Need help with Japanese (for SBI) and some other guidance

[Roger Van Zant]

Hello,

First-time poster here.
Sorry if my questions seem really silly.

I have an account with SBI.
I started a NISA back in 2016 using this SBI account. It has sat empty until very recently, due to my financial situation changing shortly after opening it.

After reading some posts on here, I have been thinking about converting it to a つみたてNISA. Is this possible? I clicked on the button to convert to a つみたてNISA, and some dialogue box popped up about not being able to do anything until after October 1st? Why? (Sorry, my Japanese is not fluent): https://ibb.co/RHZ1rtC

I have also been looking at ETFs to invest in, as from now on I should have a bit of money to invest each month; not much, probably 10,000 yen or so.
I already pay 10,000 yen each month into my company's DB pension plan, administered by a company called Benefit One (anyone else ever heard of them)? I am pretty sure this is an article about the scheme I pay into : https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/9168608/?p=1

I found the following ETF on SBI : ｉシェアーズ　Ｓ＆Ｐ　５００　米国株　ＥＴＦ（為替ヘッジあり） （2563）
Is anyone else invested in this? Is it a decent ETF?

Other posters on here have recommended just getting a つみたてNISA, buying into an ETF and "leaving it alone".
If I want to invest, say, 10,000 yen each month, can I set up an automatic withdrawal from my bank account where I receive my salary, to my SBI account? Then, each month, I have to log in to SBI and manually invest that 10,000 yen into the ETF of my choice? Can I set up an automatic withdrawal within SBI to take 10,000 yen each month and buy into the same ETF?

When I go to buy an ETF, I see four options. For example, here is a screen shot when I go to buy ＳＢＩ－ＳＢＩ・バンガード・Ｓ＆Ｐ５００インデックス・ファンド:
https://ibb.co/T2MKFmw
The price is 11,661. Does this mean the price of one share in this ETF is 11,661?
I then see 金額買付, 口数買付, 積立買付, and つみたてNISA買付.
If I want to invest 10,000 yen, which of the above buttons do I click on?
Can I invest just 10,000 yen if the price of one share is higher than this (i.e. 11,661?)

Thank you for reading.

[adamu]

Will reply in more detail later if nobody else does, but first a quick pointer.

ETF stands for Exchange Traded Fund, which means a "fund" that is traded like a stock on the stock exchange. There are also mutual funds you can buy directly, without going via the stock exchange, which would be just... F I guess. You should consider also looking at the wide range of non-exchange traded funds, especially the eMaxis Slim series. In Japanese they are called 投資信託. You can see them on SBI here.

The ＳＢＩ－ＳＢＩ・バンガード・Ｓ＆Ｐ５００インデックス・ファンド fund you talked about is an example of a mutual fund - it's not an ETF.

[Roger Van Zant]

Will reply in more detail later if nobody else does, but first a quick pointer.

ETF stands for Exchange Traded Fund, which means a "fund" that is traded like a stock on the stock exchange. There are also mutual funds you can buy directly, without going via the stock exchange, which would be just... F I guess. You should consider also looking at the wide range of non-exchange traded funds, especially the eMaxis Slim series. In Japanese they are called 投資信託. You can see them on SBI here.

The ＳＢＩ－ＳＢＩ・バンガード・Ｓ＆Ｐ５００インデックス・ファンド fund you talked about is an example of a mutual fund - it's not an ETF.

Thank you for your reply.
Honestly, I don't know much about investing, as you can probably tell! I just want to put my 10,000 yen per month into something which I can leave alone, and which hopefully, will grow as opposed to losing money. With this in mind, which is more suitable for me: the eMaxis Slim series which you mentioned, or the ＳＢＩ－ＳＢＩ・バンガード・Ｓ＆Ｐ５００インデックス・ファンド which I found before on SBI? (The latter is also a "non-exchange traded fund"?)

Thanks again.

[Kanto]

SBI FUND
信託報酬 (税込)/年
0.0938%程度
https://site0.sbisec.co.jp/marble/fund/ ... =289311199

Emaxis Slim FUND
信託報酬 (税込)/年
0.0968%以内
https://site0.sbisec.co.jp/marble/fund/ ... =103311187

The SBI fund is a Vanguard fund that is tracking VOO. In this case, it has a slight edge.

[adamu]

which is more suitable for me: the eMaxis Slim series which you mentioned, or the ＳＢＩ－ＳＢＩ・バンガード・Ｓ＆Ｐ５００インデックス・ファンド which I found before on SBI?

It's impossible to answer that properly without knowing your situation. But for general guidance, most people on this forum would agree that for a set it and forget it fund, eMaxis Slim All Country (ｅＭＡＸＩＳ Ｓｌｉｍ 全世界株式（オール・カントリー) is one of the best options at the moment. The SBI funds have the disadvantage that they wrap up US-listed ETFs, and thus are subject to extra taxation. The eMaxis slim funds are based in Japan and buy the stocks directly, so are better, at least in theory.

You can definitely invest 10k a month pretty easily. To do that, you want the red 金額買付 button to do a one-off trade, or if you want to do it automatically every month, you can use the green 積立買付 button. On the next screen make sure you select NISA預り. You say that you want to buy 10k yen, and they work out how many units that will be. It takes a few days for the transaction to go through. It also looks possible to convert a NISA to a Tsumitate NISA, but I've not looked into the details: https://site1.sbisec.co.jp/ETGate/WPLET ... enkou.html

[Roger Van Zant]

SBI FUND
信託報酬 (税込)/年
0.0938%程度
https://site0.sbisec.co.jp/marble/fund/ ... =289311199

Emaxis Slim FUND
信託報酬 (税込)/年
0.0968%以内
https://site0.sbisec.co.jp/marble/fund/ ... =103311187

The SBI fund is a Vanguard fund that is tracking VOO. In this case, it has a slight edge.

What is "VOO"? Thanks.

[Kanto]

which is more suitable for me: the eMaxis Slim series which you mentioned, or the ＳＢＩ－ＳＢＩ・バンガード・Ｓ＆Ｐ５００インデックス・ファンド which I found before on SBI?

It's impossible to answer that properly without knowing your situation. But for general guidance, most people on this forum would agree that for a set it and forget it fund, eMaxis Slim All Country (ｅＭＡＸＩＳ Ｓｌｉｍ 全世界株式（オール・カントリー) is one of the best options at the moment. The SBI funds have the disadvantage that they wrap up US-listed ETFs, and thus are subject to extra taxation. The eMaxis slim funds are based in Japan and buy the stocks directly, so are better, at least in theory.

You can definitely invest 10k a month pretty easily. To do that, you want the red 金額買付 button to do a one-off trade, or if you want to do it automatically every month, you can use the green 積立買付 button. On the next screen make sure you select NISA預り. You say that you want to buy 10k yen, and they work out how many units that will be. It takes a few days for the transaction to go through. It also looks possible to convert a NISA to a Tsumitate NISA, but I've not looked into the details: https://site1.sbisec.co.jp/ETGate/WPLET ... enkou.html

The SBI/Vanguard funds are still overall a better option if you choose only U.S, (S&P500).

The Exmaxis Slim funds are an overall better option if you choose developed country/all country.

[TokyoWart]

What is "VOO"? Thanks.

It is the Vanguard ETF for the S&P 500 index. An easy way to remember it is to think of the Roman "V" for "5" followed by "00".

[Roger Van Zant]

which is more suitable for me: the eMaxis Slim series which you mentioned, or the ＳＢＩ－ＳＢＩ・バンガード・Ｓ＆Ｐ５００インデックス・ファンド which I found before on SBI?

It's impossible to answer that properly without knowing your situation. But for general guidance, most people on this forum would agree that for a set it and forget it fund, eMaxis Slim All Country (ｅＭＡＸＩＳ Ｓｌｉｍ 全世界株式（オール・カントリー) is one of the best options at the moment. The SBI funds have the disadvantage that they wrap up US-listed ETFs, and thus are subject to extra taxation. The eMaxis slim funds are based in Japan and buy the stocks directly, so are better, at least in theory.

You can definitely invest 10k a month pretty easily. To do that, you want the red 金額買付 button to do a one-off trade, or if you want to do it automatically every month, you can use the green 積立買付 button. On the next screen make sure you select NISA預り. You say that you want to buy 10k yen, and they work out how many units that will be. It takes a few days for the transaction to go through. It also looks possible to convert a NISA to a Tsumitate NISA, but I've not looked into the details: https://site1.sbisec.co.jp/ETGate/WPLET ... enkou.html

The SBI/Vanguard funds are still overall a better option if you choose only U.S, (S&P500).

The Exmaxis Slim funds are an overall better option if you choose developed country/all country.

Thank you.
Let me take a closer look when I get off work.

[Roger Van Zant]

which is more suitable for me: the eMaxis Slim series which you mentioned, or the ＳＢＩ－ＳＢＩ・バンガード・Ｓ＆Ｐ５００インデックス・ファンド which I found before on SBI?

It's impossible to answer that properly without knowing your situation. But for general guidance, most people on this forum would agree that for a set it and forget it fund, eMaxis Slim All Country (ｅＭＡＸＩＳ Ｓｌｉｍ 全世界株式（オール・カントリー) is one of the best options at the moment. The SBI funds have the disadvantage that they wrap up US-listed ETFs, and thus are subject to extra taxation. The eMaxis slim funds are based in Japan and buy the stocks directly, so are better, at least in theory.

You can definitely invest 10k a month pretty easily. To do that, you want the red 金額買付 button to do a one-off trade, or if you want to do it automatically every month, you can use the green 積立買付 button. On the next screen make sure you select NISA預り. You say that you want to buy 10k yen, and they work out how many units that will be. It takes a few days for the transaction to go through. It also looks possible to convert a NISA to a Tsumitate NISA, but I've not looked into the details: https://site1.sbisec.co.jp/ETGate/WPLET ... enkou.html

Thank you. Just to check my understanding:
If I click on the green button, then each month 10,000 yen will automatically go to the fund I choose? The exact same fund each month?
If I want to alternate between a couple of funds (e.g. Sept put 10,000 yen in the eMaxis Slim, Oct put 10,000 yen in the SBI Vanguard, Nov put 10,000 yen in the eMaxis etc.) then I need to use the red button each month and do things manually?