One of the biggest obstacles to trading stocks in emerging markets is finding a brokerage firm that you can trust and that doesn't charge outrageous commissions. There are a number of U.S. firms, both retail and discount, that trade foreign stocks. However, transaction costs can be very high. In addition to high commissions, U.S. brokers also often quote excessive spreads between bid and ask, even though the stock may trade on an exchange where there's computer matching of buy and sell orders (i.e., no spread).
I'm hoping this forum will help us identify brokerage firms that offer a combination of integrity, good service, and reasonable commissions, for trades in foreign markets. I've got a recommendation, a firm in Hong Kong that trades Asian markets, and am hoping others will respond similarly. So the next time one of us wants to buy a stock in, say Ghana, we'll know where to go.
I use TISCO in Hong Kong. They're owned by Banker's Trust and a Thai bank, and they trade Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Philippines, Jakarta, and Canada. Their commission rates are reasonable, typically 1% or less. Trades occur directly on the local exchanges, not through a market maker. They've performed better for me than any U.S. broker I've used. Often, they get me a better price than my limit. Twice they've gone out of their way to negotiate favorable exchange rates when purchasing foreign currency from a bank. In fact, they saved me $1300 tonight on a forex transaction. Their phone number is (852) 2868 9023, and I've been dealing with Ms. Nina, Mr. Praf and Mr. Kampol. If you're going to use them, however, you should be fairly well capitalized and know what you want to buy and sell.
I spent a good deal of time and effort, including a month-long trip to Asia, to find out how to invest directly in Asian markets and to find a good broker. I came up with TISCO. I'm hoping others have done something similar in other parts of the world and will share what they learned here. |
