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Syfe Trade offers 2 free trades a month and US$1.49 per trade thereafter for stocks listed in US, after the introductory promotion of 5 free trades per month and US$0.99/trade thereafter ends.
They appear to charge around 0.25% in FX spread which is much higher than our pick Interactive Brokers and Syfe’s closest peer, TDAmeritrade. This makes them more expensive overall than both those brokers.
Their mobile app is quite basic at the moment and offers limited tools and data. There are no web or desktop based platform for Syfe Trade.
Syfe Trade offers a simple UI to trade US stocks, limited tools and data and a relatively high FX spread
Syfe Trade is the mobile stock trading platform launched by Syfe, better know for their Robo-Advisory business. It allows you to trade only US listed stocks at the moment. They offer 5 free trades a month and US$0.99/trade thereafter in their introductory offer, which is valid through 31st Mar 2022. After that, its expected to offer 2 free trades a month and US$0.99/trade thereafter, permanently.
Mobile-only Syfe Trade is currently available only via Syfe’s mobile app. There is no web-based access or a dedicated desktop app that most peers offer.
Basic Functionality Given it has just launched, the functionality on Syfe Trade app is quite limited. You can create multiple watchlists, view basic charts and data on stocks and trade. However, the app is not very customizable and the data is limited.
For e.g. the charts cannot be customized (other than choosing different periods) to show volume or other indicators.
US Stocks Only Similar to TDAmeritrade but unlike most other brokers, Syfe Trade only offers access to the US Stocks at the moment. No other markets or products (e.g. options) are available.
Syfe Trade offers 5 free trades a month and US$0.99 per trade thereafter in their introductory offer, which is valid through 31st Mar 2022. After that, its expected to offer 2 free trades a month and US$1.49/trade thereafter, permanently.
In our brief testing, they seem to charge an FX spread of 0.25-0.30%, which is in line with most other brokers in the market, but much higher than our pick, Interactive Brokers (0.003%). This means for an SG$ based Buy & Hold type investor, Syfe Trade is only the 3rd cheapest option for US after TDAmeritrade and Interactive Brokers (IB).
Similar to TDAmeritrade but unlike IB, Syfe Trade also charges the exchange and regulatory fees separately, although these are quite low in US.
What tools & data do they have?
Syfe Trade is currently only available on the Syfe mobile app and there is no desktop or web-based system. The mobile app offers fairly limited functionality and we were only able to complete 3 out of 6 test tasks on the platform, which is the least of any platform we tested.
| Task | Syfe Trade |
|---|---|
| Create a watchlist with 15 stocks | Y |
| Link the watchlist to a charting screen with 1 technical indicator | N |
| Link the watchlist to a fundamental screen with news, call transcripts, data on valuation, shareholding, estimates etc. | Y |
| Set up a price alert | N |
| Launch an order screen from the watchlist | Y |
| Look at exposure summary report for the portfolio with risk metrics | N/A* |
| Look at performance summary report over custom time periods | N/A* |
| Import / Export transaction history | N |
| * We were not able to assess these functions properly at the time of writing. | |
You can create multiple watchlists but the watchlists only show the current price and 1 day % change. We were not able to edit or rearrange fields. Clicking on a name in the watchlist opens up a basic chart, some key statistic (Market Capitalization, EPS Growth, P/E multiple etc) and options to explore similar securities.
There are two other tabs for Analysis and News. The analysis tab shows analyst ratings for the stock, the range of target prices that analysts have and a P/E chart. We liked that Syfe displays forward estimates for all relevant fundamental indicators such as Revenue and P/E, unlike most brokers who show the less useful trailing multiples. Given the strong capital markets background of the team at Syfe, this is not surprising.
The app also allows you to discover stocks that fit a specific theme e.g. Top Gainers, hot sectors, Earnings Momentum, ESG Favorites etc.
The app is fairly easy to use but needs a lot more functionality to be on par with rest of the market.
Since Syfe Trade only allows you to trade US listed stocks, its most similar to TDAmeritrade (TD).
However while Syfe Trade offers 2 free trades a month, TD offers unlimited free trades and they also have a better set of tools and data at the moment.
Unlike TD, Syfe does allow you to choose when you convert SGD to USD. In our testing, TD did the conversion about 3 days later at a time of their choosing and they do not disclose the spread they charge.
However, at least for our transactions, TD appeared to charge a very low spread for the conversion, likely around 0.02%. This compares to 0.26% for Syfe Trade, which makes Syfe meaningfully more expensive for SGD based investors.
Both charge separately for exchange and regulatory fees.
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A study shows IBKR has high trade execution costs for US Stocks. Its still cheaper than most other brokers for US and has the best data & tools. Its still the best broker in Singapore.
Webull offers true 0 commission trading (0 platform fee too) but has high spreads to convert FX. The App is very similar to moomoo / Tiger with less gamification.
The "Zero Commission" offers for US stock by moomoo & Tiger cut effective commissions by 7-25% but do not touch FX spread which accounts for 80% of the all-in trading cost. Our pick, IB, is still cheaper by upto 90%.
