Quote Originally Posted by peat View Post
They may be charging huge fees (no comments from me) but I doubt they are tracking FIF for their clients. Hey someone tell me if I'm wrong but they will leave all tax matters for the client to deal with. Which is of course the advantage of PIEs where you are all good.
I don't know myself. Can any Sharesies clients add that when they buy say their ETF such as their USF US500 fund, that Sharesies issues them a tax receipt so the client can file their tax return? If not, then there needs to be some transparency under FIF. If you look at IRD's website, they have all sorts of complications under FIF such as 'quick sale calculations' for those that frequently trade in the year. Surely, the managed funds and PIE funds are under the same FIF rule when they buy & sell foreign shares. Would the individual that buys US shares directly (upcoming in Sharesies promotion) be under the same paperwork and hassles? Again, need to be transparent.

Traditional NZ brokers like MacQuaires, Forsyth Barr, etc. issue tax statements. They are also charging high management fees on account value to reflect this. So the client pays high commissions for buying or selling, + pays a % on top for the total value of their assets invested. This is by far a huge difference to US brokers where most have gone a $0 based commission for share trades, and they certainly don't charge a monthly account fee on the total assets involved. If the clients are serious about trades and want additional investment news about the markets, they can pay a subscription fee.