Stockbroker - MFC or Maybank?

[Johnniey]

I want to buy foreign stock and thinking of 2 outfits. Can anyone advise which is the better.

Maybank http://www.maybank-ke.co.th/en/

or

MFC http://www.mfcfund.com/

[Oxx]

Just a cursory glance at their website, but does MFC allow you to buy foreign stock? It appears to be a Thai Mutual Fund only outfit.

[Johnniey]

Just a cursory glance at their website, but does MFC allow you to buy foreign stock? It appears to be a Thai Mutual Fund only outfit.

As far as I know they do. I'll visit them or contact them in the next few days to find out for sure.

[alocacoc]

Why you don't open an brokerage account in the US or EU if you want to buy foreign stocks?

[rak sa_ngop]

TD Direct International in Luxembourg has worked out well for me.

The only issue I had with them is that they wanted proof of origin of funds for one of the transfers I wanted to make into their bank. This was a bit difficult as the money came from income I had 20 years ago subsequently invested in a Hong Kong fund. But it worked out OK in the end.

[Oxx]

Just a cursory glance at their website, but does MFC allow you to buy foreign stock? It appears to be a Thai Mutual Fund only outfit.

As far as I know they do. I'll visit them or contact them in the next few days to find out for sure.

To save you the trouble, check out the list of SET members. They're not a member.

http://www.set.or.th/set/memberlist.do?language=en&country=US

[Johnniey]

Why you don't open an brokerage account in the US or EU if you want to buy foreign stocks?

I tried in the UK last week but none of them would let me as I am not a UK resident.

As a UK citizen living in Thailand I don't think I can open an account in the US - do you know different?

[alocacoc]

My US Broker (TD Ameritrade) don't accept clients with residence in Thailand. Since i still have my official residence in a European country, this isn't an issue. So far i know, Interactive Brokers do accept also Thai residents. Min. deposit is 10k USD. Higher then other brokers, but they offer low transaction fees.

There are some other brokers which would open an account for a Thai resident. But you have to go through them and check their limitations. I'm only interested in the US market.

Edited April 25, 2016 by alocacoc

[Johnniey]

Just a cursory glance at their website, but does MFC allow you to buy foreign stock? It appears to be a Thai Mutual Fund only outfit.

As far as I know they do. I'll visit them or contact them in the next few days to find out for sure.

To save you the trouble, check out the list of SET members. They're not a member.

http://www.set.or.th/set/memberlist.do?language=en&country=

Thanks for that, so if they are not a member of SET, they can't help me buy shares in a company on the FTSE?

[Oxx]

Just a cursory glance at their website, but does MFC allow you to buy foreign stock? It appears to be a Thai Mutual Fund only outfit.

As far as I know they do. I'll visit them or contact them in the next few days to find out for sure.

To save you the trouble, check out the list of SET members. They're not a member.

http://www.set.or.th/set/memberlist.do?language=en&country=

Thanks for that, so if they are not a member of SET, they can't help me buy shares in a company on the FTSE?

Sorry, I'd forgotten that you mentioned purchasing foreign stocks - not Thai. It's irrelevant. However, it's most unlikely for a brokerage here not to provide access to the SET.

[Oxx]

Why you don't open an brokerage account in the US or EU if you want to buy foreign stocks?

I tried in the UK last week but none of them would let me as I am not a UK resident.

The UK has made opening brokerage accounts for non-residents impossible, as you found out. However, Luxembourg will still let you do so. As mentioned by someone else, TD International (formerly Internaxx) is pretty good and reasonably cheap.

You could also consider Singapore or Hong Kong. Both will let non-residents open brokerage accounts.

[alocacoc]

But TD International do not offer the trading platform Thinkorswim, which is the best part of TD Ameritrade imo. TDA Singapore does.

Edited April 25, 2016 by alocacoc

[Sawan Chan 7]

Just out of interest do they send you the paper certificate?

If not, what would happen say in 10 years of you ranted to give them to your kids, our you died?

[Johnniey]

I joined Maybank Kim, they seem ok so far. I have an offshore trading account which allows me to buy from the NYSE. My agent doesn't speak any English which would have helped a bit especially as I'm new to this game.