I want to invest in S&P500 monthly, should I purchase IUSA via DBS Vickers or will buying it via Interactive Brokers be better?

Interactive Brokers likely to be cheaper but you have to be comfortable with a company with less presence in SG (harder for face-to-face/phone support etc etc) - that being said, IB is quite well known and large in the US so shouldn't be a major issue on the safety side.

Hi Thum!

I assume you're merely looking at DBS Vickers and Interactive Brokers as serving a pure brokerage function to buy/sell the IUSA ETF. If so, there are a few things to compare:

(1) What are the trading commissions involved? DBS Vickers has a minimum commission of US$25 per trade for a US-listed stock (I'm assuming here that the IUSA ETF is listed in the US). I'm not sure what the rates are for Interactive Brokers, but it's worth finding out.

(2) Are there any custodian fees involved? Typically, Singapore-based brokerages charge a custodian fee if investors own foreign-listed shares. According to DBS Vickers' website, "DBS Vickers will charge a custodian fee of SGD 2 per stock per month and capped at SGD 150 per quarter." Interactive Brokers, if I'm not mistaken, does not charge a custodian fee.

(3) How are currency conversions handled by the broker? You might want to find out what the indicative currency conversion rates are like since you'll be using the Singapore dollar to buy an ETF denominated in a foreign currency. Hope this is helpful!