Sharsies vs ASB

[Peavey]

Can someone tell me the pros and cons of buying through each site. Also what are the clearance times like on buying or selling?

[turnip]

I'm not sure if this is what you mean by clearance times: Orders are settled two business days after the trade, that is when the proceeds from a sale are availale for withdrawal from your account. But you can use the funds from a sale immediately for a new buy order, you don't need to wait for settlement. ASB Securities shows your settled and unsettled balances seperately, but Sharesies doesn't dintinguish between them.

These are a few pros and cons that I can think of:

ASB Securities: Pros:

No subscription charges, pay only when you trade.
Free access to market depth information for 3 months after making a trade.
Can participate fully in market pre-open and pre-close sessions.
Shares are held on an external registry (Computershare or Link), so you can buy them via ASB and then sell them via another broker. You can also access the registry directly to cast shareholder votes, take part in company dividend reinvestment plans, rights issues, share purchase plans, etc.
Access to ASX and NZX.


ASB Securities: Cons:

Higher brokerage: $15 for trades up to $1000, $30 up to $10000, 0.3% above that.
The full minimum brokerage is charged even on partialy-filled orders.
Minimum holding and minimum parcel size rules apply to some shares.


Sharesies: Pros:

Lower brokerage: 0.5% for trades up to $3000 then 0.1% above that. (No brokerage on ETFs.)
No minimum brokerage, so no penalty for cancelling a partially-filled order.
No minumum holding or parcel size; can trade fractional shares. E.g. if you entered a buy order for $10 and the trade went through at $4.50 per share, then you would receive 2.1111 shares, with brokerage fees of $0.05.


Sharesies: Cons:

Subscription charges, $30/year (but less if your portfolio is below $3000.)
Access to market depth and real-time prices is an optional extra costing $10/month.
Can't enter new orders during pre-open or pre-close sessions (but limit orders entered during the main trading session remain active and may be filled during pre-close and pre-open sessions.)
Shares are held by custodian, so you can only sell them via Sharesies, can't cast a shareholder vote, can't take part in company dividend reinvestment plans. Not sure what happens with rights issues. Share purchase plan participation is possible though (e.g. the current Auckland Airport SPP is available to eligible Sharesies investors.)
No access to ASX. (Yet.)

[blackcap]

Great list there. Just to add a pro versus a con you mentioned. With sharesies you can now transfer in and out of CSN. To transfer in there is no cost. To transfer out there is a $5 fee.

I think sharesies also offer rights issues ie Kathmandu.

Sharesies are looking into how they are going to allow voting. But if you are really desperate, you can always transfer your shares out of sharesies to CSN but at a cost of $5.

[Peavey]

Thank you for your in depth reply Turnip. Appreciated

[turnip]

With sharesies you can now transfer in and out of CSN. To transfer in there is no cost. To transfer out there is a $5 fee.

I haven't seen that feature yet, maybe still in testing? $5 seems like a good price though, Sharesies brokerage plus a $5 transfer fee would work out less than ASB brokerage for any size parcel.


I remembered another possible con for Sharesies is to do with their price discovery algorithm.

Both ASB Securities and Sharesies use price discovery algorithms, but the Sharesies algorithm seems to be more restrictive in that it won't let you trade very far from the ticker price.

This is mainly a problem for infrequently-traded shares. For example you can see it with Foley Wines (FWL) currently: The ticker is at $1.61, there is a large parcel on offer at $1.65, and a whole bunch of small bidders queued up at $1.64.

Those small bidders are probably Sharesies investors, probably happy to pay $1.65, but my guess is that the Sharesies price discovery algorithm is currently restricting their bids to within 2% of the ticker price. Someone buying via ASB securities could bid $1.65 and their trade would go through immediately, but the Sharesies investors will likely have to wait for the seller to lower their offer, or for another buyer to pay $1.65 and update the ticker.

[blackcap]

I haven't seen that feature yet, maybe still in testing? $5 seems like a good price though, Sharesies brokerage plus a $5 transfer fee would work out less than ASB brokerage for any size parcel.


I remembered another possible con for Sharesies is to do with their price discovery algorithm.

Both ASB Securities and Sharesies use price discovery algorithms, but the Sharesies algorithm seems to be more restrictive in that it won't let you trade very far from the ticker price.

This is mainly a problem for infrequently-traded shares. For example you can see it with Foley Wines (FWL) currently: The ticker is at $1.61, there is a large parcel on offer at $1.65, and a whole bunch of small bidders queued up at $1.64.

Those small bidders are probably Sharesies investors, probably happy to pay $1.65, but my guess is that the Sharesies price discovery algorithm is currently restricting their bids to within 2% of the ticker price. Someone buying via ASB securities could bid $1.65 and their trade would go through immediately, but the Sharesies investors will likely have to wait for the seller to lower their offer, or for another buyer to pay $1.65 and update the ticker.

Sharesies now offers limit orders so if you want to buy at market or at 1.65 you can. You just cannot put in orders pre open.
The tranfer in and out of CSN is a new feature, I have already completed such a transaction and it is really easy to do. Once they have your encrypted FIN and your CSN number all you do is state what shares and the amount and 2 days later its transaction finito.

[turnip]

Sharesies now offers limit orders so if you want to buy at market or at 1.65 you can. You just cannot put in orders pre open.


Using a limit order doesn't help, it appears to go through the same price discovery procedure and if the limit is too far from the ticker price then it suffers the same restrictions as a market order.

[blackcap]

Using a limit order doesn't help, it appears to go through the same price discovery procedure and if the limit is too far from the ticker price then it suffers the same restrictions as a market order.

Well your example was not a good one then. If the bid is 1.60 and the offer is 1.65 then a buy at 1.65 will definitely go through. Have had plenty go through this morning. The example you use is probably sharesies buyers who have put in a market order and then yes the algo will sit on the bid. But with their limit orders you can set your limit at 1.65 and it will go through...

If the bid and last sale was 1.60 and the offer was 2.60 and you went to buy at 2.60 I can understand why that would not go through...

[turnip]

The small FWL bids that were queued up at $1.64 while the ticker was at $1.61 only went through some time after a larger order traded at $1.65 and updated the ticker. Now that the ticker is at $1.65 and there is still an offer at $1.65 the Sharesies orders will go through immediately.

Another current example is IKE: ticker at $0.68, small bids queued up at $0.69, and an offer at $0.70. But $0.70 is more than 2% higher than $0.68 and so the Sharesies orders won't be able to trade until some non-Sharesies order goes through and updates the ticker, or a seller makes a lower offer.

The limit on how far from the ticker Sharesies orders can trade is not always 2%, it varies from share to share and can change depending on market conditions, but from what I have seen the limit is usually 3% or less.

[blackcap]

The small FWL bids that were queued up at $1.64 while the ticker was at $1.61 only went through some time after a larger order traded at $1.65 and updated the ticker. Now that the ticker is at $1.65 and there is still an offer at $1.65 the Sharesies orders will go through immediately.

Another current example is IKE: ticker at $0.68, small bids queued up at $0.69, and an offer at $0.70. But $0.70 is more than 2% higher than $0.68 and so the Sharesies orders won't be able to trade until some non-Sharesies order goes through and updates the ticker, or a seller makes a lower offer.

The limit on how far from the ticker Sharesies orders can trade is not always 2%, it varies from share to share and can change depending on market conditions, but from what I have seen the limit is usually 3% or less.

My apologies Turnip, I see what you mean. I have put an order in to buy some IKE at 70 cents and they are not listening to my wishes. I have sent them a lengthy response stating what I think are flaws in their order execution and that it will annoy more seasoned investors no end. I hope they will resolve this issue in due course. Will let you know if they reply and what they say.

[nztx]

I was quite surprised with the trading metrics - Sharesies has achieved

Over 140 K members

Over $350 M invested

They aren't a small player in the market & achieved this within a couple of years, if not less - I believe ..

[blackcap]

I was quite surprised with the trading metrics - Sharesies has achieved

Over 140 K members

Over $350 M invested

They aren't a small player in the market & achieved this within a couple of years, if not less - I believe ..

I beleive they said last week they were doing about $13m a day. That is quite some big money. One of the bigger boys. Well in aggregate at least. Looks like they have about 10% market share by those figures.

[turnip]

I should add that an option is to use both ASB Securietes and Sharesies, to get the best of both.

I curently have about 90% of my portfolio under my own CSN acessible via ASB Securites, with the other 10% in Sharesies. I use Sharesies to do rebalancing and dividend reinvestment (for companies that don't have a divident reinvestment scheme) because the brokerage is much lower and so I can make smaller, more frequent trades than would be economic with ASB.

Also, Sharesies is being actively developed with new features being added all the time, while ASB Securitiues seems to be largely static, so I expect the pros and cons will move in Sharesies favour over time.

[turnip]

Sharesies adds another advantage over ASB Securities: access to NYSE and Nasdaq exchanges.

[Scrunch]

The other option is direct broking. After some ownership changes they are now owned by Jordan (which was First NZ Capital)
Generally similar functionality to ASB, but with a pricing structure that is better for pre-funded online larger orders (unless you get discounted rates with ASB or someone else).

Direct broking online pricing as at 3 Nov 2020 is a minimum fee of $29.90 for any order up to $15,000. Above that its 0.2% so:
A $30k order with Directbroking is $59.90
A $30k order with ASB is $90.00 ($30 for the first $10k, then 0.3% thereafter)
A $30k order with Sharesies is $42.00 ($15 for the first $3,000 then 0.1% for the other $27,000)

Directbroking also has some more expensive brokerage rates for phone orders and direct debit arrangements.

Also on the pros/con's, ASB website notes margin lending functionality and a BPAY transfer option, not that I've used either.

[nztx]

Sharesies adds another advantage over ASB Securities: access to NYSE and Nasdaq exchanges.


Hopefully Australian Exchange is being considered by Sharesies soon too .. that would a logical add-on

[ratkin]

Sharesies adds another advantage over ASB Securities: access to NYSE and Nasdaq exchanges.

What is the brokerage for the Nasdaq?

ASB you can buy US shares but have to do so over the phone and the brokerage is much higher, the other issue is have to fill in tax forms etc for the US. Am I right in thinking that would not be needed with Sharsies

[justakiwi]

You do have to complete a US tax form for Sharesies. You then top up your wallet, exchange to $US (which is instant - 0.4% exchange fee) and can then place your order(s).

Fees are the same as NZ ETFs - 0.5% up to $3000 and 0.1% for amounts over $3000. Charged in US$.

What is the brokerage for the Nasdaq?

ASB you can buy US shares but have to do so over the phone and the brokerage is much higher, the other issue is have to fill in tax forms etc for the US. Am I right in thinking that would not be needed with Sharsies

[blackcap]

You do have to complete a US tax form for Sharesies. You then top up your wallet, exchange to $US (which is instant - 0.4% exchange fee) and can then place your order(s).

Fees are the same as NZ ETFs - 0.5% up to $3000 and 0.1% for amounts over $3000. Charged in US$.

Hi Justakiwi, I don't want to nitpick but I will in this instance. The great thing with Sharesies is that most NZ ETF's have no brokerage charged. However NZ shares do have brokerage charges as per your figures.

Transaction fees
Sharesies charges a transaction fee when you buy and sell shares on most exchange traded investments. These are also known as ‘brokerage fees’. The fee is based on the dollar-value you buy or sell:

0.5% for any orders up to $3,000, then
0.1% for any amount above $3,000.
For example, if you made an order for shares in a company of $5,000, the transaction fee would be $17. This is:

$15 for the first $3000 (0.5% x $3000), and then
$2 on the remaining $2000 (0.1% x $2000).

No transaction fees on some NZX ETFs
Some fund providers pay Sharesies a fee (also known as a rebate) to have their funds on the app. We waive the transaction fees when you buy and sell these funds.

[justakiwi]

Sorry, yes ... my mistake re the ETF transaction fee - I meant companies.


Hi Justakiwi, I don't want to nitpick but I will in this instance. The great thing with Sharesies is that most NZ ETF's have no brokerage charged. However NZ shares do have brokerage charges as per your figures.

Transaction fees
Sharesies charges a transaction fee when you buy and sell shares on most exchange traded investments. These are also known as ‘brokerage fees’. The fee is based on the dollar-value you buy or sell:

0.5% for any orders up to $3,000, then
0.1% for any amount above $3,000.
For example, if you made an order for shares in a company of $5,000, the transaction fee would be $17. This is:

$15 for the first $3000 (0.5% x $3000), and then
$2 on the remaining $2000 (0.1% x $2000).

No transaction fees on some NZX ETFs
Some fund providers pay Sharesies a fee (also known as a rebate) to have their funds on the app. We waive the transaction fees when you buy and sell these funds.

[blackcap]

Sorry, yes ... my mistake re the ETF transaction fee - I meant companies.

NO need to apologise. I just wanted to accentuate how good Sharesies is. When I used to buy FNZ and other Smartshares through Direct Broking it would cost me the $30 min plus brokerage. Now its free. There is no peer in NZ at present.

[couta1]

If you want to do any significant amount of trading, forget Sharesies, totally not up to the job.

[blackcap]

If you want to do any significant amount of trading, forget Sharesies, totally not up to the job.

That I will agree with. Their order execution is a lot to be desired. But for a buy/hold proponent and building a portfolio it is great. They also give you a tax summary at year end with all I/C's, RWT paid, Gross Div amounts etc. Something Computershare and Link charge you for.

[Norwest]

That I will agree with. Their order execution is a lot to be desired. But for a buy/hold proponent and building a portfolio it is great. They also give you a tax summary at year end with all I/C's, RWT paid, Gross Div amounts etc. Something Computershare and Link charge you for.

Whilst for a combined single document summary it costs, it is still free and easy to do for each individual stock to get the tax details you need (dividends/rwt etc) at the registry.

[blackcap]

Whilst for a combined single document summary it costs, it is still free and easy to do for each individual stock to get the tax details you need (dividends/rwt etc) at the registry.

Yes it is easy enough, but if you have 35 share divided between computershare and link, with some issuing quarterly dividends it can take quite a bit of time to collate.

[SBQ]

What is the brokerage for the Nasdaq?

ASB you can buy US shares but have to do so over the phone and the brokerage is much higher, the other issue is have to fill in tax forms etc for the US. Am I right in thinking that would not be needed with Sharsies


Sharesies is more direct so you have to fill out the W8BEN declaration form every 2+ years. There is no tax obligation other than tax withholding that the US takes on interest / dividend income. The full NZ brokerage firms already hand the tax with-holding on the client's behalf and would prepare separate tax slips.

Both Hatch and Sharesie from what I recall do not do full tax filing for the client. Just the bare minimum W8BEN. It's entirely up to the account holder to monitor their portfolio content if FIF applies or not. (when it goes over $50K NZD in value, etc.)

[777]

Yes it is easy enough, but if you have 35 share divided between computershare and link, with some issuing quarterly dividends it can take quite a bit of time to collate.

If you sign into your IRD account the taxable ones all appear there.

[turnip]

Sharesies is doing away with their annual subscription fee from 29 April 2021, but will start charging brokerage on NZ ETFs which are currently brokerage-free.

Should be good news for most Sharesies investors I think, especially smaller ones. Maybe not for those who only invest in NZ ETFs though.

[justakiwi]

Thumbs up to Sharesies for this. They always said they wanted to be able to scrap the account fee so very happy to see them achieve this. Unless one is heavily invested in ETFs, this will be a positive for most people.


Sharesies is doing away with their annual subscription fee from 29 April 2021, but will start charging brokerage on NZ ETFs which are currently brokerage-free.

Should be good news for most Sharesies investors I think, especially smaller ones. Maybe not for those who only invest in NZ ETFs though.

[kiora]

If you sign into your IRD account the taxable ones all appear there.

Which IRD account?

[peetter]

Thumbs up to Sharesies for this. They always said they wanted to be able to scrap the account fee so very happy to see them achieve this. Unless one is heavily invested in ETFs, this will be a positive for most people.

Only if you call $6000 heavily invested. I was thinking of leaving sharesies for a while but the convenience and no ETF fees were keeping me there. Now I have to sell my ETF's and move them elsewhere which is probably going to be a first step in leaving.

This is calculated move to make more money in future as the balances of those small investors slowly rise. Love the excited email they sent though.

[justakiwi]

I am now using Sharesies differently than I was initially. I have transferred my two largest holdings (companies) out of Sharesies now, as I am not intending to add to either of them, other than by way of DRP. So no need for me to keep them in Sharesies. The 4 holdings I still have there are ones I intend to add to until they reach a certain level. I will then move those out too. Sharesies is still the only affordable way for me to buy companies or ETFs, so is now more or less just a “tool” I use for that purpose.

EDIT: Just did a “dummy” transfer without confirming it - my ETF shows up on the list of holdings “available to transfer” - so you should be able to do this if you want. You will need a CSN and FIN if you don’t already have one. Easiest way is to just sign up with ASB securities and they will sort it for you.


Only if you call $6000 heavily invested. I was thinking of leaving sharesies for a while but the convenience and no ETF fees were keeping me there. Now I have to sell my ETF's and move them elsewhere which is probably going to be a first step in leaving.

This is calculated move to make more money in future as the balances of those small investors slowly rise. Love the excited email they sent though.

[epower]

Is it just me or does the Sharesies app feel like a slot machine with all the fancy lights and visuals.

When I was on ASB Securities a few years ago in my last foray into share investing, I always bought in minimum lots of $3000 to save on commission somewhat, but now I can put $50 here, $100 there. To me (an issue I'm trying bloody hard to work through mentally) is when ever I open up Sharesies, due to the lower cost commitment of a position and the glittering lights, I'm just not treating it seriously enough.

Anyone in the same boat?

[justakiwi]

It’s just you ;)

I actually find it pretty good. I don’t see it as you do. User friendly, easy navigation, can easily find what I’m looking for, and works well on mobile devices. They have improved it a lot since it first launched, and seem to tweak it now and then, so it will no doubt evolve over time.

Having said that, I am less happy with Sharesies than I was initially. Still no DRP, which is now inexcusable. It was the number one feature users asked for, yet everything else has been implemented ahead of it.

I now only use Sharesies for buy orders until I have a decent number of shares in a holding. Then I transfer them out. Sharesies is still the best way for me to buy and accumulate with smaller orders, but their lack of response to the DRP request is no longer something I can afford to ignore.


Is it just me or does the Sharesies app feel like a slot machine with all the fancy lights and visuals.

When I was on ASB Securities a few years ago in my last foray into share investing, I always bought in minimum lots of $3000 to save on commission somewhat, but now I can put $50 here, $100 there. To me (an issue I'm trying bloody hard to work through mentally) is when ever I open up Sharesies, due to the lower cost commitment of a position and the glittering lights, I'm just not treating it seriously enough.

Anyone in the same boat?

[epower]

It’s just you ;)

I actually find it pretty good. I don’t see it as you do. User friendly, easy navigation, can easily find what I’m looking for, and works well on mobile devices. They have improved it a lot since it first launched, and seem to tweak it now and then, so it will no doubt evolve over time.

Having said that, I am less happy with Sharesies than I was initially. Still no DRP, which is now inexcusable. It was the number one feature users asked for, yet everything else has been implemented ahead of it.

I now only use Sharesies for buy orders until I have a decent number of shares in a holding. Then I transfer them out. Sharesies is still the best way for me to buy and accumulate with smaller orders, but their lack of response to the DRP request is no longer something I can afford to ignore.

So do you build up over time and then sell in sharesies and buy in ASB securities for example or do you do an off market transfer between brokers? i.e. what I'm after is the cost and tax implications of doing so?

[justakiwi]

I am a long term investor so rarely sell. I accumulate in Sharesies, over time, then when a particular holding gets to a certain value level I pay $5 to transfer the holding out to whichever share registry they use. For example, I recently transferred out my OCA and KFL holdings. I am not currently planning to buy any more, so they are now registered with Computershare, with DRP enabled. Computershare keeps me updated re dividends/DRP and any upcoming warrants issues etc.

Advantage of that is they now sit under my CSN, which my Sharesies holdings do not. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what the process will be if I ever want to sell some - I do have an ASB Securities account which I haven’t used for years, but I’m sure if I ever want to sell some, I will be able to do it via them. Someone else will no doubt be able to elaborate on that.

Sharesies has been awesome for me as they have made it possible for me to get back into investing, after many years of being unable to, due to unaffordable brokerage fees. But, as I said, there are now some frustrations that I am no longer willing to simply put up with. So I now use Sharesies as one of several “tools” rather than as my number one platform.



So do you build up over time and then sell in sharesies and buy in ASB securities for example or do you do an off market transfer between brokers? i.e. what I'm after is the cost and tax implications of doing so?

[kiora]

JAK
I suggest checking with ASB that you still have a valid account now before any thing is assumed.
A trust account we had at Craigs IP couldn't be transacted on until we updated all the personal ID & money laundering stuff.
That took ages
In the end I transferred them in an off market transaction in computershare to my personal account that was still operating.

Frustrating if a SP is dropping like a rock

[justakiwi]

I can still log into it so pretty sure it’s still valid/active. Have emailed them to get clarification though.

As I said, I have no plans to sell any time in the foreseeable future, and even less likely to do so on a dropping SP. my holdings are all ticking along nicely and I am more than happy holding for the long term.


JAK
I suggest checking with ASB that you still have a valid account now before any thing is assumed.
A trust account we had at Craigs IP couldn't be transacted on until we updated all the personal ID & money laundering stuff.
That took ages
In the end I transferred them in an off market transaction in computershare to my personal account that was still operating.

Frustrating if a SP is dropping like a rock

[imarktu]

I can still log into it so pretty sure it’s still valid/active. Have emailed them to get clarification though.

As I said, I have no plans to sell any time in the foreseeable future, and even less likely to do so on a dropping SP. my holdings are all ticking along nicely and I am more than happy holding for the long term.

ASB do not deactivate Securities accounts after periods of inactivity. If you can access it, you can use it.

[Norwest]

ASB do not deactivate Securities accounts after periods of inactivity. If you can access it, you can use it. ASB Securities will however deactivate an individual currency forex account after a period of inactivity which people should be aware of if trading in currencies other than NZ$.

[Norwest]

Advantage of that is they now sit under my CSN, which my Sharesies holdings do not. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what the process will be if I ever want to sell some - I do have an ASB Securities account which I haven’t used for years, but I’m sure if I ever want to sell some, I will be able to do it via them. Someone else will no doubt be able to elaborate on that. You just need your four digit FIN number (make sure you keep your FIN in a safe place), your CSN is already populated when selling. You should really try it out by trying to sell one of your shares at an unobtainable price to make sure you know the process for when you need it and cancel the order afterwards its not complicated.

[justakiwi]

Yeah, I have my FIN - had to have it re-sent when I transferred those holdings out of Sharesies, as I had long forgotten/lost it. That’s not a silly idea - thanks for the suggestion.


You just need your four digit FIN number (make sure you keep your FIN in a safe place), your CSN is already populated when selling. You should really try it out by trying to sell one of your shares at an unobtainable price to make sure you know the process for when you need it and cancel the order afterwards its not complicated.

[arekaywhy]

Is it just me or does the Sharesies app feel like a slot machine with all the fancy lights and visuals.

When I was on ASB Securities a few years ago in my last foray into share investing, I always bought in minimum lots of $3000 to save on commission somewhat, but now I can put $50 here, $100 there. To me (an issue I'm trying bloody hard to work through mentally) is when ever I open up Sharesies, due to the lower cost commitment of a position and the glittering lights, I'm just not treating it seriously enough.

Anyone in the same boat?

I look at it the same.

The website developer is definitely using mind tricks.

The annoying thing for me with Sharesies is the lack of ability to analyse the market, and the way they show your holdings with very limited info.

Your methods with ASB and minimum trades is precisely the same as me. Keeps the fee down to 1% of the trade. Sharesies allows me to DCA at lower amounts.

[Panda-NZ-]

The ASB securities account is free though?

Use that for depth charts etc.

[arekaywhy]

The ASB securities account is free though?

Use that for depth charts etc.


Correct, however you need to trade on that platform every three months to keep it running on time, the delay might hurt your trades.

It would be nice if it were all in the same place is all I'm saying.

Even the ASB platform is clunky af

[thebdogg]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since Sharesies did away with their annual fee, they're now the cheapest broker across the board?

$1,000 investment with Sharesies costs $5.
$1,000 investment with ASB Sec costs $15.

$10,000 investment with Sharesies costs $23.
$10,000 investment with ASB Sec costs $30.

$100,000 investment with Sharesies costs $112
$100,000 investment with ASB Sec costs $300.

I just realised this today and feel stupid - I have accounts with both, but have been using ASB for all my large purchases over the past year.

[arekaywhy]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since Sharesies did away with their annual fee, they're now the cheapest broker across the board?

$1,000 investment with Sharesies costs $5.
$1,000 investment with ASB Sec costs $15.

$10,000 investment with Sharesies costs $23.
$10,000 investment with ASB Sec costs $30.

$100,000 investment with Sharesies costs $112
$100,000 investment with ASB Sec costs $300.

I just realised this today and feel stupid - I have accounts with both, but have been using ASB for all my large purchases over the past year.

You are right, and I did the same thing...but yeah once the numbers become significant, the fee comes second to knowing that you have control over them. I'd hate for them to do something akin to Robinhood recently. Mind you, I wouldn't trust ASB fully either.

[arekaywhy]

Sharesies' new way of displaying gain/loss as a percentage is not good. I think I'd prefer it if they left it as before, showing your current gain/loss so you can make a decision based on the most recent trades.

[justakiwi]

Not sure what you mean. Your total return/loss is displayed as percentage and $ total. For both your overall portfolio and for your individual holdings.


Sharesies' new way of displaying gain/loss as a percentage is not good. I think I'd prefer it if they left it as before, showing your current gain/loss so you can make a decision based on the most recent trades.

[Beat the Bank]

Thanks thebdogg for the calculations above. I have only ever used ASB and it looks like I will stick with it for a $10k trade.
$10,000 invested via Sharsies is $7 less but if you want to transfer it out into your own CSN as described by Just A Kiwi, add another $5 so not worth the effort.

[arekaywhy]

Not sure what you mean. Your total return/loss is displayed as percentage and $ total. For both your overall portfolio and for your individual holdings.

I mean that they consider past gains and losses in the figure displayed.

Say you invest $100 in a company last year, then sell those shares for $200. 100% gain.

Then this year you invest $100, then they drop in value to $50. Now sharesies show you still up by $50.

This is quite frustrating when you are considering your current investment.

[justakiwi]

Ah, I see what you mean. Thanks!


I mean that they consider past gains and losses in the figure displayed.

Say you invest $100 in a company last year, then sell those shares for $200. 100% gain.

Then this year you invest $100, then they drop in value to $50. Now sharesies show you still up by $50.

This is quite frustrating when you are considering your current investment.

[turnip]

Thanks thebdogg for the calculations above. I have only ever used ASB and it looks like I will stick with it for a $10k trade.
$10,000 invested via Sharsies is $7 less but if you want to transfer it out into your own CSN as described by Just A Kiwi, add another $5 so not worth the effort.

A trade size of $10000 is exactly the value where ASB Securities compares best against Sharesies on brokerage. As the trade size moves further from the $10000 point, either higher or lower, Sharesies' advantage increases.

[kiwi-jonno]

Sharesies is doing away with their annual subscription fee from 29 April 2021, but will start charging brokerage on NZ ETFs which are currently brokerage-free.

Should be good news for most Sharesies investors I think, especially smaller ones. Maybe not for those who only invest in NZ ETFs though.

Im probably going against the grain, but I’ve got a small amount of shares over 5 stocks in ASB Securities. If I was to sell these, it would be $30x5 as over $1000. I’m thinking about transferring everything to Sharsies as it now has no monthly costs and when I eventually sell, it would be a fraction of the cost.

is there any reason not to do this?

rhanks - new trader.

[justakiwi]

The main reason would be that with Sharesies, your holdings are not registered under your CSN/name. They are held by Sharesies as custodian. There are also still some features missing from Sharesies, which do not appear to be high on their 'to do' list unfortunately. No DRP as yet. You can now take advantage of warrants issues, but Sharesies won't contact you about warrant allocations until close to exercise date - you cannot buy or sell warrants on market via Sharesies.

Right now, I am a little disgruntled with Sharesies. Great platform for buying and selling, so I still use them, but they are dragging the chain on the above, whilst mucking about with things like portfolio design and 2FA, and coming up with half-baked solutions, which, in my humble opinion, are less than ideal.

So, if I were you, I would leave your holdings with ASB Securities, unless you have any intention of selling in the near future, in which case your idea might have merit.


Im probably going against the grain, but I’ve got a small amount of shares over 5 stocks in ASB Securities. If I was to sell these, it would be $30x5 as over $1000. I’m thinking about transferring everything to Sharsies as it now has no monthly costs and when I eventually sell, it would be a fraction of the cost.

is there any reason not to do this?

rhanks - new trader.