Buying foreign stocks directly?

I

Ilitirit

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Is it possible to do this?

I mean not going via an Index Fund or similar. For example, how would I go about buying 100 shares of Google?
 
I would presume that you need a Forex account of some sort.

BTW Google spot Share price is 1051.51 USD per share, so you would need a lot of moola to buy 100 shares. ;)

If you have that kind of cash, I would invest in a Visa of some sort...

Edit: Quick Google

HOW DO I BUY AND SELL SHARES ON THE JSE?
You can buy shares in listed companies only through a registered stockbroker who is a member of the JSE. This affords you some protection, because registered stockbrokers are required to conform to rules and regulations set by the exchange.
Stockbrokers are able to advise you about which shares to buy and when to sell them. If you want your broker to do this for you, you will be regarded as a full-service client. If you want the broker simply to carry out your buy-and-sell instructions, you will pay a discounted fee and will be using the broker on what is known as an execution-only basis.
To find a stockbroker, visit the JSE's website, www.jse.co.za, and follow the "Locate a broker" link for a list of brokers.
You can also use an online broker, which enables you to do transactions over the internet.
You will have to open a trading account with the broker.

You can also use an online broker, which enables you to do transactions over the internet.
You will have to open a trading account with the broker


https://www.iol.co.za/personal-finance/guides/how-to-invest-directly-in-company-shares-997978
 
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You can do it on Easy Equities. They have GOOGL.

The have a limited selection, you can't get all of them. As far as I know the banks have quite extensive platforms (ABSA, FNB and Standard I know about, I'd imagine Nedbank also does) but they have substantial minimums.

If you've got that sort of cash, speak to your private banker, he'll advise you. If not, Easy Equities is probably your cheapest bet. I have mostly ETFs there but also a few AMD shares.
 
Easy Equities is the easiest option.

But you need quite a bit of cash to make it worth while, otherwise the ETF just makes more sense.
 
Thanks for the info guys, will do some research on Easy Equities.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Easy Equities is the easiest option.

But you need quite a bit of cash to make it worth while, otherwise the ETF just makes more sense.
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Hmmm... just had a look at their S&P ETF offerings... How is Easy Equities linked to Satrix?

boRGcal.png


EDIT:

Nevermind, seems like it's through the JSE top 40 offering

http://campaign.easyequities.co.za/satrix
 
Ilitirit said:
Hmmm... just had a look at their S&P ETF offerings... How is Easy Equities linked to Satrix?

boRGcal.png


EDIT:

Nevermind, seems like it's through the JSE top 40 offering

http://campaign.easyequities.co.za/satrix
Click to expand...

They provide the platform for Satrix that works exactly the same but only offers Satrix ETF's.

Basically don't bother with that and limit yourself and just go directly to EE.
 
SauRoNZA said:
They provide the platform for Satrix that works exactly the same but only offers Satrix ETF's.

Basically don't bother with that and limit yourself and just go directly to EE.
Click to expand...
The Satrix platform does give you access to their unit trusts though. In case that's interesting for you.
 
Just a heads up on Easy Equities. It is easy to get the funds into your EE account and buying shares. Your problems will start when you want to withdraw your funds.

EE does not make payouts to normal South African banks. You will be told to open an offshore bank account through any of the big banks offering this. FNB's global account unfortunately does not work.

So, prepare yourself first by opening an offshore bank account, which may cost you a lot of money. The alternative is your funds laying forever at EE with no way to get it out. I have been struggling for 3 years to get about US$200 back into my account. Opening an offshore account for it is not worth my while. So, I have written off the money and it is just laying there in my EE account.

Otherwise, there is no way you will have direct access to purchase shares abroad. You may need to look at the few brokers abroad who still offers their services to South Africans. Unfortunately, opening accounts with them may cost you R100k and upwards and then you have not even started buying shares or paying their fees as yet.
 
Lew Skannen said:
Just a heads up on Easy Equities. It is easy to get the funds into your EE account and buying shares. Your problems will start when you want to withdraw your funds.

EE does not make payouts to normal South African banks. You will be told to open an offshore bank account through any of the big banks offering this. FNB's global account unfortunately does not work.

So, prepare yourself first by opening an offshore bank account, which may cost you a lot of money. The alternative is your funds laying forever at EE with no way to get it out. I have been struggling for 3 years to get about US$200 back into my account. Opening an offshore account for it is not worth my while. So, I have written off the money and it is just laying there in my EE account.

Otherwise, there is no way you will have direct access to purchase shares abroad. You may need to look at the few brokers abroad who still offers their services to South Africans. Unfortunately, opening accounts with them may cost you R100k and upwards and then you have not even started buying shares or paying their fees as yet.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up - will need to look into exactly what kind of account will work...
 
Lew Skannen said:
Just a heads up on Easy Equities. It is easy to get the funds into your EE account and buying shares. Your problems will start when you want to withdraw your funds.

EE does not make payouts to normal South African banks. You will be told to open an offshore bank account through any of the big banks offering this. FNB's global account unfortunately does not work.

So, prepare yourself first by opening an offshore bank account, which may cost you a lot of money. The alternative is your funds laying forever at EE with no way to get it out. I have been struggling for 3 years to get about US$200 back into my account. Opening an offshore account for it is not worth my while. So, I have written off the money and it is just laying there in my EE account.

Otherwise, there is no way you will have direct access to purchase shares abroad. You may need to look at the few brokers abroad who still offers their services to South Africans. Unfortunately, opening accounts with them may cost you R100k and upwards and then you have not even started buying shares or paying their fees as yet.
Click to expand...
cfd1e3789e9f122bb88acff6e0d63c5f.jpg


Thought it was $400?
 
newby_investor said:
Thanks for the heads up - will need to look into exactly what kind of account will work...
Click to expand...

Contact EE and ask them about this. There are many 'clever' people on this forum who actually knows nothing. Don't get caught up on this trap. There is a Facebook group where a number of people are complaining about not being able to get their funds out of the USD accounts on EE.
 
Lew Skannen said:
Contact EE and ask them about this. There are many 'clever' people on this forum who actually knows nothing. Don't get caught up on this trap. There is a Facebook group where a number of people are complaining about not being able to get their funds out of the USD accounts on EE.
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Noted, thanks.
 
Is there anywhere on their site where they mention requiring and offshore account? Or is it part of the contract when you sign up?

EDIT: Nevermind, busy reading through that massive EE thread on here...
 
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Ilitirit said:
Is there anywhere on their site where they mention requiring and offshore account? Or is it part of the contract when you sign up?

EDIT: Nevermind, busy reading through that massive EE thread on here...
Click to expand...

No, it is not mentioned anywhere when you sign up (at least, it wasn't when I signed up some time ago). When you try to withdraw funds from your USD account in EE to your local bank account then it declines. When you phone EE they inform you that you need an offshore account. You also cannot move the funds from your USD trading account to your local trading account. So, it is basically stuck there.
 
Gtx Gaming said:
I have Irish bank account could maybe assist getting the funds out for 1 or 2 users?
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Can't. They need the bank account to be in your name. They need bank statements as well before linking the account to your USD account. They do not allow third party accounts. You have to do the whole FICA process again to link the offshore account.

Going through decent brokers offshore is a much better avenue. Easy Equities is a no-no when it comes to trading US shares.
 
Lew Skannen said:
Can't. They need the bank account to be in your name. They need bank statements as well before linking the account to your USD account. They do not allow third party accounts. You have to do the whole FICA process again to link the offshore account.

Going through decent brokers offshore is a much better avenue. Easy Equities is a no-no when it comes to trading US shares.
Click to expand...
This ground may have been covered before, but it's pretty easy to open a dollar account at FNB. Will that not work? Or is that not a proper offshore account?
 
newby_investor said:
This ground may have been covered before, but it's pretty easy to open a dollar account at FNB. Will that not work? Or is that not a proper offshore account?
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No, they tried to add my FNB Dollar account and they were unable to transfer the funds to it. Not sure if they changed things by now. They eventually referred me to Standard Bank to open an offshore account there, but the fees were in excess of R60k to open an account if I remember correctly.
 
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