvin helped work on a comparability desk throughout all of the low-cost brokerages in Singapore, which you too can view in full on his Youtube channel here (help him with a like, or you can tip him here!)

I’ve zoomed in on features I like to recommend specializing in, which might be the completely different options and Execs vs Cons of every brokerage:

Which on-line brokerage do you advocate?

Once more, which brokerage is finest for you is a private resolution that solely you can also make as a result of what you worth could also be completely different from mine. I make investments and commerce solely within the US, SG and HK markets, so options like entry to Malaysia shares (Saxo, ProsperUs) don’t make any distinction to me.

Nonetheless, right here’s my common expertise and stance on how I selected between brokerages:

• Singapore shares or ETFs – I solely use CDP-linked brokerages, and my platform of alternative is FSMOne as a result of I began investing within the 2010s when Tiger Brokers and Moomoo didn’t exist right here.
• Automated investments / Common Financial savings Plans – Should you maintain a RSP (often known as RSS), I like FSMOne. Nevertheless, some people favor to invest via their bank for the convenience, in which case DBS Invest Saver (or digiPortfolio) or OCBC could be an honest alternative. Moomoo SG additionally gives 5.8% p.a. guaranteed returns on Moomoo Cash Plus with no lock-up periods.
• London-domiciled ETFs or shares – Interactive Brokers is the most cost effective.
• US shares – I began with Tiger Brokers, then I opened with Moomoo SG once they launched, so I’m presently have my shares in each brokers. Proper now, one is for buy-and-hold and cash market funds, whereas one other is used for extra some opportunistic trades. For Moomoo SG, the $0.99 fee payment per order means the upper the transaction quantity, the extra I save on charges.

Let me additionally disclaim that I wouldn't have direct expertise with ALL the brokerages right here - and naturally so, as a result of I am not a fan of opening extra accounts than I deem mandatory and having my private monetary particulars shared with so many establishments.  

You too can learn the critiques that I’ve completed right here (in alphabetical order) to resolve which is finest for you:

Finest low-cost on-line brokerages (based on Funds Babe)

Should you’re beginning out as we speak or searching for a brand new account to begin afresh on, right here’s my private verdict on how I’d classify the assorted low-cost on-line brokerage platforms:

A lot of you’ve got advised me that you just favor a low-cost dealer that

• Gives an easy-to-navigate consumer interface, even for learners.
• Has native help, together with a local hotline and organises local events the place you possibly can truly converse to actual human beings or consultants to ask questions concerning the app / your portfolio. Finest if it additionally has educational outreach efforts (such as courses) to assist learners.
• Is used and trusted by many fellow friends and Singaporeans.
• Should be safe and unlikely to wind up, or shut its Singapore operations.
• Permits one to spend money on Singapore, US and Hong Kong shares.
• Can be used for options trading.
• Gives yield in your uninvested, idle money parked in your brokerage account.

If that sounds just like your individual standards, then you definitely may wish to try Moomoo SG.

The next commercial is delivered to you by Moomoo SG.

I’ve written extensively about Moomoo SG choices through the years, together with the attractiveness of their money market funds for idle cash and how I use their app to analyze a company while I’m on the move. Within the aftermath of Robinhood’s saga with the SEC over their controversial Cost for Order Movement (PFOF), I questioned if our zero-commission brokerages here use the same practice, and was relieved when Moomoo SG officially said no here.

Due to the assorted occasions and funding conferences that Moomoo SG has held in Singapore, I’ve additionally gotten to know their group higher and had the privilege to ask them about their plans and dedication to the Singapore market, in addition to how safe they really are, as an online discounted brokerage.

Right this moment, Moomoo SG has grown to become one of Singapore’s top choices of brokerages and expanded to grow to be some of the spectacular brokerage apps I’ve on my telephone.

Whether or not you’re a retail investor affected by the Thinkorswim closure, or just considering of switching to a extra respected brokerage like Moomoo in your long-term wants, now you can take advantage of Moomoo SG’s ongoing promotion and get up to S$1,000 of rewards when you transfer in your eligible assets from another broker.

Should you’re transferring from TD Ameritrade, you possibly can refer to this page for specific instructions on how to do a DTC transfer of your assets over to Moomoo SG.

Click here to learn more and get started with a Moomoo SG account today!

Disclaimer: All views expressed on this article are the impartial opinions of SG Funds Babe. The assessment statements are an expression of private opinion and choice, and to not be taken as a reality in figuring out which brokerage is one of the best. 

Neither Moomoo Singapore or its associates shall be answerable for the content material of the data supplied.

This commercial has not been reviewed by the Financial Authority of Singapore.