I would like to begin my ETF investing journey and stay for the long haul. I came across Kristal.AI and saw that they do not charge fees for the first 25 trades below $50k. Are they a good platform to use?

I am planning to buy just one ETF (VOO/VTI , still thinking...) as of now but would like to venture out for more ETFs like SPHD, VGT, etc in the near future, is this a good platform and strategy for me to do it this way in the Long run?

Kristal.AI

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Mackenzie Tan

13 Jun 2020

Hey anonymous!

Like what Joey had mentioned above, since you are looking to hold for a long duration of time, it's vital to minimise the costs of transaction fees, management fees, currency conversion fees, amongst others. This depends on how much starting capital you have.

For US stocks/etfs, IG/TD have better pricing and charting tools, and IG also uses spot forex. Saxo do have a 1.5% foreign exchange (0.75% for each but&sell), so if you're buying $10k worth of trades, that'll be $150 in forex fees alone!

In short, TD is definitely cheaper than Saxo. On top of forex fees, saxo do charge commission as well. So i'd say if you're going to open a brokerage STRICTLY for US stocks, go with TD (as you can only trade in us market for td) if your starting capital is $10k-100k. If it's above $100k, definitely IG! (as they have a fall below fee)

If you're just starting out, i don't see much difference between saxo and kristal. To me, their fees seem to add up quite similarly.

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Joey Gaeth

12 Jun 2020

BSc Economics at London School of Economics and Political Science

Hi anon!

Firstly, it's good that you're looking in the long run. It is true that kristal doesn't charge fees for the first 25 trades below $50k, so if u DCA once monthly, you won't have to pay management fees. However, i'm using kristal too, and have realised that forex rates are not good and u will always have to pay 2% higher than the unit NAV due to price fluctuations because kristal process and buy stocks in 2-3 business days.

If you are looking into just ONE ETF and will not be affected by short term fluctuations and dca monthly consistently, i'd recommend u open an overseas brokerage (ig/td) or saxo instead to save on currency conversion fees and forex fees! Because in the long run, you'll realised how much al these fees can add up!! Also, robos are mostly used for beginner investors or those without the time to study the market, as most robos are diversified.

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