Online broker

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
Hi,

i am interested in finding a good, cheap, easy online broker, preferably one that isn't being sued.

I read lots of posts on this forum, and i would go with IB, which many say is the best, but I don't want to put the 10 grand upfront.

The swiss ones (swissquote, saxo, ...) seem expensive,

so my question is, which german one would you recommend / friend's use ??

thanks a bunch

i also, have another question, as I am new to this,

were I to choose a swiss broker (saxo, swissquote (are there any others that are any good?)),

what are the costs to for example, buy a hundred stocks from a us stock exchange, and sell them 6 months later ?

are there any other major costs, for maintenance etc ?

thanks

2
You probably want to open with a US-based broker like TD Ameritrade or Charles Schwab. In TD A, I think if you put in 2500 USD on your new account you get several free trades on the first 60 days. After that each transaction costs a flat fee under 10 USD. Check their website and the one from Charles Schwab to see the exact conditions and to learn about how to open an account with either.

IB is better if you plan to trade very actively (buying and selling 100 stocks in 6 months would qualify), so maybe it is worth saving up to 10k before opening.

3
Hi, and thanks for the answer !

I checked both out, although they both look good :

-for Charles Schwab, I would need to open an international account (as not a us citizen/resident) which costs 10k

-at td ameritrade, I am not sure how to wire funds from a swiss bank account, it seems you need to go through an american bank ...

4
I'm pretty sure you can use your regular bank account and wire transfer it.

5
In Switzerland for a less active trader Swissquote will be more than enough.

As you get more active you can then think about opening an IB account.

6
thanks for all the answers !!!

yes I think i'll start with swissquote, work up to 10 k, and go the ib way,

thx again !!!

7
To be honest I'm not sure how it is with transferring portfolios from Swissquote, but you may be getting into additional difficulties by not going directly to IB.

If I knew back then what I know now, I would have created an US online broker directly, rather than have to sell/transfer from one broker in addition to buying/receiving in the new one.

Something to consider, inform yourself how much it costs to transfer portfolios from Swissquote and when you buy a particular stock if it will "exist" as that in IB (e.g. if you buy European stocks, it is likely that IB will have not that stock but an "image" of it through an ADR* - if they have it at all, but they will if it is a big company - and I don't think it can then be transferred as such so you may have to incur in another selling fee and buy the ADR in IB, etc.)

*if you want to know what this is look on wikipedia for example

8
Sorry but this is a load of Rubbish.

If you buy a BP stock on a Swissquote platform and transfer the position to IB you will not get an ADR of BP in the US! Your shares with Swissquote will simply be transfered to the custodian bank of IB which holds BP shares.

You're right though about the position transfer fees, it's worth thinking about them but in the end the OP is just getting his feet wet so to speak so the cost of transfering positions worth less than CHF10k will probably not exceed CHF150.- ( I can't find info on position transfer fees on the Swissquote website, but from memory it's around CHF30 per position or something but I can't be sure )

9
thanks for all the info !

as i am new to this,

are there any advantages in trading swiss stocks with a swiss broker vs us broker ?

10
No

11
I didn't know that for BP, but that is still for a big company as then IB happens to have a custodian bank holding those shares. Does that happen for any European stock, even some smaller companies from e.g. Portugal?

12
If a broker you are transfering your securities to can not handle a specific security you will be told about it, you won't just automatically be given an ADR as an alternative.

If a security trades on a major stock or derivatives exchange you can be sure both Swissquote and IB have a way of getting your securities transfered (i.e. moving them from one custodian bank to another and displaying them on your online account). It's actually not rocket science but is very tedious. So unless you're transfering securities from the Central African Republic you'll be just fine

13
Are the rates different between SwissQuote and IB?

I am thinking of opening a trading account so wondering which one I should choose.

14
yes, I think swissquote is more expensive

15
Not too long ago, lots of brokers were listed in >>this thread<< .

I listed some German ones in the >>third post<< .

Rgds, Christian

16
You pay Swiss Stamp Duty (1.5 o/oo on swiss stocks, 3 o/oo on foreign stocks) if you trade through a swiss broker. Trading through a US broker would save you the stamp duty.

Me thinks...

17
Correct, it's cheaper to use US brokers.....

18
You could also buy a CFD on the single stock instead of the actual underlying, as there is no Swiss stamp duty on derivatives.

19
I'm a Swiss resident considering opening a brokerage account. I'm able to invest 1'000 CHF - 1'500 CHF a month. In the future (say 5 years) I'm probably going to live in a EUR country. I found lot's of useful advice in this thread and I'm leaning towards a US broker like IB or Schwab. I'm looking for more buy and hold type investing. Given that I'm probably not going to stay in Switzerland what would you recommend in my case?

-Open the account in CHF, EUR or USD?

-Go for a European broker?

-How to best change CHF to EUR or should I at all?

-J

20
I have been going through this forum and found a ton of useful information. Kudos to all the members who take time to post and help the community.

I am a newbie planning to get my feet wet with the securities markets. I am planning to buy ETFs and have a long term horizon. I wanted to know which broker would be best suited for that.

I think a US based broker would be ideal for buying US based ETFs but is there a swiss broker that gives access to these low cost US based ETFs and not charge swiss stamp duty and does not cost absurdly high for executing individual trades.

From the research I have done till now I think I will go with Schwab but I see that they charge 25 chf for every outgoing transfer and also charge more for vanguard ETFs. Is this the best option available for swiss residents or I am missing something.

Also, looking at fundsmith at the moment and might consider investing half the amount in their Luxembourg based fund. Do you think it is the right time to make investments ?

Thanks again for contributing to this wonderful community.