Freetrade down under 🇦🇺🇳🇿

I think this warrants its own thread, now the secret is out (thanks Altfi)!

Please bring Freetrade to New Zealand swiftly after too! There is no competition worth mentioning and I have 10+ referrals lined up ready to go the moment you launch :joy:

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Same - everyone I talk to in NZ about investing tells me how poor the options are and get super interested when they hear about Freetrade.

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If it’s expensive to trade they should buy and HODL-- like most of us used to do . they’ll get richer faster than an average robinhooder

Thanks for the advice @roman_guy, :grin: however I’m not sure your simple solution really answers the issue. The problem with the way ‘most of us’ used to invest was that it was based on a pretty closed shop system that had quite a few barriers to entry. Buying and holding when you believe in a stock (I’m not sure why hodl from Bitcoin is suddenly the go to phrase for buying and holding - which has been around for a lot longer than crypto - but that’s a separate point) is without much doubt the safest way to invest and is proven to be successful, as opposed to attempting to consistently time the market. That’s not in question.

The issue is more that for newer investors who want to start putting away a little regularly - the fermium model is far better for making investing accessible. For example if you only have $20 (NZ dollars) for instance to put aside each month and every single trade costs $3 (which it does with NZ based Hatch for instance) then you are kind of discouraged from regularly dollar cost averaging in with small amounts. Even with quite a bit more, if you are buying several different tickers then it adds up quickly and can be prohibitive - especially in terms of getting started. I would have started 10-15 years ago but after graduating £12 a trade seemed like a high costs
when I only had very small amounts to put aside. Freetrade have really opened things up for all to be able to invest in the way that you describe. Maybe (very likely) over time the returns will make the entry fees well worthwhile, but it’s hard to see that for many a new investor when paying what feels like a percentage up front.

The old system was cabal where the brokers looked after each other by having pretty standardised prices - everyone got a good deal - except those who were trying to get a seat at the table. Paying just under 0.5% on top of the exchange rate means one can invest - no matter what amount, and feel like it’s worthwhile. I’m not sure how your suggestion helps those who are put off investing - not because they don’t want to pay fees, but because they want to pay proportionate and fair fees. Fixed cost fees per trade clearly disadvantage those with small amounts from investing regularly. Sure it was fine in the old days, but it’s much better now.

Thus it would be great to have a company that is focused on making access to investing more equitable over in OZ/NZ.

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Hello Skippy

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This is very exciting news,I don’t know how long the application process takes in Aus/NZ for investing companies but I would imagine 6-12 months. The fact that Freetrade has built a product in the UK(English Language) should mean that it will be a piece of cake to replicate the product very quickly(you would think)??? When I say very quickly I mean 12-18 months. They should have the series B funding by then and can even move quickly to a series C if needed to fund the expansion. IT’S A NO BRAINER. I feel very strongly that Freetrade needs to up their game ASAP @Viktor @adam @Ian @Freetrade_Team

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Funny you should mention this.

It was announced on Twitter they were starting a team in Brisbane, and even had hires for Brisbane office on the careers page. Adam retweeted but it all got deleted very quickly both the tweet and from careers page.

Original tweet thread now deleted:
https://twitter.com/crebbo/status/1360139562153091075?s=21

One of their Head of Engineering is located in Brisbane by the looks of it.

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:thinking: very odd

Stake pricing and fees | Stake ? I googled this

Yeah I was looking at comparisons the other day - it’s the more compelling of the two if Freetrade weren’t to set up shop. Stake do have a minimum fx transaction charge (Tho not big - of a few dollars), a 1% margin on the FX in each direction which is double that of Freetrade - and they aren’t financial services registered in NZ (Tho they are supposedly working on it).

Ultimately if Freetrade did decide to open in the antipodes I simply feel they would do great and provide a very attractive model. Just my opinion.

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Maybe Freetrade should never have launched in the UK… we could of all just got HL accounts and HODL :unamused:

It’s not just the fees, it’s the UX of Freetrade which is miles above what you can get in NZ. They would absolutely clean up in no time.

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Allow me the next step… maybe we shouldn’t invest at all, live paycheck to paycheck and spend it all… Rishi would be happy wouldn’t he

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ok I got no fin stake in Stake but i literally googled and it says they operate in Latam, Oz and NZ https://hellostake.com/uk/company/ The UX seems decent, works for me ((I use several brokers)).

if I was in the Us, Id have accoubnt with Robinhood (DOGEcoin and options), webull (popular among small cap traders), SoFI (Chamath + stopped sellin trades to Citadels), and CashApp (cash, stonks + crypto). I Diversity

If we had access to the ASX I would punt a bit into Tony Lacantros 2021 picks

NZ has Sharesies which has become very popular over the last few years. Very similar to Freetrade. More advanced in some areas and less in others.

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Have you used Sharesies before?

My partner has an account and I (we) think it’s significantly behind Freetrade.

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Fair comment - It prob is. I have an account with them and like auto invest / kids account, which Freetrade are yet to offer.

Would love Freetrade to provide a kids account. The grandparents give cash to the kids and it would be great if they had their own segregated account at Freetrade.

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Yeah I hope that’s on the roadmap too!

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Ok, NOW it’s official

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Brilliant news. So are we going to see a race between the Swedish set up and the aus set up over who can launch in their respective countries first?

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