US Broker who will open an account for an Australian citizen.

Discussion in 'Retail Brokers' started by Apollo13, Sep 10, 2018.

  1. Apollo13

    Apollo13

    Hey all.

    I am currently using Interactive Brokers for stocks and am reasonably happy with them.
    They are cheap for trading at my level of business so that's fine.

    However, I would like to try another broker. Preferably someone with a more "modernised" platform. Happy to pay a little more for something modern.

    TWS looks and behaves like it was designed by committee sometime in the 90's.

    Don't get me wrong, it does stuff ... lots of stuff. But it has a 1500 page manual for a reason and even though I have been using it for a few years it's still painful to use.

    Looking for a big name ... large cap ... 15B+ broker.
     
    comagnum likes this.
  2. southall

    southall

    Have you ever thought about developing some custom software for just your specific use cases using the TWS api?

    I been running TWS daily since 2004 but never use it directly. Have my own simple GUIs that sit in front of TWS and do exactly what i want and no more.
    But TWS is still there if needed as well.
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2018
  3. Apollo13

    Apollo13

    I have. I then thought better of it. I looked at attaching Ninja trader to it for a while.
    Not really ideal. Would rather just have a platform that worked right out of the box.
     
  4. Robert Morse

    Robert Morse Sponsor

    We can. I have Australian clients. We only offer access to US listed Equities, Options and Futures traded in USD.
    https://www.lightspeed.com/

    How can I help? Email or call me directly.

    Bob
     
  5. Apollo13

    Apollo13

    Thanks for giving me the heads up for Lightspeed.
    Will do some checking.

    I had a PM for Charles Schwab ... so am looking at them also and they do take Aussies which is good. 25k Min .. which is fine.

    For anyone that needs to know.

    Brokers that do NOT take on Aussie clients.

    E*Trade (US not ANZ's Version)
    TD Ameritrade.
    Think or Swim

    Brokers that are unknown
    Fidelity (claim to but don't pick up the phone).

    Will update this post as I investigate more.
     
    Epicurus, MoreLeverage and themickey like this.
  6. Robert Morse

    Robert Morse Sponsor

    We can offer PMA for those that qualify with Accounts starting with $175,000 USD.
     
  7. Apollo13

    Apollo13

    At the risk of appearing stupid. PMA ?
    As for 175k .. is that a continuous account size including holdings ?
    If it goes down what happens ?
     
  8. Robert Morse

    Robert Morse Sponsor

    Portfolio Margin- risk based margin
    Must maintain liquidating equity of $150k not cash.
    Below $150k if regulatory call not met in one day, the account reverts to Reg-T margin.
     
  9. Apollo13

    Apollo13

    Oh... ok. Thanks for the explanation.
    I don't need margin.
    Cash account only.
     
  10. Robert Morse

    Robert Morse Sponsor

    #10     Sep 11, 2018