SelfWealth opens up direct trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Ever wanted to invest in the world’s largest video game vendor and owner of WeChat? What about the largest online retail platform in China that is about to move into selling electric vehicles?
From tomorrow (March 25), SelfWealth members will be able to trade in shares such as Tencent and Alibaba as the low-cost online share trading platform adds the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) to its investment options.
The HKEX provides members direct access to more than 2,500 stocks at a cost of only $HK88 per trade, or just over $AUD15, compared to almost $55 at CommSec.
SelfWeath CEO Cath Whitaker said the Hong Kong exchange gives members additional investment options, on top of the popular US exchanges and of course direct ownership of ASX stocks.
“Whether it is Tencent, Prada, or Baidu — China’s largest search engine — there are options for all investors,” she said. “We want to open up markets that are relevant to our membership base to broader their investment options if they so desire.
“Additionally, some companies are delisting from US exchanges making them unavailable through most Australian trading platforms that only deal in US and Australian exchanges. The latest is rideshare app DiDi which recently delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and will pursue a listing in Hong Kong. SelfWealth members will be able to access that stock directly.”
It has been a big year for Australia’s most popular low-cost share trading platform as it added to its platform:
- Kids Accounts enable parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents to open a share trading account on behalf of their child with the intention of educating a younger generation to the benefits of share trading.
- ESG ratings on companies so members can make informed decisions about the environment and social commitment of a company before investing.
- Added trading in US shares on the Nasdaq and NYSE up to 90 minutes before the normal trading session by introducing ‘pre-market’ investing.
- Recently announced it had partnered with digital currency exchange BTC Markets to enable members to buy and sell cryptocurrency which starts in a few months.
- Recently launched its own podcast Big Swinging Stocks with hosts Aleks Nikolic and Daniel Ecuyer
SelfWealth is Australia’s fourth-largest online trading platform with more than 120,000 active members. It holds $8 billion in assets and has saved its members more than $50 million in brokerage fees, compared to using bank-run share trading platforms.
