Long time reader, first time poster. I have gained lots of valuable knowledge from this forum, many thanks to everyone! English is not my first language, please forgive me if this post is not up to standard.

I would like to share my user experiences on the efficiency of several online trading platforms in NZ and AU. Hope this will invite other to share theirs so we may find a better place do our trading/investing.

I use Sharesies and Direct Broking to invest long term in nzx companies and trade asx shares intermittently through Commsec AU. There’s been no problem for this setup until I decided to sell one of my NZ holdings recently.

Commsec uses computer algorithm to monitor every new/amended order and once submitted if it’s during trading hours the order will be placed to the market as quickly as a click (being traded or shown in the market depth) and I will normally receive an email confirmation within a few seconds. Both their online and phone app have good user interface, lots of features, live data. Commsec is owned by Commonwealth bank, I can transfer money from my CBA’s account and Commsec’s CDIA account instantly. Iress viewpoint is also a bonus.

The experience at Direct Broking is totally different. Direct broking monitors all new/amended orders manually. After submitting the order the status will show ‘Placed’, the time from that point to when the order is actually placed in the market will vary, depending on how busy the directbroking’s trading desk team are. The quickest would be few seconds (still too slow from trading point of view), most of the time few minutes, but sometimes if there’s big trading volume the delay is inevitable. I initially didn’t find this is a problem as I buy and hold NZX shares, until when I decided to sell one company shares on a big day, my order wasn’t acted upon for over an hour. I tried to call them but the line was busy, but even they could help me over the phone the price had already moved far far away. Finally I had to cancelled the order as there’s no point to sell anyway, the price had dropped to the bottom.

Sharesies system seems a little faster (still on a slower side comparing to Commsec), but I cannot amend order (have to cancel the existing one, wait for it to be cancelled and submit a new one, if price is moved then I have to do it again and again). They don’t have a physical address, don’t offer any phone support (have to wait 24 hours for an email reply), plus the shares are not hold under my name. When I withdrew money from my Sharesies account, my bank account shows the funds came from a ‘Sharesies Nominee Li’ account. Considering everything above I closed my account finally.
I’m now considering to open an ASB securities account, but before doing that I hope to hear others’ experiences on different trading online platforms for NZX, if there’s one that can match Commsec’s efficiency, ease of use etc.

Would appreciate anyone’s input on this matter!