Update: Syfe Trade now offers access to Singapore stocks. The post has been updated to reflect that.
There’s a new broker in town. Calling themselves a neobroker, Syfe Trade is a brokerage service offered by robo-advisor Syfe.
How does Syfe Trade stack up? Read our review to find out.
- What is Syfe Trade
- Fees and free trades
- Fractional shares feature
- How to open a Syfe Trade account
- Promo code for new users!
What is Syfe Trade?
Syfe Trade lets you buy and sell US and Singapore stocks and ETFs affordably.
So what makes it so special in a space that’s crowded with so many other brokerage platforms? For me, they stand out mainly due to these features:
- Free monthly trades and fractional shares (for US stocks)
- One of the lowest commissions
- No withdrawal and inactivity fees
- Easy to use platform
Free trades every month?!
Yes, that’s right! During the first 3 months, you get 5 free monthly trades, which you can use to either buy or sell a stock. There’s no limit either e.g. you can use your free trade allowance to buy as many units of a stock of you want.
This is a gamechanger. Technically, if you aren’t one to trade very frequently, you can use Syfe Trade to invest commission-free in US stocks. After the first 3 months, you’ll get 2 free trades each month.
Very low fees
During the introductory period, the fee for your 6th trade onwards is just US$0.99 per trade. That’s one of the cheapest for US stocks.
For Singapore stocks, the fee is on par with Tiger and moomoo.
Fractional shares
Another plus point is the fractional shares feature that Syfe Trade offers for US stocks. In essence, you can buy less than one whole unit of a share, starting from US$1.
Here’s why it’s so powerful, regardless of how much you have to invest.
Let’s say you only have S$1,000 to invest. You want to buy Amazon stock, but it currently costs around US$3,220 (S$4,333) per share. To afford the stock, you probably need to save up over a few months before making your investment. As they say, time in the market is key, and you could be missing out by having to wait. With fractional shares, you can invest a full S$1,000 into Amazon right now and own about 0.3 units of the stock.
What if you have S$10,000 to invest? Well, fractional trading is still a useful feature to have. Imagine you have the following stocks on your watchlist:
You want each stock to be equally weighted (20%) in your portfolio. If you can only buy whole shares (what most brokers allow), that’s impossible considering their current share prices.
But with fractional shares, you can split your money evenly between these 5 stocks by buying exactly $2,000 worth of each share. In essence, you’re maximizing every dollar you have.
At the moment, only Interactive Brokers and Syfe Trade offer fractional trading.
Easy to use
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Syfe Trade is so easy to use. While I think it’s commendable that moomoo and Tiger try to offer you lots of charts and news, there’s such a thing as information overload.
Syfe Trade is uncluttered and you can quickly see where to buy or sell a stock, or create your watchlist.
Only level 1 market data is offered, unlike moomoo and Tiger which offers free level 2 market data. Personally, I think level 2 market data is good to have, but not necessary unless you’re an active day trader.
As someone who just wants to buy and sell US stocks whenever there’s a good opportunity, I prefer Syfe Trade’s simple and straightforward interface.
How to open a Syfe Trade account
#1: If you’re new to Syfe, you need to first download the Syfe app. (At the moment, Syfe Trade is not available on desktop.)
#2: Create an account using Singpass for quicker signup.
#3: Complete your investment knowledge assessment
#4: Accept contract details
#5: Transfer funds into your Syfe Trade account.
You can use PayNow, FAST, or wire transfer to transfer funds. According to Syfe, the funds will be credited to your Syfe Trade account within one business day. For me, the money was in my account in about 10 minutes.
#6: If you transferred SGD funds, convert your SGD to USD to start trading US stocks. For the FX conversion to work, you need to convert a minimum of SGD 1.
#7: You can start to trade with USD funds in your buying power. To buy a stock, the minimum trade value is USD 1.
Syfe Trade welcome promotion
If you’re new to Syfe, you can get S$70 worth of cash credits when you use our referral code FRUGALFOX.
You just need to fund at least S$2,000 to your Syfe Trade account and make your first trade. You can invest any amount e.g. investing $10 in Tesla stock will also be counted as your first trade.
The cash credits will be given in 7 days and you can use them to buy any US stock or ETF of your choice.
Pro tip: You can check if your cash credit has been given from your transfer history. Go to Account (the icon with three dashes at the top) > My funds > Transfer history. The cash credits will appear in USD.
Final thoughts
So is Syfe Trade the best broker for US and Singapore stocks? If you’re looking for an easy, affordable, and super accessible way to invest in stocks, Syfe Trade fits the bill. Plus, the free monthly trades and fractional shares for the US market are very attractive.
But if you want to do options / margin trading, then Syfe Trade probably isn’t enough for you. You might want to consider Interactive Brokers instead.
Given that I’m already invested in the Syfe REIT+ and Core Equity100 portfolios, I like how I can view my US stock holdings and roboadvisory portfolios all in one place.
Lastly, having used Syfe for close to two years, I feel assured investing with them. Syfe is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and individual accounts are insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) up to US$500,000 against brokerage failure.
If you’re interested to trade for free and earn Syfe’s welcome cash credits, open your Syfe Trade account here. Use the code FRUGALFOX to get S$70 cash credits upon funding your account and making your first trade!
Fund it with minimum S$2,000 and make one trade (of any value) to receive S$70 worth of cash credits.
Disclaimer: This article is not meant to be financial advice. Always do your own research before investing!
The Frugal Fox 