Hi all, with some funds in a term deposit / savings account (4.60%) I am just getting into this after Kiwisaver, MRP, I am planning to build up a portfolio with the larger NZ bluechip stocks and hold them for some time than "trading". I have heard you can go offshore and get some online brokering companies which are chepaer than ANZ/ASB Securities ($50-70USD) when tapping into the markets further from ASX but then you have international bank charges etc. Also due to the $30 brokerage fees I won't be doing it short term.

Re: CFD. The fees are lower and it is a NZ located company that has offices around the world. Means I don't need to deal with a offshore entity. Yes there is leverage. Instead of putting in $5,000 and have mega gains and mega loses. I could put in $20 to access $10,000 CFD - indices with a 0.20% margin. So I could treat this like normal shares right? Should they have a 10% up/down I only withstand to gain / lose $1,000. The commission is around $10US buy/sell. The holding fee is around 2.80%.