Questions regarding (small) investments

[Roel]

Can someone help me on my way. Tried my bank but only the manager seems to know and he is never there. Their general support telephone number is not very helpful either. I keep hitting a wall there.

Are there people on here who have personal experience with:

- buying gold through a Thai bank account

- buying into stock funds through a Thai bank account

- buying Norwegian Krone through a Thai bank account

I understand that it might be necessary to go through brokers but as long as there is an easy link with a Thai bank account to move funds either way I would be happy.

 

[Peterw42]

Not sure what the bank could do for you, they provide the accounts and you would transfer money to buy gold, shares, coins etc. Are you wanting information on internet banking ? Or online share trading ?

[Roel]

Not planning on day trading or anything, just buying some gold and stock funds from time to time.

So I guess I have to go through brokers then. Any recommendations? (Also for Norwegian Krone).

I use internet banking from SCB, Kasikorn and Bangkok Bank so I would prefer to do everything online without the need for the usual dozens of different forms and passport copies you have to sign every time you go into a bank.

 

 

[Oxx]

Banks do not buy/sell shares on your behalf, brokers do.

 

The easiest route to go down is to open a brokerage account with a broker associated with one of your bank accounts.  In your case this would be SCBAM, Kasikorn Asset, or BBLAM.  You can do this online/by mail, or at your local bank branch.  Note that the range of funds available is different with each broker and is pretty much limited to the broker's own funds and "wrapped" versions of a few overseas funds.  Look carefully at the charges.  They are, in my opinion, exorbitant, and it's often better to invest through an offshore broker once you've used up your LTF/RMF annual allowance.

 

You can then purchase mutual funds, either at the bank, or online.  (If you open an account at your local bank, you'll probably be required to make an initial investment then.)

[ThailandLOS]

For the 2nd question (buying into stock funds through Thai bank account) - this is definitely possible for all major banks.

 

Here is the list of what BBL can provide for you if you have an account with them:

http://www.bblam.co.th/index_1.php?langsel=en

Note that not all funds are open for everyone, but most of them are.

 

This would require setting up a Mutual Fund account in the same bank, in parallel to your normal savings account. You then transfer online from your savings account into the fund account and invest in whatever fund(s) you prefer. Minimum is something like 500 THB.

Easy to keep track of gains/losses online on a daily basis.

 

As for gold (paper) and currency this would have to go through a brokerage account that should deal with commodities and forex. Most major bank team up with a preferred broker (e.g. I got one through BBL) and your branch should be able to guide you. Bear in mind the paper work around this is considerable.

 

I wouldn't endorse trading in paper commodity though - paper is always paper. You can buy physical gold and currency, store them yourself in a good safe and always have access.

 

If your branch is not able to help you, I would advise to simply change branch or bank altogether. Best of luck.

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, ThailandLOS said:

I wouldn't endorse trading in paper commodity though - paper is always paper. You can buy physical gold and currency, store them yourself in a good safe and always have access.

Agree. If you were set on buying paper gold, you'd at least want to do it through something like GLD or CEF through a broker that has access to US markets or something similar in your home country.  But physical gold is highly liquid in Thailand and the prices in the shops reflect the current world prices (and the Baht/dollar exchange rate of the day). The biggest problem is that if you buy in quantity, moving it from place to place presents some risks and inconvenience.

 

If you want to buy gold coins with a collectible component you could go through an auction  like Eurseree in Bangkok, but that makes what you buy far less liquid and subject to far more volatility in pricing.

 

As far as Norwegian Krone is concerned, aside from buying cash through a currency exchange, I doubt you'd find much in the way of investments locally. If you think Norwegian Krone will offer you a hedge against the baht or other currencies, for a small investment, just buy some Krone and put it someplace safe.

[12DrinkMore]

 

1. If you want solid gold, then go to Singapore. You can trade online without taking physical posession. Having a lump of gold at home is inviting interest from people you do not need to come visiting.

 

2. Trading accounts can be set up as mentioned above through the banks. It involves a small mountain of paperwork and takes a couple of weeks to set up. I have one with the BBL. It was a bad experience setting it up, and the broker that was assigned to me is hopeless. I never hear from him, there are no market reports and recommendations sent automatically, and he sometimes takes days to respond to emails. 

 

However, now having looked at the Thai stock market I am personally reluctant to jump in. Most of the announcements and company accounts are in Thai. I have the feeling that insider dealing is rampant, and I have yet to find a reliable and professional source of stock analysis. As a foreigner there are also restrictions on which stocks you can purchase.

 

I also suspect that in general the Thais are not sophisticated investors, but treat it as a casino. This may work in your favour, or not.

 

Again, Singapore is a mature and professional market. And there are several major Thai companies listed there, such as Thai Beverage. You can also diversify into other countries.

 

The charges on the mutual funds in Thailand tend to be high, with entrance fees of 1% and annual management fees getting on for 2% plus. The bid/ask range can also be painfully wide.

 

3. You can open a foreign currency account in Kroner at the BBL and probably elsewhere. They are a pain to operate. Check out the charges. If you want physical cash it can be ordered, or go to Superrich for instant gratification.

 

[bazza73]

You can buy gold at any shopping mall in Thailand. It's not the same purity as overseas gold; however, it is readily tradeable here.

There are three prices, e.g. 20,100, 20,000 and 19200. That's the price in baht for one baht of gold, which is just over half an ounce.

They usually tack on a surcharge of 500 - 1000 baht.

20,100 is the price they will sell to you. 20,000 is the price they will give you if you want to sell it back in ingot form. 19,200 is the price when you sell back in the form of jewellery.

Personally, I would never put my trust in paper gold. There are many supposedly rock-solid financial institutions that have gone bust in the last ten years. IMHO the companies that deal in paper gold are not exempted from that possibility.

 

If a market exists, you are better off exchanging Norwegian krone for baht or vice versa at a money exchanger, as their margin spread is usually a fair bit less than the banks.

 

Stick to what you know. Invest your money in Norway with Norwegian companies. Putting money into stocks here when you know SFA about a company, its management and exposure to risk sounds to me like a quick trip to the poorhouse.

[khunPer]

On 5/9/2017 at 8:51 AM, Roel said:

Are there people on here who have personal experience with:

- buying gold through a Thai bank account

- buying into stock funds through a Thai bank account

- buying Norwegian Krone through a Thai bank account

If you want to buy physical gold, you can buy small invest gold-bars in many gold stores, think they are 5 baht gold (ca. 100,000 baht money).

If you want to buy specific stocks (shares) listed in SET (Stock Exchange of Thailand), you'll need a separate broker-account, some banks offers such an account to foreign investors and an online trading platform, or you can use an independant broker.

Buying foreign currency shall normally be ordered in advance, some banks may let you hold foreign currency accounts (I don't trade foreign currency, so cannot help much).

 

Alternatively, you bank can probably help you with mutual funds – most, if not all, Thai banks offers mutual funds – they are called "Fund Book"(s). You can find mutual funds for Gold investment, for various stock funds (equity) both accumulating and dividend paying, and bonds, and mutual funds for currency (however, don't think specific for Norwegian Kroner). I have used Thai bank's mutual fund for a number of years for both some of my own small savings, and for my Thai GF's and our daughter's savings – has worked very well. We have been using Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank (K-Bank) and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), and they all have good informative web-sites in English; but I presume most, if not all, Thai banks offer similar service.

 

Not a recommendation, just for you info, I'll share links to the three bank's mutual fund web-pages I use:

Bangkok Bank Mutual Funds

Kasikorn Asset Management

SCB Asset Management

 

Probably also a number of banks offers a SET trading platform, I'm however only familiar with SCB online from SCB Secirities Co. Ltd.

It's quite simple to open an account as foreigner (you will not have votes on the stocks you buy), and you only need 30,000 baht in start capital.

 

[Oxx]

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

(you will not have votes on the stocks you buy)

 

WIldly inaccurate.

 

See what the Stock Exchange say on the matter at https://www.set.or.th/en/news/econ_mkt_dev/files/Foreigners_Participation.pdf

[khunPer]

45 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

WIldly inaccurate.

 

See what the Stock Exchange say on the matter at https://www.set.or.th/en/news/econ_mkt_dev/files/Foreigners_Participation.pdf

Indeed very accurate – and as quoted by yourself in your above link, with "NVDR" (Non-Voting Depository Receipt) – you can easily buy any SET-equity as foreigner, as long as you (can be default set in the SCB on-line platform when using it as foreigner) mark the stocks as NVDR, the SET-code will appear with a "-R" in the portfolio; i.e. "CPALL-R" or "SCB-R"...

 

Your link says:

Quote

For greater efficiency, flexibility and convenience of foreign investors, SET established an alternative investment channel called Non-Voting Depository Receipt (NVDR) on the local board in 2000 as a special vehicle with the objectives of facilitating foreign investors to trade securities that may reach the foreign ownership limit while obtaining all financial benefits with the exception of voting rights. In practice, foreign investors have chosen to trade NVDR units even though the foreign ownership limit of these securities has not yet been reached. Since the establishment of NVDR, obstacles for foreign investors trading on SET have been significantly minimized. 

Foreign investors can easily buy and sell NVDR units on the local board, i.e., the domestic liquidity pool, with the same process and price as regular securities on the local board...

 

[Oxx]

8 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Indeed very accurate – and as quoted by yourself in your above link, with "NVDR" (Non-Voting Depository Receipt) – you can easily buy any SET-equity as foreigner, as long as you (can be default set in the SCB on-line platform when using it as foreigner) mark the stocks as NVDR, the SET-code will appear with a "-R" in the portfolio; i.e. "CPALL-R" or "SCB-R"...

 

Your link says:

 

 

Can't get the quoting right, but khunPer wrote "(you will not have votes on the stocks you buy)".

 

The link I provided states "In normal practice, foreign investors have to invest in securities designated for foreign investors on the foreign board to fully obtain all voting rights and financial benefits."

 

So of course one can have voting rights for the stocks one buys.

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, Oxx said:

 

Can't get the quoting right, but khunPer wrote "(you will not have votes on the stocks you buy)".

 

The link I provided states "In normal practice, foreign investors have to invest in securities designated for foreign investors on the foreign board to fully obtain all voting rights and financial benefits."

 

So of course one can have voting rights for the stocks one buys.

Are you familiar with SDC-online, which is what's talked about here..?

If you now read and refer to the full paragraph, because this is what I said about small investments: 
"Probably also a number of banks offers a SET trading platform, I'm however only familiar with SCB online from SCB Securities Co. Ltd.
It's quite simple to open an account as foreigner (you will not have votes on the stocks you buy), and you only need 30,000 baht in start capital."

 

If you want voting rights – which probably have no weight at all, when talking about "small Investments", and therefore without importance – you just buy "normal" without marking NVDR, but are limited to the 49% limit available for foreign investment (with voting rights), so all stocks may not be available. The case was not about one can, or cannot, have voting rights when buying stocks at SET, but easy access small investments as foreigner...

 

Edit: And the quote in my above post, is copy/paste from your own link, so it is correct...