Security, Usability, Look & Feel - A user-friendly site design at Selfwealth Australia
We recognise in this Selfwealth review that the security of your assets is extremely important. With so many dodgy brokers out there, you may be asking yourself “is Selfwealth safe?” – and we’re pleased to announce the answer is a resounding yes.
Selfwealth Australia is a very reputable, trustworthy, and secure online trading broker. Their trading platform and website are hosted and kept secure by Amazon Web Services (AWS). This ensures a high level of security and user privacy. Their operations are in line with the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud User Guide.
They offer ‘The Selfwealth App’ downloadable from App Store or Google Play for your smart device. This is in addition to their desktop web trading platform which is compatible on all browsers.
The Selfwealth platform and app appears to be specifically designed to look clean, be clear and easy to trade. The platform contains an intuitive suite of easy to use tools for managing your investment portfolio.It’s also rich in features, including tools to track your portfolio and weigh it against your peers. The main dashboard is intuitively designed to allow you to view performance, daily earnings, and top stocks. With detailed company reports, historical performance along with comparisons with the market and your target portfolio, you can deeply analyse your portfolio to optimise profitability.
Their innovative WealthCheck and SafetyRating metrics allow you to perform a health and risk check of your portfolio at any time. With over 67,000 users trading volume liquidity should be no issue. And if that wasn’t enough, you also have access to company overviews, price forecasts, financials, ratios, recommendations, global market news, community sentiment, community statistics, and more.
Trading on the Selfwealth platform is available to all account types, including: individuals, joint accounts, SMSFs, trusts or companies.
SelfWealth Highlights
- Access to international markets
- Align your portfolio with top investors
- Costs as low as $9.50 AUD per trade
How To Trade – Our step-by-step guide to trading on Selfwealth
With live pricing and an easy to follow order placement page, trading with Selfwealth Australia is simple. You can monitor the status of orders and receive reports on trades made, interest earnt, and dividends received.
- Step 1: Open a free trading account
– Complete the signup process and submit your certified verification documents as part of the 100-point ID check. Upon approval, they create an OpenMarket trading account for you. This account allows your orders to be placed through one or more of OpenMarkets Electronic Trading Facilities or through their Client DTR Service for one or more financial products you may choose to buy. You will be allocated a trading account number, also known as an ‘OpenMarket ID’.
- Step 2: Activate existing HIN or request a new HIN –
Selfwealth Australia is a CHESS sponsored broker and as such, you will be assigned a Holder Identification Number (HIN) if you do not already have one. This ensures that you are the sole owner of the shares and remain the owner even if the broker or custodian becomes insolvent.
- Step 3: Open ANZ cash account –
Selfwealth will assist you with opening an ANZ Cash Account, which you can use to fund your investments. If Selfwealth somehow becomes insolvent, your money in this account is safe as it is held with ANZ. If ANZ becomes insolvent the Australian Government guarantees up to $250,000 held with any one bank.
- Step 4: Fund your account and trade – When your account is open, simply transfer money into your ANZ account and you can place a buy order for any security you desire once the cash has cleared. When you want to sell, set the sell order into the market and the funds will appear into your account within 2 business days (T+2).
- Step 5 Install ‘The Selfwealth App’ on your smart device (Optional)
– View your portfolio, analytics, and trade on the go.
An online broker like Selfwealth empowers you to make responsible investment decisions. Most online brokers, including Selfwealth, provide stock analysis and research, community support, data, and analytics for you to make an informed decision on investments. As such only a small brokerage fee is charged for using their platform and executing your trades instantaneously.
This compares to a traditional personal broker, who executes your trades for you but with a lag. They perform extensive market-research on your behalf and perhaps give you an edge to capitalise on obscure investment opportunities that you may otherwise have missed. These personal brokers usually charge a large fee per transaction for this personalised service, as well as a percentage on profits.
Traditional brokers are traders themselves, and function like an adviser or mentor to their clients. This includes providing valuable informed third-party input on investment decisions. That said, Selfwealth bridges this gap with their ‘Selfwealth Premium’ community investing offering discussed later in this Selfwealth review.
Payments - How are payments made at Selfwealth?
Selfwealth deducts your $9.50 brokerage fee from the funds in your ANZ Cash Account when you make a trade. If you choose to extend your Selfwealth Premium subscription beyond the free 90 days at the beginning, you can pay this $20 monthly membership fee from your credit card or cash account. To opt for a credit card, simply navigate to the “Update Credit Card” button to record/update your credit card details. Then select the “set as default” option.
Customer Service - Professional customer support from Selfwealth
Selfwealth Australia provide customer support via email and live chat. These services are available during trading hours Monday – Friday from 10am – 4pm (AEST). They do not offer telephone support at this stage.
Traders have said Selfwealth’s customer support is very responsive, professional, and helpful. There is further online support available to users on their website’s extensive FAQ page and blog. Additionally, users can reach out to support via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
This is an excellent range of customer support options. While some brokers only offer limited phone or email support, Selfwealth offers a whole host of contact methods.
License & Security - Are Selfwealth secure?
Does Selfwealth have a financial services licence or are they running some sort of a Selfwealth scam? They absolutely do hold a licence. Selfwealth Australia holds an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) #421789.
Selfwealth Australia is owned and operated by the Australian company Selfwealth Ltd (ABN: 52 154324 428). They are a CHESS sponsored share trading broker falling under the regulation of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Their headquarters are at Level 2, 613 Canterbury Road, Surrey Hills, Victoria 3127.
A 100-point identity verification check is required to set up an account. Two-factor authentication is used when logging in. All personal and financial information is protected with 256-bit SSL encryption, keeping your data and funds extremely secure. They indicate that their services are regularly tested and monitored to ensure safety and security. The website has an extended validation SSL certificate. Selfwealth are highly transparent, and their online trading platform can be trusted to provide safe, secure, and fair online trading services.
Reputation and Client Feedback – Positive Selfwealth reviews
Selfwealth has a high-quality reputation as described throughout this Selfwealth review in Australia. On average, Selfwealth’s customers rate their experience with setting up an account, trading, seeking support, account management and admin as a 4/5-star Selfwealth rating. Customers specifically noted how impressed they were with the affordable brokerage fee and noted the fast-high quality technical support from the Selfwealth team with some rare exceptions.
Overall Conclusion - Final thoughts in our Selfwealth review
After reading this Selfwealth review, Australia can rest easy knowing that Selfwealth has all investing and trading needs covered. With the cheapest flat rate brokerage fees in Australia, a smartphone trading app, a world-class look and feel platform and backed by ANZ, Selfwealth is hard to beat. As mentioned in this Selfwealth review, the community aspect is certainly a competitive advantage adding huge value to your trading experience and possibly returns too.
Trading with Selfwealth is a great idea for beginner and intermediate traders. As a more advanced trader it is still a good platform to trade on in tandem with the research and live pricing of another platform such as CommSec. Selfwealth provides some functionality for technical analysis and a somewhat limited variety of tradable assets. However, this is to make investing with Selfwealth easier, providing a more specialized and focused trading experience for the average trader. Simple functionality is part of Selfwealth’s charm and certainly a fantastic choice for most investors or traders. You also receive a bonus insight for reading this Selfwealth review in Australia. Simply sign up using a referral link from an existing Selfwealth investor and receive 5 free trades in your first month!
We hope you enjoyed this Selfwealth review Australia. Be sure to take a look at our other in-depth broker guides and reviews here at Wetten AU before choosing your ideal brokerage.
