New Trading Platform in SGX, iFast FSMOne - Is it any good?

You can refer to this article by Straits Times - iFast Financial launches stock-dealing services on FSMOne platform for more information but here is the summary:

Investors can trade in stocks and ETFs at 0.12 per cent and 0.08 per cent respectively (minimum of S$10 per trade), the company said in a release on SGX.

With the launch of SGX-listed stocks and ETFs on FSMOne, we are leading the commission rates for stocks and ETFs down.

That sounds great but wait a minute, SCB has been doing that all along (minimum commission of $10)! At the back of my mind, I was wondering if FSMOne is depositing the shares to your CDP or functioning as a custodian account. It would only make a difference if the shares are deposited to CDP since SCB is a custodian account. So I went to their site and read up on the FAQ.

Guess what? It is also a custodian account. I guess that is the only way to keep the commission low?

You can read more here - https://secure.fundsupermart.com/fsm/advice-services/faq/2/2195/

Being a KPO, it is all about the $$$, so I went to check out their pricing structure. 

At one glance, it is indeed offering the lowest commission! For the simplicity of things, I will analyze the costs one can incur when investing in SGX stocks and STI ETF through FSMOne and SCB.

From the above, you can see that one can invest more money in FSMOne - $3,000 more in stocks and $7,500 more in ETFs! However, FSMOne has a very interesting "hidden" charge called the "Platform Fee" and this is charge every quarter for ETFs! @_@ KPO thinks it is totally ridiculous!

If I were to buy any ETF, the commission may seem much lower when compared to SCB at first but once I hold it for years (which is what people normally do when investing in ETF), the cost of investment increases indefinitely!

KPO advice to you is "Do NOT invest in ETF using this platform!". I never believe in funds and has no experience in bonds but I cannot deny the fact that it is indeed offering the lowest commission for SGX stocks at this moment. Do note that some of the fees (custodian, corporate, dividend handling, etc.) are waived for now too - similar to SCB.

As for myself, I will continue to invest using SCB until it pulls another stunt (such as charging custodian fee or dividend handling fee). Furthermore, I get to keep my priority status which allows me to walk into the branch and get things done without queuing. lol.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right -->)