ASB Securites Review

Updated 5 January 2019

TLDR Review Summary of ASB Securities

The platform facilities anyone to DIY trade on the NZX, ASX and more, with fees from $15 per transaction
If you make a transaction every 3 months you'll benefit the most by getting access to live sales and depth data
Cheaper fees for any trade over $10,000 are offered by ANZ/Direct Broking and if you're investing in overseas markets, there are far cheaper alternatives which save significantly on broker fees and FX margins.
If you're a small investor wanting exposure to a number of different shares, direct investing may not be for you. As such, a popular option is investing in sharemarket index funds such as Sharesies, InvestNow and SmartShares which minimize fees for investors starting out with a share portfolio.

Our Review
ASB Securities is one of New Zealand's best-known online share brokerage platforms, offering instant do-it-yourself trading. The user experience delivers easy-to-navigate and buy/sell trading through a desktop or mobile browser. Fees start at $15 per trade, and ASB provides free email-based resources such as a morning securities brief as well as monthly sharemarket reports. ASB Securities also offers phone-based brokerage covering trading in New Zealand, Australia, the USA, the UK and Canada.

Although ASB Securities' online fees aren’t market leading when compared to other platforms, regular share investors will appreciate the unrestricted access to live market data and a 0.30% capped commission on trades over $10,000. ASB Securities introduced some restrictions for buy-and-hold investors in late 2017 and we outline what you need to know below about the platform, as well as alternatives for smaller investors.

ASB Securities: Quick Facts

The Basics

New Zealand online trades commission: 0.30% on trades above $10,000, with fees starting at $15 for smaller trades.
Australia online trades commission: 0.30% (minimum AU$30 per trade)
Account minimum: $0
Interest rate on cash deposited: 0.00% (for balances up to $249,999)

ASB Securities is best for:

Frequent share investors (trading at least once every 90 days) wanting to buy in real-time and avoid dealing with brokers
Beginner investors looking for low brokerage fees for specific share purchases
Research and data - ASB Securities offers up to 90 days of live NZX data following one trade as well as in-house market reporting

ASB Securities at a Glance:

Account minimum: $500 for brokerage accounts
Share trading costs: $15 on trades up to $1,000, $30 on trades between $1,000-$10,000 and 0.30% on trades above $10,000.
Account fees (annual, inactivity etc): No annual or inactivity fee
Trading platform specs:
Access to research and data: Free but limited to periodic market summaries
Customer support: Phone (available Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm) and email

Where ASB Securities Shines

For active share investors (i.e. those who have made on trade within a 3 month period), ASB Securities offers free streaming market data and free real-time quotes. To get the lowest fees on trades you'll need to buy and sell online; ASB Securities does offer phone brokerage but the fees are considerably higher.

For share investors yet to trade or who are inactive (i.e. not trading more than once within a 3 month period), account holders can benefit from the free features - creating a watchlist of shares, viewing a portfolio with live prices and reading company announcements (such as annual reports and press releases). All of the data is fed by the NZX.

ASB Securities live market data example

Where ASB Securities Falls Short

Higher brokerage fees when compared to ANZ/Direct Broking:

ASB Securities' fees are $15 on trades up to $1,000, $30 on trades > $1,000 - <$10,000 and 0.30% on trades above $10,000, the equivalent of $30 + 0.30% of any portion exceeding $10,000
ANZ Securities' fees are $29.90 for trades < $15,000 and $29.90 + 0.20% of the portion exceeding $15,000 for trades greater than $15,000.
An indication of the fee difference on a number of trades is illustrated below; ANZ Securities is cheaper on any trade over $10,000 but doesn't offer discounts for small trades like ASB Securities does.

Trade Value (Buy or Sell)	ANZ/Direct Broking Brokerage Fee	ASB Securities Brokerage Fee	Difference
$15,000	$29.90	$45	*$15.10*
$25,000	$49.89	$75	*$25.11*
$50,000	$99.89	$150	*$50.11*

Small investments incur fees

ASB Securities entices <$1,000 trades with a $15 fee, but share investors need to pay $15 twice - when buying and when selling.
If the value of the trade is above $1,000, the fee will be $30. This adds ~$45 in fees to a ~$1,000 investment (or 4.5% of the transaction).

Forex margins

This continues to be a sticky subject for ASB Securities; investors looking to purchase shares in foreign markets need to be aware of the margins charged by the platform during a trade.
ASB Securities claims that the only fee in a trade is a "brokerage rate", but there is also a foreign exchange "margin". And it's this margin than can add up. Trading $10,000 of ASX-listed shares online will cost $30 in brokerage fees (0.30%) and another $200-$300 in "margin".
ASB Securities stipulates that there is a margin on foreign currency transactions, but does not indicate what it may be. If you later sell your $10,000 ASX-listed shares, you'll pay a 0.30% brokerage fee and the margin again. With an exited trade costing anything from 5-7% in brokerage and margins, overseas trading is best as a long term strategy.

Restricted access to market data

In 2017, ASB Securities restricted access to live data, which indicates a share's trading data and depth of bids to customers who have at least traded once in a 3 month period.
The general idea is that restricting of data prevents freeloading – the NZX charges ASB Securities every time a user requests market information even if no trades are made. NZX data is a significant cost to ASB Securities, and for that reason out of necessity the move was made to only offer premium data to their most active clients who are generally more in need of the information.
If a user hasn't placed a trade in 3 months, ASB Securities cuts off live data, including depth and delayed depth.
However, live market data and market depth is always available in the ‘place an order’ process during market hours - share investors will have access to the latest stock pricing information to help with making trading decisions.
Want access to all live data without making a trade? ASB Securities allows full access to margin lending account holders.

No Broker Research and/or New Issue Perks

ASB Securities does not employ analysts who do in-depth research on companies.
By using the platform, you'll need to do your own research such as reading annual reports and keeping up to date with market announcements.
Furthermore, a normal broker is more likely than ASB Securities to offer access to new issues as they tend to be more involved in the IPO process; new securities available from ASB Securities are more likely to be fixed interest bonds. However this is due to a lack of IPO activity in New Zealand and is no indication of future availability to new listings.

ASB Securities: The Bottom Line

ASB Securities offers user-friendly online share trading from the comfort of a desktop computer with phone and email support on hand. Active share investors can benefit from unlimited live share data and depth supplied by the NZX. The biggest drawback is the fee structure on both New Zealand and overseas sharemarkets, as well as the FX margin/fees for overseas trades if you don't have a foreign currency account. It must be noted that in New Zealand, ASB Securities commands higher overall fees than ANZ Securities/Direct Broking - see our review here.

ASB Securities live depth data example

ASB Securities: Alternatives for Small Trades & Overseas Trades

Small Trades
If you are trading in small amounts (i.e. less than $1,000), you'll still be paying 3% in brokerage fees when you buy and sell. There are many other investment options which get you invest in the NZX with minimal fees - we recommend reading our guides to Sharesies, InvestNow and SmartShares. These are suitable alternatives to invest in the market while you build up funds to make an investment via ASB Securities cost effective.

Overseas Trades
ASB Securities displays the FX rate when placing an order and applies their FX "margin" of 1.5%. If you regularly trade outside of New Zealand, it is worth considering opening up a foreign currency account with another share broker. The process is easy - you simply make an initial FX transaction to fund the share trading account. You can then trade using the foreign currency (i.e. AUD) in the market (i.e. ASX) while avoiding trading FX fees and "margins".

For example, Interactive Brokers' trade fee is 0.08% of the total value (minimum $6 fee). Their fees are around one quarter of what ASB Securities charges for the same trade. You can fund the account with your pick of the best NZD FX rates, avoiding the ASB Securities FX margin ongoing. An example of AUD trades is presented in the table below.

Trade Value	ASB Securities Brokerage Fee	Interactive Brokers Brokerage Fee	1.5% FX Margin**	Difference
$7,500	$30*	$6	$11	*$35*
$25,000	$75	$20	$38	$93
$50,000	$150	$40	$75	$185

*Minimum brokerage is $30 for AUD trades
**Assumption made of a difference of 1.5% between the best NZD:AUD FX rate on the market and the ASB Securities FX margin/fee.

6 ASB Securities Must Knows

The interest rate on money in your account is 0.00%

You'll be earning a flat 0% on any deposits, which is below the inflation rate of ~2% meaning you're losing money. A better idea is having an interest-earning account that transfers fast to/from an ASB Securities account; you can move funds instantly as you need them.

Dividends can be reinvested (for NZX or ASX shares only) or will be paid back into your ASB Securities cash management account

Dividend reinvestment options are available for NZX and ASX listed securities. Alternatively, any securities held directly can be paid into your nominated bank account.

"Margin Lending": What it is and how it works

ASB Securities explains it best - "margin lending lets you borrow money to invest, using your shares or other approved securities as collateral". How this works is easy - the ASB Bank gives you a loan to invest in shares using ASB Securities. You won't be able to invest in certain shares, but most equities traded on the NZX are approved to invest in. Each company has a lending ratio; the riskier the share (from ASB's perspective), the less you can borrow to invest in it. If you already own shares on the approved company list, you can use these as security for a loan to make further investments.

Who is Margin Lending best for?
Margin lending suits investors who believe that the shares they purchase will increase in value and are prepared to borrow money to fund the purchase. If you're only prepared to lose money you have, margin lending is probably not for you. ASB Securities offers margin lending but you'll need to have an ASB bank account. You can set the funding limit.

You won't be able to trade online if the website is down

But you will be able to trade via the phone service and in such cases where online trading is unavailable the standard ASB Securities online fee will be charged as opposed to the more extensive phone brokerage fee. ASB Securities' website doesn't have a history of being offline often, but the backup option stands if needed.

You don't need an ASB bank account to trade

ASB Securities lets you fund share trades with any bank account, meaning it's not a requirement to bank with ASB.

If you're planning to trade outside of the NZX, there are better platforms

If you've received an overseas dividend, ASB Securities will arrange for the dividend to remain in the received currency and deposit in into a foreign currency account (if you have one - the ASB does offer these free of charge). Otherwise it will be translated back into NZD with an FX margin applied (it may be as high as 3%). This can potentially eat in to any profits made from trades, so if you are primarily trading on overseas share markets, ASB Securities probably isn't the most economical platform to use without a foreign currency account.

Do you trade with ASB Securities and have something you'd like to share with us? We'd love to hear from you - contact our team with your experiences.