Choosing/Rating Stockbroker

[Miss_Risky]

@SV,

Your stockbrokers are looking more and more attractive by the minute...

[Stockmarket_Voyeur]

Hey Miss,

I think I mentioned that I was slightly irritated with their service a month/two ago? Anyways, I fired off an email to my account officer letting her know my feelings and boy! has she upped her game.

I have a dedicated officer so I can't comment on the performance of any of the other officers. I'm certainly pleased (smug) with mine. She responds to my emails, executes my buy/sell orders promptly, is proactive in making suggestions on what she feels are good deals and most importantly uses her initiative.

Hope it lasts though !

[Stockmarket_Voyeur]

For any interested party, their website adress is: http://www.strategy-arbitrageltd.com/about_us.htm

[dotunk]

i just got this stock broker - MF securities.

does anybody know much about them? i interveiwed the head guy and he was convincing but the head office is in lagos.

[Yomik]

Hi,
I’m new to Nigeria stock. I need good stockbroker, can anyone recommend one to me. The only one that one of my friends recommends to me was IBTC; if any one knows anything about them let me know. Please guy help me out.



Thanks


Yomi

[gbyg]

Please Yomi, you need to state your location(city) before you can receive any meaningful direction. I want to welcome you onboard. Be optimistic, read alot and ask too much question about stocks and investment. Have a definte goal that you want to acheive if you will be succesful big time investor. Learn to be honest to yourself and to others. Cheers

[Stockbear]

A collaboration between myself and Avocado has yielded some positive results. We came up a set of questions to ask prospective stockbrokers and we approached two FutureView (are yet to respond) and APT. We asked a total of nine questions which we believe should be standard questions for all investors seeking a stockbroker. The questions asked were designed to help investors based both at home and abroad.

APT based on our second email to them have agreed to reduced their N250k sign up fees, if we collectively choose to use them. A discount reference will be given to enable each person set up their account at a discount.

The icing on the cake is that we made them aware that we review the performances of Stockbrokers and that any broker that performs well obviously gets good reviews and patronage.

Based on this, I can see them giving all clients that come to them through SMN a good service. As we can all collectively share our experiences on the forum, and therefore to a wide audience.

If you are interested send me a PM. If you have any queries post them here and I'll try to get answers for them.

CAVEAT:Neither Myself or Avocado stand to gain/benefit in any way shape or form from this arrangement! We only want a better service for ourselves as well as everyone.

Below is APT's response and our reply:

From: APT Securities and Funds Limited <info@aptsecurities.com >
Date: 11-Jun-2007 11:17
Subject: Re: Account openings procedures?
To: <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Dear xxxx.

Thank you for your email.

Please find the answere to your questions below every question.

1. I'm very much interested in using any online facilities you have
available, as this will be my main source of monitoring with my
stockbroking account with you. I particularly rely on emails and text
messaging to issue buy/sell orders and would like to know if this
acceptable with you?

Yes: Apt offers online stockbroking free of charge and registration is easy

2. What sort of operational online facilities do you offer?

Our online facilities allow you to check you statement online, give buy
and sell mandates etc.

3. And how often or frequently do you update the information on your site,
particularly, information pertaining to my portfolio?

Information is update as often as needed, price list and stock information
and account statement is updated whenver there is an activity on the
account.

4. Will I be able to transfer monies directly from my bank account to
yours via e-banking? If yes, who are your bankers?

Yes you can transfer money straight to our account, however you should
ensure the money is deposited in your name and you should send us the
telleer number and payment details. We bank with GTB, Zenith and Oceanic.

5. What is the minimum required to open an account with you?

The minimum required to open an account is 250,000naira only.

6. Can the minimum you require include a transfer of my existing shares,
and how long does it take to get the account operational?

Yes, the minimum may include a transfer of shares based on the current
market value. Also your account will be operational once uyou register and
your cscs account is open which ideally takes less about a week.

7. Will I be able to receive contract notes and other relevant documents as
email attachments?

We do not normally send contract notes via email and transcation will be
visible on your statement. Please indicate the other relevant documents
are you referring to?

8. In order for me to effect buy/sell orders effectively, I would
appreciate a comprehensive and complete list of all Statutory and other
charges you have, connected with buying and selling of shares, as this
influences my decision to open an account with any broking firm.

The new charges as directed by SEC are split into buy and sell:

On the Sell side:

Stockbroker income: 1.125%
NSE Fees: 0.525%
CSCS: 0.4725%
Stamp duties: 0.075%
Total: 2.6475%

On the Buy Side:

Stockbroker income: 1.575%
SEC Fees: 0.60%
CSCS: 0.105%
Stamp duties: 0.075%
Total: 2.355%

9. With regards to the new capitalization directive, how does this affect
your company and any shares bought with you?

APT Securities and Funds Limited can only be positively affected by the capitalization directive. We are not at any risk of breakdown, merger or acquisition and are well within the requirements of the capitalisation.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any other enquiries.

Thank you.

Yours Faithfully,
APT Securities and Funds Limited



from xxxx 12-Jun
to info@aptsecurities.com
date 12-Jun-2007 10:41
subject Re: Account openings procedures?
mailed-by googlemail.com


Thank you for your prompt reply. I have one query, a friend spoke with the MD, Mr Kufi recently and he stated that the minimum investment is N50k, but this would go up to N450 by the end of June. If you stick to the N50K for the present, I reckon you will get clients to from both Nairaland and StockMarketNigeria where we review and discuss services we each receive from our brokers.

Most members based both abroad and in Nigeria are seeking for a good broker, I would like to use your services and be able to tell others whether its an excellent service or not.

Cashcraft so far has the worst reputation so far.

http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-12852.0.html

Choosing/Rating Stockbroker

http://www.stockmarketnigeria.com/fo...=2298#post2298

Thanks for your help.




Their Reply Today:

from APT Securities and Funds Limited <info@aptsecurities.com> hide details 11:06 (12 hours ago)
reply-to info@aptsecurities.com
to xxxxx
date 19-Jun-2007 11:06
subject Re: Account opening procedure?
Dear xxxx,

Thank you for your email.

The increase of minimum investment to 250,000naira changed to 250,000 on
1st June 2007. However in the case that sevreal accounts from the same
link are being opened together consideration may be given for a slightly
lower minimum balance. However the minimum amount cannot be lowered all
the way to 50,000naira

Please note that the minimum balance also include the worth of share
certificates transferred to us therefore it is not all new purchase.

Thank you,

Yours Faithfully,
APT Securities and Funds Limited.

[Yomik]

I don’t know what you are talking about; if you don’t have any information just forgets about it. I have say it many times I base in state, and I like to involve in stocks that is why I’m looking for reliable broker.

[Miss_Risky]

@Yomik,

In this forum, people are usually courteous to one another even when they have differing opinions. That is what makes it a joy to come back to day after day. We would all like to keep it that way.

I believe what gbyg was trying to suggest is that you read other threads that deal with the same question you raised. So please check out the following threads:
Choosing/rating stockbrokers, APT Securities & APT Securities 2: New developments. Hopefully, you'll be able to find some useful leads.

Looking forward to your contribution to the forum.

[lauchukel]

Yomik,
I agree with Miss_Risky. And to further reiterate, it will be nice to rephrase your question if you believe whoever responded did not get you right. On the other hand all Gyb was trying to tell you was that, various threads have been raised on the issue of stockbrokers and quite frankly, we are all constantly in search of good stockbrokers. All you have to do, is read these threads and decide what and who exactly meets your minimum criteria. And for your information also, a good percentage of members also live all over the world. pls lets keep this site as polite as possible. You are welcome.

[paragon]

hey guys,
the joy of relationship is in understanding. Thankyou Miss_Risky and lauchukel for the show of concern.

@ Yomik, we are here to help and assist each other, so keep the spirit alive. Welcome onboard

[Stockbear]

Posted by Babatunde Akinyemi:

Dear Stockbear,

Please don't be taken in by the sweet talks in the APT response to your email. When I was about to open a stock account sometimes in April this year I visited the APT office at Marina in Lagos to ask for advice and means of depositing my money with them. Believe you me it took more than one hour and half for them to get somebody to talk to me. The stockbroker alloted to me knows next to nothing for among other foolishness he asked me to use half of my =N=3M to buy trancorp. During the course of the time I sat at their reception many dissatisfied customers came in complaining about failure to have their buy/sell orders carried out. I walked out knowing that the APT offers no good service. I then went to First city where they are more knowledgweable and courteous but nevertheless have little time for small investors.
I am now with cashcraft and I share your view that they are unresponive and we on this forum are far more knowledgable than the best of them.

My advice is that before you leap to another stockbroker get personal experience from current customers whose investment philosophy and requirement is like yours.

Not everyone can afford to open an account with the "Big Boys". So it makes sense to find a balance of a medium sized broker with good services.

On the other hand, My choice of Cashcraft when I started out was owing to the fact that we had Cashcraft representatives in our midst posing as members, and directing potential clients their way. As you might be aware, I'm not based at home and needed somewhere the initial investment was small to start with, owing to the fact that I needed to be cautious. Imagine if I had started Cashcraft with a million Naira, I would be crying today, owing to my experiences with them.

Unless you have reliable info informing you that a stockbrokers' service is excellent, I wouldn't advice anyone to pay a large sum to them. It's quite easy to sign up and difficult to get out. Someone on Nairaland trying to move her portfolio to another broker had to get the transfer form from the new broker and her current broker has so far made her wait more than 2 months plus for a signature to the end that they are frustrating all her efforts to move.

Who needs this kind of hassle? Unless people come forward and share their experiences both good and bad how do we help each other? It's not enough that everyone recommends a broker as good, give us a breakdown of the positives and negatives. At least some of us do at least give suggestions, worst still is the fact that some of us just keep quiet and leach of the generous members amongst us.

Babatunde Akinyemi: You are a star! Thanks for your concise info. This really puts things into perspective. Forgive me, but how come it's taken you so long to share this info? The APT securities thread has been up for a while. I did ask for everyone's input but hardly any substantial until now. Don't get me wrong, I'm only trying to highlight the importance that we all (at least I think) do rely on each other for info that will help us make informed decisions.

Please everyone let's all try to help each other out. This is what this forum is for.

Once again, Babatunde thanks for your timely contribution. I have saved me from sinking my money down the drain.

[Stockbear]

Whatsup: You ask why APT, but the answer you seek is already in the post above. In addition to the fact that they were willing to reduce their sign up fees, I figured that since they are aware that we review brokers, this would compel them to provide members from SMN with a good service and therefore expect good reviews and as a direct result of good reviews from members, get further patronage.

A friend who was about to use their services, based on her conversation with their MD considered signing up with them, but eventually didn't because she realised that the problem she thought she had with her account manager, was actually nonexistent.

She stayed on with them Trust Yields, but the problem with them is (1) they don't have a strong online presence, (2) they only had three bankers, none of which I had accounts with.

[bwalaman]

The Bear is back with a vengeance...Thanks man!!! Good idea, initiative!!!
Thanks...

[Yomik]

Thanks to you all

[Stockbear]

Bman: I'm still crawling o! Still yet to fully resolve my internet service problems. I'm currently forced to resort to dial-up which is like running a race at snail pace, but paying the price of driving a Lamborghini.

This seriously hampers what I can do online and the time I also spend online.