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Local Brokers
In New Zealand, you really only have 3 options for local brokers, and they all use the same US Brokerage - DriveWealth.
Stake is the easiest one to use with the lowest fees.
Sharesies is the only one that lets you trade both US and NZ shares.
Hatch is the only one that lets you setup orders that last 90 days.
Stake - hellostake.com
Stake are an Australian owned company.
- Get up to $140 sign up bonus in the form of a free share (you’ll probably only get one worth about $11 though)
- Refer a friend and get another free share
- Fees: Almost zero
- Mobile App
- Advanced Statistics
- Analyst Ratings
- Company Financials
- News Links
- Good user interface
- Can upgrade to get funds from selling instantly
- No NZ Shares, only US shares
- Limit orders expire at market close every day
- Expensive ($200 USD) to transfer shares to another broker
Sharesies - sharesies.co.nz
Sharesies are a New Zealand owned company.
- NZ Shares as well as US Shares
- Load funds from card
- Get $5 NZD if you refer a friend, even if they don’t load any funds
- Fees: Between .5% (up to $3000) and .1% (over $3000) per trade
- Limit orders expire after 30 days
- Don’t have to wait T+2 days to get funds from selling
- Cannot transfer US shares out of Sharesies to another broker
- No Mobile App
- Basic Statistics
- Clunky user interface
Hatch
Hatch are a New Zealand owned company - run by KiwiWealth (part of KiwiBank)
- Create “set and forget” orders that last 90 days - with Stake you would have to create that same order every day, with Sharesies every 30 days
- Get $10 NZD if you refer a friend and they load $100
- Fees: $3 per trade :( for small trades, this is hugely more expensive than Stake or Sharesies.
- Must wait T+2 days to get funds from selling
- No Mobile App
- Almost no Statistics
- No Company Financials
- No NZ Shares, only US shares
International Brokers
These brokers offer more markets and more trading methods than the above. The advanced trading options are not recommended for beginners. You can lose more than you put in.
IBKR - USA based.
- Load NZD in a couple of hours by selecting NZD as the currency to transfer in. Then just use your internet banking to transfer to the NZ account number they provide. After that you have to use their platform to convert the NZD to USD to enable buying on US markets.
- Very difficult to use, definitely not for beginners
TigerBrokers - Singapore based with offices in NZ.
Conclusion
Stake has the best sign up bonus, the lowest fees, the best interface, the best features, is the only broker with a mobile app. It’s a no brainer really.
If you want to trade NZ Shares, then sign up for Sharesies as well.
If you want to buy some shares and then automatically sell them when the price spikes, Hatch is the best. But you’ll pay $3 to buy and $3 to sell.