CPFIS (UOB, OCBC or DBS)

[blueygirls]

Hi,

I did a search on HWZ, and there wasn't much info on which account to open CPF investment account with. Once you open with one bank, you can't open with another bank. May I know which bank do you think its better to open with and why?

Thank you!

 

[anfielder]

Hi,

I did a search on HWZ, and there wasn't much info on which account to open CPF investment account with. Once you open with one bank, you can't open with another bank. May I know which bank do you think its better to open with and why?

Thank you!

Just open one with the bank you already do most of your banking with?

Cpfia can be transferred to another bank if you need to.

 

[jsiying]

Hi,

I did a search on HWZ, and there wasn't much info on which account to open CPF investment account with. Once you open with one bank, you can't open with another bank. May I know which bank do you think its better to open with and why?

Thank you!

Based on experience, UOB charges some fees if there are no investment activities. Popular choice would be DBS. Just my two cents

 

[kehyi4]

I've done this comparison before:

For DBS:
Transaction charge = $2.50 per 1,000 shares/loan stocks/units or part thereof subject to a maximum of $25 per transaction.
Quarterly svc charge = $2 per share/loan stock/unit trust counter per quarter, subject to a minimum charge of $5.

For OCBC:
Transaction charge = $2.50 per 1000 shares/units or part thereof, subject to a maximum of $25.00 per transaction.
Quarterly svc charge = $2.00 per counter per quarter.

For UOB:
Transaction charge = S$2 per 1,000 shares/units, or part thereof, subject to a maximum of S$20 per transaction.
Quarterly svc charge = S$2 per counter/unit trust per quarter.

all charges subject to GST btw

And they ALL charge that quarterly svc charge, not just UOB
And there is NO inactivity charge from any of them

 

[henrylbh]

Based on experience, UOB charges some fees if there are no investment activities. Popular choice would be DBS. Just my two cents

Why dbs popular choice?

 

[kennethtbh]

I've done this comparison before:

For DBS:
Transaction charge = $2.50 per 1,000 shares/loan stocks/units or part thereof subject to a maximum of $25 per transaction.
Quarterly svc charge = $2 per share/loan stock/unit trust counter per quarter, subject to a minimum charge of $5.

For OCBC:
Transaction charge = $2.50 per 1000 shares/units or part thereof, subject to a maximum of $25.00 per transaction.
Quarterly svc charge = $2.00 per counter per quarter.

For UOB:
Transaction charge = S$2 per 1,000 shares/units, or part thereof, subject to a maximum of S$20 per transaction.
Quarterly svc charge = S$2 per counter/unit trust per quarter.

all charges subject to GST btw

And they ALL charge that quarterly svc charge, not just UOB
And there is NO inactivity charge from any of them

UOB seems the best based solely on charges? since max 20.

 

[blueygirls]

Thanks for the reply guys.
So all the banks only charge quarterly if there is some investment right...If not they don't charge?

Also, are the agent fees different from the banks?
My insurance agent say if wanna invest CPF money the broker (her) will charge 3% , and some banks charge 5%. Dunno if she trying to cheat me or not.

 

[henrylbh]

Thanks for the reply guys.
So all the banks only charge quarterly if there is some investment right...If not they don't charge?

Also, are the agent fees different from the banks?
My insurance agent say if wanna invest CPF money the broker (her) will charge 3% , and some banks charge 5%. Dunno if she trying to cheat me or not.

What your agent said may not be true. May be you misunderstood.

 

[unhinged_loon]

Thanks for the reply guys.
So all the banks only charge quarterly if there is some investment right...If not they don't charge?

Also, are the agent fees different from the banks?
My insurance agent say if wanna invest CPF money the broker (her) will charge 3% , and some banks charge 5%. Dunno if she trying to cheat me or not.

That kind of fees are excessive. Call up the banks and ask the banks yourself.

 

[wav35_]

Based on experience, UOB charges some fees if there are no investment activities. Popular choice would be DBS. Just my two cents

CPFIS accounts maintained with any of the three local banks will have fees.

It really doesnt matter which bank you open it with, these three banks are just the agent bank for CPFIS. If you open a CPFIS with UOB, you can still use it to purchase DBS products.

 

[kehyi4]

Thanks for the reply guys.
So all the banks only charge quarterly if there is some investment right...If not they don't charge?

Also, are the agent fees different from the banks?
My insurance agent say if wanna invest CPF money the broker (her) will charge 3% , and some banks charge 5%. Dunno if she trying to cheat me or not.

Sounds like your agent is trying to sell you some Unit Trust

Yes, some banks charge 5%, so his 3% looks cheaper... until you realise that you can buy the UTs yourself online (at fundsupermart or dollardex for example) at 0% sales charge

which looks terrific... until you realise that UTs have expense ratios of up to 1.75% (or more) per annum while passively managed ETFs (like SPDR STI ETF - ES3 on SGX) have expense ratios of about 0.3%

 

[unhinged_loon]

Sounds like your agent is trying to sell you some Unit Trust

Yes, some banks charge 5%, so his 3% looks cheaper... until you realise that you can buy the UTs yourself online (at fundsupermart or dollardex for example) at 0% sales charge

which looks terrific... until you realise that UTs have expense ratios of up to 1.75% (or more) per annum while passively managed ETFs (like SPDR STI ETF - ES3 on SGX) have expense ratios of about 0.3%

And those UTs often don't beat their benchmark market indices.

 

[zeroX26]

Based on experience, UOB charges some fees if there are no investment activities. Popular choice would be DBS. Just my two cents

This isn't true, I have a CPF investment account with UOB since 2011 and there isn't extra fees other than the usual quarterly charge which other banks impose as well.

 

[marsbarsz]

If we plan to buy a house in the coming 5-6 years, Should we be taking the CPF money to invest or just leave it as it is?

 

[blueygirls]

so any consensus on : UOB vs OCBC?

 

[blueygirls]

If we plan to buy a house in the coming 5-6 years, Should we be taking the CPF money to invest or just leave it as it is?

I would say get a park the CPF somewhere first, get HDB loan, refinance to bank loan. Move CPF back to OA acct, let it earn 2.5% interest while repaying the bank loan. I haven't done this before. Anyone care to chip in on any info?

 

[wealth_farmer]

5 to 6 years is too short for investment cos you have no time to ride out the market cycle if there's a downturn. Seems a bit of a gamble to me. If it was me, I'd just leave my money in OA to compound and not touch it.

If we plan to buy a house in the coming 5-6 years, Should we be taking the CPF money to invest or just leave it as it is?

 

[apatheticme]

If we plan to buy a house in the coming 5-6 years, Should we be taking the CPF money to invest or just leave it as it is?

It depends on many things that you haven't provided details for. Here are a few considerations I can think of:

Is the CPF money for the downpayment (meaning you must exit your positions in 5-6 years) or just additional buffer for repayment?

Are you looking to repay the loan as fast as possible or are you fine with dragging it out hoping your returns will beat the interests? Are you fine with the growing OA 'interests' owed to yourself or would you like to minimise it?

 

[lzydata]

so any consensus on : UOB vs OCBC?

UOB transaction charges are $2 whereas OCBC and DBS charge $2.50 (for example, per 1000 shares buying or selling).

UOB offers gold products, OCBC and DBS don't.

Otherwise it should be based on your preference, like if you already have an account with one bank and you don't want another.

 

[LiteHouse]

I would say get a park the CPF somewhere first, get HDB loan, refinance to bank loan. Move CPF back to OA acct, let it earn 2.5% interest while repaying the bank loan. I haven't done this before. Anyone care to chip in on any info?

Why purposely buy some stocks then sell to put back OA after down payment? I rather the OA be $0 so that the bonus 1% can to go to SA.