Ridiculous fees charged by ASB securities

[Jay]

With ASB securities the short answer is no, however you can receive the cheque and send it to them to place into your AUD CMA account.
Don't think you can with ANZ/Direct broking either.
I have accounts with both - 1 for trading and thoe for Long term under a trust.

You can easily use the various currencies via the ANZ OMC account.

[blackcap]

With ASB securities the short answer is no, however you can receive the cheque and send it to them to place into your AUD CMA account.
Don't think you can with ANZ/Direct broking either.
I have accounts with both - 1 for trading and thoe for Long term under a trust.

You can easily use the various currencies via the ANZ OMC account.

Just for the record, you can send your AUD denominated cheques to Direct Broking/ANZ and they deposit funds into your AUD denominated account.

[Xerof]

If you regularly trade outside of NZ then consider opening up an online multicurrency account with your broker. I left ASB Securities since like you chaps I was paying a lot for forex transactions on each trade both ways (buy then sell).

ANZ Securities offer OMC accounts for UK, USA, and Australia.

I made a single forex transaction when setting one up for trading on the asx, and will only need to make another when I withdraw or deposit more funds. Meanwhile I trade to my heart's content on both the asx and nzx without incurring a single forex fee.

Check it out.

0800 805777 option 3.


BC

definitely agree with holding multi-currency accounts, but don't write ASB Securities off completely guys - they have accounts available in many currencies. No fees and they pay (some) interest

I have online accounts with both ASB and ANZ. I actually find ANZ online very slow to enter orders into both NZX and ASX, (up to 2 minutes at times), whereas ASB are virtually instantaneous consistently.

Slow entry cost me ~40 cents on one particular DIL trade a while back - was not happy

[couta1]

Slow entry can work the other way also and save you money when you bid and the price drops quickly like with Telecom because they haven't actioned your order you can drop your price accordingly.

[mbrook]

Pretty stock answer from ASB when I asked for some transparency or guidance on how they charge or calculate margin rates. Effectively, they "May" charge anything if you read the small print, and until you get the confirmation note, you don't know what it is.

Dear Mr xxxxxx
"Thank you for your email.


When you trade on ASX market settling to your NZX Cash management account, at the time the order gets traded, the settlement amount is calculated with the FX rate at that time. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you details on how our rates are calculated and what margins are charged on this.

There is an option to open a foreign currency account (FCA) available in our share trading account opening application. Should you wish to open a FCA, please call us on our broker line to enable us to identify you and get it set up for you. There are no accounts fees as such on the Foreign Currency Account except for International Money Transfer fee, Foreign Draft & cash withdrawal at a branch.

The procedure for transferring funds with a currency (FCA AUD to NZD) involved is to call us to enable us to identify you and as per your request, we will let you know what the indicative FX rate is (this changes every 30 seconds). If you are happy with the rate we can then proceed with the transfer. There are cut off times for FX currencies but we can lock the rate for the next business day. Alternatively, you can do an online FX transfer through internet banking.

If the value of your transaction is over NZD 100k, please call us to do the FX transfer. We have to call our Dealers to provide us a rate and we are able to shave the margin for you.

Please also note under our ASB Securities Terms & Conditions, section 12.3 its states that “ ASB Securities may at its absolute discretion charge you a commission or margin on all foreign exchange dealings” Also when you placing the order there is print stating “You should be aware that investment in securities involves risk including (but not limited to) currency and market fluctuation. ASB Securities is not liable for any loss or expense incurred as a result of any investment decision made.”


Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us. "

[G on]

You can transfer from an ASB A/c direct to your ASB FCA online no phoning required. Very simple.

[Schrodinger]

All banks charge ridiculous fees to convert currency. The only way to escape it is to use an Australian broker and open an Australian bank account. Then use OzForex or similar to transfer the funds into that bank account for settlement. Alternatively use a broker that has an FX platform where you can buy that currency first with a forex trade, then use the funds held on account to buy shares on an overseas market (eg. this is how you do it with Interactive Brokers). I keep telling people who wish to trade on the ASX to get on a plane and go to Australia to set up a brokerage and bank account - it would have cost you less for the flight than the $300 you just spent.

Yep best advice. A little more paperwork but it could save you $100s. A must is the FX account next to your normal broker account. Just ask your securities broker for the facility.

[Schrodinger]

You will still get hit with the 3% fee in the initial transfer, plus any time you want to get the money out of the account. Also an ASB account doesnt help you when you want to use BPAY to pay for your SPP and rights issues in Australia. An Aussie bank account and broker is definitely the best way to go. Also the Comsec platform has much better features than ASB (which is quite appalling and totally useless) - I think access to the Comsec information, financials, analysis and stock screening tools is worth more than the cost of the flight alone. Well worth doing.

There are $99 one way fares on special at the moment. I usually manage to get a Melb-Chch return flight for $150 during one of the super special offers. Just sign up to the Jetstar and Air NZ emails and wait until a good offer comes along, then pop over for a few days.

OzForex is the best way to transfer funds between international banks, costs nothing if over $10,000 (or just $15 if under) and the forex rate is pretty darn close to wholesale.

Commsec mobile and web based stuff is light years ahead of NZ. I dont know of any NZ based broker that can compare. The mobile app is great because it is so fast to check up on the market.

You need a Commsec account to access this so jump on a plane.

[Lizard]

Forex rates in NZ need some political spotlight... when I first started banking AUD dividend cheques in the late 1990's or early 2000's, it was possible to do so at a spread of 0.8% at the National Bank (although other banks were more expensive). It has gradually crept up and the typical spread is now 3% (according to the averages on interest.co.nz). Given the frequency with which NZer's now purchase directly from overseas, this has to be silently costing NZ a lot of money.

I guess, given his history, John Key must be aware of the problem. But until it gets some real spotlight, there is no reason for banks to change their ways. Deserves a media-fest or some posturing in parliament to get a decent deal for the average NZer on forex imo.

[percy]

Forex rates in NZ need some political spotlight... when I first started banking AUD dividend cheques in the late 1990's or early 2000's, it was possible to do so at a spread of 0.8% at the National Bank (although other banks were more expensive). It has gradually crept up and the typical spread is now 3% (according to the averages on interest.co.nz). Given the frequency with which NZer's now purchase directly from overseas, this has to be silently costing NZ a lot of money.

I guess, given his history, John Key must be aware of the problem. But until it gets some real spotlight, there is no reason for banks to change their ways. Deserves a media-fest or some posturing in parliament to get a decent deal for the average NZer on forex imo.

Maybe John Key helped cause the problem ????!!!!!
Well that's where he made his miillions after all.!!!!!