If you’re on the hunt for a beginner-friendly one-stop investment platform where you can analyse companies, get the latest news, trade stocks, track your performance, and connect with other traders, you might want to consider trying the moomoo app.
I’ve been using moomoo app for almost 3 months now and it’s been a game-changer in the way I trade. The competitive fees Futu SG charges via moomoo trading platform allows me to trade more frequently and in smaller amounts.
The moomoo app is also very easy to use and beginner-friendly. The interface is clean and intuitive. Besides the basic stock trading features, moomoo has many other advanced features for more experienced traders as well. In addition, moomoo app is available on both mobile, tablet and desktop so you can trade anywhere.
If you want to jump straight in and try it for yourself, you can use my referral link.
Currently, the December Welcome Bundle includes a free Apple share (~SGD 230 as of time of writing) and SGD 40 stock cashback coupon when you first deposit at least SGD 2,700 into your Futu SG securities account and this Christmas period, there is a limited time only, sure-win snatch ‘n’ win campaign where new users gets to snatch over 200 gifts daily (including an iPhone 13) happening daily at 8pm till 1st Jan 2022. All eligible participants who did not managed to snatch one of the daily gifts, will be given a SGD 40 stock cashback coupon.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links and I may get a commission when you click on the links or open an account through the links, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products or services that I have personally tried and have found useful.
The Basics
First, let’s talk about the minimum features I want to see in a broker platform before I even consider taking a closer look. Usually, there are 3 basic things I’m concerned about:
- Regulation & Safety
- Fees
- Market access
Regulation & Safety: Futu SG is a subsidiary of Futu Holdings Limited, listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker FUTU. Futu is also backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent. The Singapore arm, Futu Singapore is a Capital Markets Services Licence holder (License No. CMS101000) licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Securities, brokerage products and related services on moomoo app are offered through Futu Singapore Pte Ltd. US securities in your account are protected up to $500K by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).
Market access: moomoo app is the trading platform for Futu, which grants users access to capital markets in the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and China A-shares. In addition, Futu SG also offers also offers access to options, ADRs, ETFs, futures and REITs through the moomoo app.
Fees: Futu SG doesn’t charge any custody fees, account maintenance fees, account inactivity fees or require a minimum deposit. The only fees charged via moomoo app are commission (this is free during their promotion period) and platform fees incurred during trading. Take note that there are also other fees charged by third parties like settlement fees, SEC fees, trading activity fees and ADR custodian fees. For the full details on fees, refer here.
What’s Good
There are many things to like about the moomoo app overall, but here are my highlights.
Low minimum fees: As a small retail investor, I frequently trade in small denominations of less than SGD10K so I usually end up paying the minimum commission. In Singapore with most brokers, that minimum commission ranges from around SGD 10 for custodian accounts to SGD 25 for CDP accounts. When using moomoo app, I’m paying much less. The minimum fee is SGD 2.49/order for the Singapore market or USD 1.99/order for the US market. More details on the fees here. Having low minimum fees also allows me to dollar-cost-average (DCA) into my positions more frequently in smaller increments.
In-app analysis features: moomoo app has stock charts, technical indicators, company financials, and fundamental analysis all within the app. This saves me a ton of time not having to switch to other websites or apps like Yahoo Finance, TradeView or Seeking Alpha. For stocks in your watchlist, moomoo also pushes notifications to you on the latest news and articles to help you keep updated on your stocks.
One-stop shop: Besides plain vanilla stock trading, moomoo app also offers trading in options and futures. In addition, Futu SG offers margin account trading as well. For beginners however, best to stick to cash account trading at least until you’ve learnt the ropes. Moomoo also offers investor education so you can learn all the basics from courses within the app.
Freebies: Free stocks and commission-free trades should not be the primary reason to use a certain platform, but who doesn’t like free stuff? moomoo is on an aggressive path to gain market share to our benefit. If you’ve not signed up with moomoo, you can take advantage of the attractive Welcome Bundle + Christmas Promotion they’re offering now.
- Welcome Bundle (ends 31 Dec 2021 09:59 SGT): New moomoo users who deposit at least SGD 2,700 for first deposit are eligible for 1 free Apple (AAPL) share worth around SGD 230 (as of time of writing) + SGD 40 in stock cash coupons. Even just upon registration for a moomoo ID you are already entitled to 180 days of unlimited commission-free trading for US, HK & SG stock markets.
- Christmas Promotion (ends 1 Jan 2022 23:59 SGT): Daily Snatch to snatch attractive prizes like iPhone 13, AirPods 3, and Grab vouchers. All eligible participants who failed to snatch a gift will still receive a SGD 40 stock cashback coupon.
- You can find T&Cs on their website here.
What’s Not
Although moomoo app is mostly great, there are some things I’m not so thrilled about.
Chinese government regulation: As with any Chinese company, Futu is subject to the whims and fancy of the Chinese government under CCP. Even Futu has not escaped scrunity during the Chinese tech crackdown (read here), but so far the focus has been on the services they are offering to mainland investors related to offshore investments. I don’t think it’s a big concern for now, but it is something we should be wary of and keep in mind when using any foreign broker. To mitigate risk, you could also limit the proportion of assets to be invested through foreign brokerages.
Paper trading: moomoo also offers paper trading which is great to familiarise with the platform and try out new trading strategies. However, the paper trading feature is in a separate window which has limited features and doesn’t reflect the exact interface for real trading. I struggled with their paper trading feature for a while, but eventually got used to it.
Portfolio analysis: My biggest gripe with moomoo app is the lack of any portfolio analysis and performance tracking features. I would ideally like to have a breakdown of my holdings by ticker and by sector/industry. Also, I always want to know how my portfolio is performing against benchmarks like the S&P 500, Nasdaq composite, HSI or STI.
Conclusion
If you’re a small investor and still paying minimum trading fees in excess of USD 2 or SGD 2.50, I’d suggest you consider taking advantage of the December Christmas promotion to try the moomoo platform out. Who knows you might like the app, save on fees, improve your investing results, and maybe even learn a thing or two from the courses or community.
If you have any questions about the moomoo platform, feel free to reach out to me here or leave a comment below.
If you’ve read this far and still interested to sign up with moomoo, here’s my referral link again.
Happy investing and wishing you a Merry Christmas!
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