British - Living in Japan (Opening a trading account)

[robster]

SBI all the way. If you can't read Japanese (and even for those who can), I recommend the Chrome plugin Rikaikun. Just put your mouse cursor over the Japanese words and the translation will be shown in a pop-up window. Signing up will be the hardest part, as there's a bit to read and they will send you Japanese documents to fill out. Google Translate's camera function may be useful here, or you can find someone who can read Japanese to give you a hand. Once you've got your account set up it should be relatively smooth sailing.

Is the main advantage SBI has over Rakuten the number of products available, or are there other advantages?
If the funds i was interested in were available with both SBI and Rakuten, what else should i be looking at when choosing which to use?
Thanks in advance for the advice.

[RetireJapan]

Apparently Monex has the best range. SBI used to have cheaper fees, but Rakuten matched them a couple of months ago. I don't think there is much in it, unless you want to buy something specific (in which case make sure they carry it before opening an account).

[robster]

Having a closer look at both SBI and Rakuten sites, i found that there may be a difference in the amount they charge you for currency exchange when buying and selling US ETFs.
Both companies charge a 0.25% spread "each way", meaning that (as I understand it) you pay this 0.25% when you use your yen to buy ETFs in USD, and again when you cash in and return to yen, so finally you lose 0.5% in expenses.
However, SBI reduce this fee to 0.04% (each way) if you use their 住信SBI Net Bank.
This seems like a small detail but could add up if the amount invested is large or you trade frequently.

[Jamo]

Nice find.

I use the SBI Sumishin NetBank with my SBI trading account. Works great, and you get fee-free withdrawals at seven eleven etc. There's also a pretty decent point/cashback system for using the card visa debit function.

[adamu]

Both companies charge a 0.25% spread "each way", meaning that (as I understand it) you pay this 0.25% when you use your yen to buy ETFs in USD, and again when you cash in and return to yen, so finally you lose 0.5% in expenses.

Do you have a link for this? I use SBI, but I don't buy the ETFs with JPY, I first convert it to USD and then buy it with USD. I always thought the JPY-USD conversion was very reasonable. I'm getting some more USD later this month so I'll compare the rate again then.

[adamu]

Both companies charge a 0.25% spread "each way", meaning that (as I understand it) you pay this 0.25% when you use your yen to buy ETFs in USD, and again when you cash in and return to yen, so finally you lose 0.5% in expenses.

Do you have a link for this? I use SBI, but I don't buy the ETFs with JPY, I first convert it to USD and then buy it with USD. I always thought the JPY-USD conversion was very reasonable. I'm getting some more USD later this month so I'll compare the rate again then.

Here's the link for SBI. It does say you pay 0.25 yen "spread" per USD. It's a bit strange the spread is denominated in yen, rather than as a percent. I guess it stays fixed even as the rate changes.

Does that mean the following applies: Buying $100 USD = 25yen fee, $1000 = 250 yen, $10,000 = 2500 yen etc?

[robster]

I can’t find the original article where i saw this ...but the below blog announces the same:
http://www.pon-blog.com/entry/2017/09/04/074049

And it does seem to be the case on the SBI site.
https://www.netbk.co.jp/wpl/NBGate/i900 ... a_futsu_01

I have not started yet, still researching, so I may have misunderstood something, but it does seem that with a 25sen spread, on $100 you pay 25 yen (each way), wheras with 4sen that is reduced to 4 yen each way. This will be especially useful if you buy US shares with yen, then convert back to yen again when you cash out.

[adamu]

Robster, thanks for the articles. It does seem like unfortunately the exchange fees are much higher than I realised. I just converted a lump sum so if I'd read your article a week earlier I could've opened an FX account and paid 25x less fee. Oh well... It's probably worth making a separate thread about this - looks like a significant cost in investing in US stocks that hasn't been covered here before.

[dave77]

Hi Dave

Welcome! Few quick things in answer to your question:

I don't know of any brokers in the UK that will deal with non-residents. The robo-advisor Nutmeg is about the only one.
Interactive Brokers is a good fit if you want a non-Japanese broker/English-language interface.
SBI seems to be the best option in Japan, closely followed by Rakuten and Monex, but you'll have to do everything in Japanese (not particularly hard once you figure out which button you need).

If you are not using iDeCo to invest and save on income tax, or NISA to save on taxes on dividends and capital gains, I recommend you check them out.

If you search for any of those on the RetireJapan site there should be at least a blog post or two (or twenty) on each

Hello,

Once again thank you for the information.
I was going through an application with SBI NISA but seems like I am unable to sign up for the trading account due to the fact my wife's Japanese father is working for a multinational investment bank here in Japan which means all his family members even myself are not allowed to buy stocks because we are registered under the same household. (some sort of insider trading potential).

In Japanese its something like:

In principle, it is prohibited for employees of brokerage houses to place orders with other brokerage houses.
上の原則（げんそく）が同居（どうきょ）する家族にも当てはまるのです。

This is quite an unusual situation. So I was thinking is it best to set up an overseas account such as Monex? I was really aiming to get the advantages of the NISA account.

Please if you any advice about this case then I would be very grateful.

Thank you,

Dave

[Jansen]

Are you living with your in laws, or is your wife's registered address still the same as theirs?

Because that rule you quote seems to only apply to family living in the same residence -> 同居する家族