5 best investment brokerage promotions (2021): Free Apple shares & more

Investment brokerages and Robo advisors are a dime a dozen these days.

For us as potential customers, that’s good news, as it means they’re now fighting tooth and nail for a slice of the pie and doling out some sweet, sweet sign-up promotions.

We say, let the fur fly.

Here’s a compilation of some of the best investment brokerage promotions at the moment.

5 best investment brokerage promotions (2021)

1. Tiger Brokers — free Apple share (AAPL) & more

Tiger Airways may have gone broke, but the trading platform Tiger Brokers (no relation to the former) is still alive, well, and doling out one free Apple (AAPL) Share, 180 days of 60 commission-free trades and 500 Tiger Coins to new customers.

Here are the details:

• Promotion period ends Sept 1, 2021

• Users who have not made any deposits in Tiger accounts before 12pm, July 1, 2021 are eligible for free Apple stock.

• Deposit at least $2,000 in a single transfer during the promotion to receive your free Apple share.

• You must make ten trades before you can withdraw the profits earned from the sale of your free Apple stock.

• Commission-free trades are given upon account approval and are applicable to US stocks, HK stocks, Singapore stocks and Singapore futures.

• 500 Tiger Coins are given upon registration and can be used to redeem gifts.

2. Moomoo by FUTU — free Pfizer shares & more

Moomoo used to offer free Apple shares, but since that isn’t such an original idea these days, they’ve changed their sign-up promotion.

New customers now stand the chance to get up to two free Pfizer (PFE) shares, five free Haidilao (6862) shares, 180 days of unlimited commission-free trades and a $50 cash coupon voucher.

• Promotion is valid for accounts opened at 8pm on Aug 2, 2021 and later, or existing accounts opened before 11:59pm on May 31, 2021 with no prior cash deposits before 8pm Aug 2, 2021.

• Promotion ends Aug 31, 2021 at 7.59pm

• 180 days of commission-free trades available upon account approval (does not apply to stock options, futures and China A shares).

• To receive one free Pfizer share, deposit at least $2,700, US$2,000 (S$2,715) or HK$16,000 (S$2,790) within 30 days of account opening.

• To receive second Pfizer share, within 30 days of account opening you must do all of the above as well as the following: follow one friend in the community, post one comment in the community and complete three trades on US market.

• To get five free Haidilao shares, you must do all of the above, as well as the following within 30 days of account opening: make three completed trades on HK market

• To receive $50 cash coupon, complete a positions/share transfer-in to your account.

• Coupon will be sent to coupon centre, which can be viewed in the Moomoo app and exchanged for cash.

3. Saxo Markets — $0 commission on US stocks & ETFs

Like many other brokerages, Saxo Markets is offering commission-free trades on US equities and ETFs until Sept 3, 2021.

Seeing as it’s already August, you’ll get less than two months of commission-free trades if you sign up today.

Here are the details:

• Promotional rates applicable until Sept 3, 2021

• For new accounts opened during promotional period.

• Promotion does not apply to trades made on OTC Bulletin Board and OTC Markets Group.

• Regulatory and exchange fees still apply.

4. Syfe — no fees for six months

As you can see, offering new customers with free trades is par for the course these days.

Robo advisor Syfe has taken a leaf from the brokerages playbook by offering a six-month waiver of management fee.

Ordinarily, investing with Syfe incurs a management fee of up to 0.65 per cent per annum.

You can read more about Syfe here.

Here are the details:

• No end date for the promotion has been announced.

• For new clients who have never signed up for an account with Syfe through MoneySmart.

• Account must be funded in SGD.

• When choosing your portfolio during the account opening process, use referral code SYFEWAIVER and fund your account to activate free trades

• Promotion valid for six months from first deposit.

• Applicable for investments of up to $30,000.

5. IG – up to $388 cash

CFD trading platform IG is doling out free money when you open an account with them.

They’re offering a welcome cash gift of $288 for new sign-ups, as well as an additional $100 cash bonus when you place a knock-out trade.

That said, CFD trading is not for the faint-hearted and/or investing beginners.

It’s a highly complex type of trading that uses leverage, which can magnify your losses as well as profits.

So make sure you know what you’re getting into first.

Here are the details:

• Promotional period until Sept 30, 2021.

• Open your IG account between midnight July 1, 2021 and 11:59pm Sept 30, 2021 to qualify for the promotion.

• Those who have participated in previous or current IG promotions except for the KrisFlyer Loyalty Programme are not eligible.

• To qualify for $288 welcome cash gift, make a one-time deposit of at least $10,000 and open at least one CFD position during the promotional period.

• To qualify for $100 cash bonus, place an additional Knock-out CFD trade during the promotional period.

• Cash gift and cash bonus will be credited to your account within 21 working days of Sept 30, 2021.

Final note: Free Apple shares are nice & all, but…

Sign-up promotions should not be your only criteria when picking an investment platform!

The afterglow from freebies wears off fast, and in the long-run, you’ll want to stick with a platform that offers you perks such as the following:

• Attractive fees – when comparing fees, you should look not only at the actual fee (eg. per cent of your trade) but also the minimum fee per trade.

• A user-friendly platform – look for an intuitive, user-friendly, bug-free platform that won’t make you tear out your hair. Also check if the platform has an easy-to-use mobile version so you can trade on your phone.

• CDP vs custodian account – the former requires you to take an extra step to open an account, but lets you keep the stocks in your own name. Also makes it easier to trade using more than one platform, as all your stocks go into the same account. Meanwhile, custodian accounts let the broker keep the stocks on your behalf.

This article was first published in MoneySmart.