Potentially Interesting Broker: Trading 212 Invest
I see there’s another broker available to residents of Singapore who are not U.S. persons:
Trading 212 Invest, not to be confused with Trading 212 CFD.
I should point out up front that Trading 212 Invest has suspended new account opening due to current market volatility, but you can open a practice account to check them out in the meantime. They are U.K.-based, which means they are FCA regulated and offer a little government backstopped FSCS account insurance, up to £85,000 per account. They don’t charge any broker commissions (which means they sell order flow) even for London Stock Exchange trades, and isn’t that interesting! (Exchange fees might apply.) There’s no account minimum, minimum commission, activity fee, or custodial fee. So on the surface this broker seems like a good one for typical VWRA or IWDA monthly investing. They also offer fractional shares for at least some securities, and that’s interesting, too.
They don’t seem to offer any terrific way to start with Singapore dollars and convert them at low cost to U.S. dollars and/or other major currencies for investment. Your best bet appears to be a wire transfer, but your local bank in Singapore will charge a wire transfer fee. Evidently they don’t charge a currency conversion commission, but I cannot tell what their typical currency spread is. Also, there are certain circumstances when assets at a U.K. broker are subject to U.K. estate tax (confusingly called U.K. Inheritance Tax), so just be aware of those rules if you’re concerned about estate tax after you pass on.
It appears they don’t offer all listings in the markets they support, but they should cover everything with decent or better trading volume. They also offer a “light” roboadvisor-like feature called “AutoInvest & Pies.”
Has anyone tried Trading 212 Invest yet?