In my experience of investing with unit trust, FSMOne (formerly known as Fundsupermart) was the second investment platform that I used to invest in unit trust. Prior to that, I used to invest with Public Mutual. My experience with FSMOne has always been good but during that time, their main focus was purely on unit trust & PRS & soon they expanded into bond, insurance & managed portfolios.
When I sold my unit trust to switch to Robo-advisor, I sold 100% of my unit trust fund via FSMOne but I still maintain my PRS investment with them until today. Even though they are offering one of the lowest sales fees compared to other unit trust platforms, I still decided to switch to Robo-advisor as I believe that StashAway algorithm works better compared to unit trust manager. My overall experience with them is good in terms of their platforms, support staff & also their organized events.
Since March 2021, FSMOne Malaysia has launched Malaysia stocks & ETF trading followed by US/Hong Kong stocks & ETF months later. Even though I was aware of the US stocks & ETF trading by them, I did briefly read about it but there was no investment made until recently. I personally do my portfolio rebalancing each year end but my 2022 portfolio rebalancing was made 3 months late as I was exploring what should I invest in. Should I allocate more money in my existing investment portfolio, invest in my existing business, invest in my self-development, or explore new investment opportunities. It took me 3 months to actually decide on this.
After studying on FSMOne US stocks & ETF accounts, I decided to have a trial investment to have a feel of the platform & also to understand better on the foreign ETF investment since it is my first time investing in foreign stocks or ETFs. First of all, I picked the ETF that I want to invest in which is quite easy since we all know that the most popular invested ETF & the one that makes the most consistent return is the S&P 500 ETF. Next, I went & search for the S&P 500 ETF it came out with a long list of ETFs that tracks the S&P 500. Since it was more than 50 ETFs that appears, I decided to Google to narrow down my choice. Those recommended ETFs that track S&P 500 are SPLG, IVV & VOO. After making each comparison, I have decided to invest in SPLG.
If you are an existing FSMOne investor, most probably you already have a Cash Account (MYR) with them but in order to invest in Foreign Stocks or ETFs, you have to have other currencies’ Cash Accounts. Since I am investing in US ETF, I need to register for a USD Cash Account & also a CDS Account. Registration was quick & I got it done in less than 4 hours. This is where the process got slightly complicated where I have to convert my currency from my MYR account to my USD account in order to invest. Exchange rates are based on Real-Time Exchange which will refresh every 60 seconds.
Once I have converted to USD, I can invest in US stocks & ETF. Their trading fees are considered quite reasonable for their local currency but after conversion, it can be quite pricey. In order for me to trade for US stocks & ETF, I have to pay a minimum of $8.80 or 0.8% followed by other charges. If you are purchasing a minimum of 1 share, it is definitely not worth it.
There are also other investing platforms offering competitive rates for US stocks such as Rakuten Trade where you can check out the platform fees HERE. The pricing is more competitive compared to what FSMOne is able to offer. I have yet to try out Rakuten Trade US platforms but if it’s based on my local stocks trading experience, it is definitely worth trying. If you are seeking purely on cheaper US Stocks & ETF trading platform, Rakuten Trade is the one you should use but if you are seeking ONE-STOP investing platforms where they are having multiple offerings such as Insurance, Unit Trust, PRS, Local & International Stocks, Bonds ETF & other Managed Portfolios, FSMOne is the one for you. I will keep you guys posted more on my experience with FSMOne US ETF investment & possibly when I am investing with Rakuten Trade US stocks & ETF platforms.
OSS!
You can also check out my latest YouTube video on How To Invest Like Warren Buffett:
