My Top 3 Investment Brokerages

While I do not try to predict the market direction, looking at the economic indicators, I think it is only logical and responsible that investors ready themselves. For those who have yet to invest, you need to prepare for the crisis opportunity BEFORE it comes, and the first thing you need to do is to

“OPEN A BROKERAGE ACCOUNT“

Some of you might be thinking, “What? You don’t need to teach me that!”. However, in my years of investing education, the trouble of finding and choosing a brokerage is the NUMBER 1 reason excuse that stop people from investing.

So in this post, I am going to share my top 3 investment brokerages. The disclaimer is that I am looking at the issue from a Singaporean perspective, so you might be able to find a better local brokerage for your local stock market.

These three are not in any particular order of preference as each of them has their pros and cons.

Interactive Brokers

For those who have been investing for a while, Interactive Brokers (IB) is a common name. In fact, it is most widely used by hedge funds and mid-small size managers among the three.

Pros:

• The widest range of assets and widest range of countries. You can invest in more than 24 different countries’ stock market and its derivatives.
• Able to fund in any currency and provide very good exchange rates on the platform.
• Lowest trading comms around.

Cons:

• Monthly fee of $10/month for account less than USD$100,000
• Data fee applicable if you need data on derivatives such as options

Thinkorswim

Thinkorswim is the name of the brokerage provided by TD Ameritrade. I would recommend this for most new investors because it is easiest to use among all. If you don’t mind just investing in USA, this will be an ideal brokerage.

Pros:

• Easy to Use
• No monthly fee or data fee
• Local office in Singapore

Cons:

• Can only fund in USD
• Can only invest in US listed equities or derivatives
• Higher trading comms than IB
• Not all nationality can open an account

Saxo Markets

Saxo is a relatively new player but it is coming in strong to compete with the best of Thinkorswim or IB

Pros:

• Relatively easy to use (I find thinkorswim easier to use)
• Able to fund in any currency
• Able to fund using credit card (for those who wish to chalk up points)
• No monthly fee or data fee
• Local office in Singapore

Cons:

• Able to invest globally like IB but missing some less common stocks such as pink sheets and ADR
• Higher comms than IB and Thinkorswim (Saxo is now competitive with Thinkorswim)
• Monthly Custodian Fee of 0.12%

This is the quick summary of my top three brokerages, I use all of them for different purposes. Do you use any of them? Let me know how you find them or if you have any better ones!

Disclaimer: I do not recommend any of them as a referral or affiliate, these are just my own opinion so choose wisely.