We had talked about investment strategies, methodologies and styles, but we seldom delve into the intricacies of the administrative part, which are brokerages. Before we jump into the deep end of the market pool, we need to plan and equip ourselves properly first, like having a float of some sorts and a good swimming attire.
For our portfolio multiverse, we use a multitude of brokerages to keep our holdings. Definition-wise, the term “brokerage” used here denotes any agent or platform that we use to execute trades with for our portfolios.
Being brand-neutral here, I will anonymise the brokerages with alphabet letters.
The Bedokian Portfolio (Main Portfolio)
Brokerage A, Brokerage B, both CDP (Central Depository)-linked, under my name
I use CDP-linked brokerages to hold individual counters listed in the local Singapore Exchange, primarily because I want to have better control on corporate actions and events, as well as the attendance of annual general meetings without the hassle of notifying custodian brokerages. I mainly use two brokerages so that I can have contingencies for each other.
Brokerage C, CDP-linked, under my spouse’s name
Besides the reasons above, the other reasons for this account are: it provides my spouse an avenue to familiarise with trading platforms, and an additional application for initial public offerings and fixed income instruments (e.g., treasury bills).
Brokerage D, Brokerage E, both custodians, under my name
These two custodian brokerages are used for holding local and foreign exchange traded funds (ETFs), and foreign individual companies, since CDP is not eligible for foreign-listed counters. I am OK to keep local ETFs in custodian as there are very few corporate actions to begin with. Why two? Brokerage diversification, of course.
The main guideline that I follow here is that a counter would not be split between the different brokerages (e.g., out of 10,000 shares of 123 Company, 3,000 is at Brokerage A, 3,000 in Brokerage C and 4,000 in Brokerage D). This is to prevent the incident of short selling, facilitate a quick transaction (especially sell orders) and not to confuse myself what is at where.
CPF And SRS Portfolios (Own And Spouse’s)
Brokerage A, Brokerage B, under my name; Brokerage C, under my spouse’s name
We use the same CDP-linked brokerages for our CPF under the 35% stocks limit, and SRS portfolios. Also, cross-brokerage ownership of the same counter is allowed (i.e., 123 Company shares are present in my CDP Bedokian Portfolio, and in my spouse’s CPF portfolio), where in this way, we can attend the AGM together.
Brokerage F, roboinvesting platform, under my name and my spouse’s name, separately
Based on my previous writings, I think you could guess which roboinvesting platform we are using.
Trading Portfolio
Brokerage G, custodian, under my name
This platform is purely used for trading purposes with no long-term holdings inside, save for covered-call ETFs. Sometimes I would use Brokerages D and E for trading, too, depending on circumstance (e.g., I need to execute a trade but there are insufficient funds in Brokerage G, hence using others).
Brokerage H, crypto platform, under my name
I would like to categorically state that Brokerage H is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. I also use a cold wallet to safekeep cryptos that are not designated to be traded often.
Hope the above tips assist you in your own brokerage organization.
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