Due to heated competition between investment service providers, various securities brokers are competing for new customers. In recent months, securities brokers are going above and beyond competing with services, and account opening welcome offers are becoming a norm among securities brokers in Hong Kong.
Consumers are opening securities accounts for investment, and no welcome offer would prove to be more attractive than having blue-chip stocks in the newly opened account, for free!
Free stocks are especially great for new investors
From experienced investors’ perspective, receiving a few free shares may not have any impact on their overall portfolio, however this may not be the case for new investors. According to a survey done by Hong Kong Investor Education Center, over 62% of their survey respondents want to increase their wealth through investment, but they are afraid of losing money.
First time experiences are often scary, and they intensify when money is at stake. New investors may be concerned about making the right investment choice or they feel unfamiliar with the buying/selling process of investment which ultimately lead to the fear of losing money.
Free stocks solve this problem for new investors by giving them stocks to manage for free as soon as they open an account. They can experience the up and down of investment, then try selling off stocks for profit before they invest their own money.
Furthermore, securities firms like Futu and 9F do not charge any custodian fee so new investors can take their time and experience investment process free of charge. Since welcome offers typically give out popular blue-chip shares, new investors can also use this chance to get to know these companies and their performance before consider investing their own money.
Odd lots
Most welcome offers will give out 1 or 2 share(s), which will be considered an odd lot because it amounts to less than 1 single board lot (For example 1 single HSBC lot size contains 400 shares). According to HKEX, odd lots are not accepted by the Exchange’s trading system for auto-matching, but there is a special lot market in the system for odd lots trading. In general, share prices of odd lots are slightly lower than that of the same security in the board lot market due to their lower liquidity.
Given the welcome offer’s odd lots are free in the first place and their selling price could increase in the future, a slight discount in share price should not be a big consideration. Although odd lots are typically eligible for dividend, if the number of shares is too small, any dividend could be offset by handling or platform fee.
The concept of odd lot does not apply if you receive U.S. stock as part of the welcome offer since the lot system is unique to the Hong Kong market. U.S. stocks are traded on per share basis so welcome offer shares will have the same liquidity as any other shares.
Welcome offer comparison and more details
Securities firms in Hong Kong are offering a wide range of welcome offers to new customers. Find out more and compare them below:
HK Market
US Market
Robo Advisors
Futubull
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 15
Welcome Offer: Welcome Offer: Enjoy up to HK$1,800 welcome offer
Register a new account on or before 30th November 2024 by using Planto exclusive promo code “PLANTO” can enjoy the below rewards:
1) Planto exclusive offer : Enter promo code “PLANTO” BEFORE account opening can enjoy HK$200 cash coupon
2) Lifetime commission-free for HK stocks and US stock LV2 real-time streaming quotation services
3) Open an account, deposit a total of HK$10,000 or above into the Futu HK account. Maintain 60 days daily average asset* of HK$10,000 or above to receive : Nvidia (NYSE:NVDA) - 0.5 share or HK$600-equivalent BTC or HK$400 supermarket e-voucher
4) Open an account, deposit a total of HK$80,000 or above into the Futu HK account. Maintain 60 days daily average asset* of HK$80,000 or above to receive : Nvidia (NYSE:NVDA) – 1 share or HK$1,000 equivalent BTC
Redemption procedures : Download Futu app; Register an account and go to Activity Centre; Enter “PLANTO” in redemption centre before account opening. Detailed procedures can refer to review article
All rewards can be stacked. As of the closing price on 14 Oct 2024, Nvidia (NYSE: NVDA) stock price was US$138.07/share
Asset calculation method: Sum of the everyday assets/60 days; Including Cash/ Stocks/ Funds/ Options/ Futures
Investment involves risks. The fund price may move up or down. Investor should thoroughly study the funds' offering documents and other related documents (including risk disclosure statements).
Terms and Conditions apply
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Transaction Fees: Commission-free for HK stocks and Cryptocurrency. HKD 15 / trade as a platform fee only.
For a HKD 10,000 trade, that's: HKD 15 per transaction (excl. mandatory costs by the HK Exchange, etc.).
Tiered pricing also available for people with larger number of trades (min. HKD 1 / trade)
Futu will provide users with free LV1 real-time streaming quotation services (including Hong Kong stocks, options, and futures)
Products Available:: HK, US and China stocks, ETFs and Crypto Currency. Selected funds available via Futu MoneyPlus.
Crypto Currency Trading : : support direct trade with HKD and USD without USDT exchange before trading
Margin Trading: Annual interest rate as low as 3.98% (for advanced investors)
License: Registered member of the HKEX and licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9)
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Tiger Brokers
Other Fee
0
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 0
Welcome Offer: Successfully open an account through Planto’s exclusive link then complete certain tasks from 12th October 2024 to enjoy up to HK$2,700 worth of reward:
- Exclusive HK$400 supermarket vouchers from Planto after depositing HK$10,000 , plus:
1. Time-limited Commission-Free Rewards
- Permanent 0 commission on Hong Kong stock trades
- 0 platform fee for Hong Kong stock trades (until December 31, 2024)
- 0 Commission on US Stock Options Trading (until December 31, 2024)
- 0 Commission on Crypto Trading (until December 31, 2024)
- 0 Platform Fees on Crypto Trading until December 31, 2024)
- NYSE Arca Level 2 Deep Quote streaming for US stocks (valid until December 31, 2024)
- US stock options Level 1 real-time quotes (until December 31, 2024)
- 365-day A-share commission-free coupon (available if you open an account before December 31, 2024)
2. New clients account opening awards, fund more for 60 consecutive days to get more (please refer to T&Cs for detailed qualifications)
- Net deposit* HK$10,000 or US$1,500 or above : to activate HK$300 stock voucher (3x HK$100 vouchers)
- Net deposit* HK$100,000 or above : to activate HK$600 stock vouchers (6x HK$100 vouchers)
3. New Client Trading Rewards
- Complete 5 U.S. stock purchases (excluding fractional shares) within 60 days of account opening : Activate total worth HK$300 Trading Cash Vouchers (3 x HK$100 vouchers)
- Complete 10 U.S. stock purchases (excluding fractional shares) within 60 days of account opening : Activate total accumulated worth HK$600 Trading Cash Vouchers (6x HK$100 vouchers)
- Complete 20 U.S. stock purchases (excluding fractional shares) within 60 days of account opening : Activate total accumulated worth HK$1,200 Trading Cash Vouchers(12x HK$100 vouchers)
4. Crypto Trading Rewards
Complete 5 cryptocurrency purchases within 60 days of account opening : Activate total worth HK$500 Crypto trading vouchers (5x HK$100 vouchers)
* Offers are subject to terms and conditions
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
$0 trading for both Hong Kong and US stock by applying during the promotion period
Invest Hong Kong stock, US stock, US fractional shares, ETF, stock options and Cryptocurrency. The platform also supports margin trading with APR as low as 2.88%
License: Registered member of the HKEX and licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 2, 4, 5)
Longbridge
Other Fee
0
Avg. Trade Cost
HK$0
Welcome Offer: On or before 31 October 2024, apply via Planto by using promo code「614701」, successfully open an account and deposit HK$10,000 to receive :
1) Planto exclusive HK$200 supermarket coupon
2) Extra HK$100 cash rebate
3) Life-time commission free for HK and US stock
4) APR 6% offer for deposit
5) Deposit HK$10,000 for 60 days with 4 tradings : NVDA.US - 1 share OR deposit HK$60,000 for 60 days with 4 tradings : AAPL.US - 1 share
New customers who transfer the stock to LongBridge and meet designated requirement can get either 1) AirPods 4 ; or 2) an iPad mini 6 ; or 3) iPhone 16 Pro Max
Terms and conditions apply
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
- Transaction Fee: For US stocks, commissions of US$0.0049 per share (min. US$0.99), and platform fees of US$0.005 per share (min. US$1) - 0 commission during promotion period.
- For a US$1,000 trade with 5 shares, that's about: US$2 (excl. mandatory costs by the SEC, etc.).
- Product available: HK and US stocks and ETFs
- Margin trading: Annual interest rate of 4.8%
- License: Licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 4, 9)
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Interactive Brokers
Other Fee
0
Avg. Trade Cost
Welcome Offer: Earn up to 4.83% annual interest rate on positive settled cash balance for accounts with total NAV of US$100,000 or higher.
(Accounts with NAV of less than US$100,000 receive interest at rates proportional to the size of the account. Interest rate if for reference only, it may change any time according to market condition)
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
- Transaction Fees: For US stocks, commission fee of US$0.005 / share to US$0.0005 / share
- Product available: Stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds from 150 exchanges in 34 regions including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and India
- Margin Trading: as Low as 5.3%
- Hong Kong SFC license: SFC license Type 1,2,3
Investment involves risks. This information is intended to be educational and is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific investor. This information does not constitute investment advice and should not be used as the basis for any investment decision nor should it be treated as a recommendation for any investment or action. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up, so you may not get back what you invest.
#Brokers welcome offer
#Free stocks
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