Improvement over HSBC Invest but has some major flaws
This is an improvement over the HSBC Invest (very dated) - eg real-time pricing and access to most stocks globally.
However - it has some major issues I’ve discovered:
1. To transfer funds to the WT account is more painful than it should ever be. Unlike HSBC Invest, the WT cash account is treated as a third-party bank account (rather than being integrated to your HSBC account), so is subject to much lower cash transfer limits ($50k vs $500k), and has a delay etc.
2. Despite this it’s not possible to directly make payments to the WT account without first paying the money to a HSBC bank account first. This two hop process is painful and for people using tax-deductible borrowing to invest (eg from a mortgage), it risks breaking the ATO rules because the funds end up being ‘mixed’ with personal funds, unless you setup a separate HSBC account just for the purpose of transferring money.
3. Some leveraged ETFs aren’t available on WorldTrader that are on the legacy platform (eg GMVW), and there is no way to add permission.
4. No way to do an inspecie transfer of existing investments from Invest to WT - you have to sell / rebuy which can create a taxable event. This is different it if a customer was to have a direct account with the underlying IBA provider.
5. There is no customer service chat within the WorldTrader app.
6. The money I paid into WorldTrader on 23rd Dec, can’t be withdrawn until 31st Dec due to ‘clearing delays’. It just reinforces how clunky the cash transfers are.
However - it has some major issues I’ve discovered:
1. To transfer funds to the WT account is more painful than it should ever be. Unlike HSBC Invest, the WT cash account is treated as a third-party bank account (rather than being integrated to your HSBC account), so is subject to much lower cash transfer limits ($50k vs $500k), and has a delay etc.
2. Despite this it’s not possible to directly make payments to the WT account without first paying the money to a HSBC bank account first. This two hop process is painful and for people using tax-deductible borrowing to invest (eg from a mortgage), it risks breaking the ATO rules because the funds end up being ‘mixed’ with personal funds, unless you setup a separate HSBC account just for the purpose of transferring money.
3. Some leveraged ETFs aren’t available on WorldTrader that are on the legacy platform (eg GMVW), and there is no way to add permission.
4. No way to do an inspecie transfer of existing investments from Invest to WT - you have to sell / rebuy which can create a taxable event. This is different it if a customer was to have a direct account with the underlying IBA provider.
5. There is no customer service chat within the WorldTrader app.
6. The money I paid into WorldTrader on 23rd Dec, can’t be withdrawn until 31st Dec due to ‘clearing delays’. It just reinforces how clunky the cash transfers are.
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A very expensive trading option with limited functionality
Uses the IBKR trading platform as a base but retains only basic functions. Dealing charges are described as ‘low cost’, however, are anything but at 10 cents per share, only dropping to 1 cent per share AFTER 5000 share trades per month (ie $500 of trading charges). As an example, I recently sold 2400 NCLH which cost $275 in trading charges after tax. Selling 3300 of the same stock in my IBKR platform cost around $16. How can they describe this as “low cost”? Criminal.
Many of the useful IBKR functions are not available through the HSBC app.
On the plus side, it is finally a step forward from their Invest Direct International interface which was probably coded on Windows 95 and is basically a DOS prompt which has the appearance that the site was made from a dot matrix printer scan… but even *that* had a fixed trading fee of $29.95 regardless of volume.
In summary, it’s a well overdue upgrade, with some improvements but geared towards the ‘buy and forget’ retail investors who can’t do maths. A disgusting demonstration of corporate greed that will be the downfall of the 33 year relationship I have had with HSBC.
Invest directly through the IBKR app and save your money.
Many of the useful IBKR functions are not available through the HSBC app.
On the plus side, it is finally a step forward from their Invest Direct International interface which was probably coded on Windows 95 and is basically a DOS prompt which has the appearance that the site was made from a dot matrix printer scan… but even *that* had a fixed trading fee of $29.95 regardless of volume.
In summary, it’s a well overdue upgrade, with some improvements but geared towards the ‘buy and forget’ retail investors who can’t do maths. A disgusting demonstration of corporate greed that will be the downfall of the 33 year relationship I have had with HSBC.
Invest directly through the IBKR app and save your money.
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Silly restrictions on simple ETFs
Many ETFs are unavailable even to a professional investor with many years of experience due to “compliance restrictions”. Even very safe money market ETFs are restricted . It’s so ridiculous. Asking their support 3 different times gets you 3 different answers, none of which make any sense.
