Australian Share Investing

The Australian Stock Exchange's "Find a Broker" service is a great place to start your search for a stockbroker...


It provides a list of brokers and their Web addresses based on criteria you select, such as location and the type of securities traded.

If you're after an online broker, you can do an in depth comparison of the features and pricing of a range of brokers using a handy interactive tool on the InfoChoice site...


Once you've identified some likely candidates, I recommend you give them a call and try out their customer service. You'll want to find out

• their brokerage rates
• do they take orders by phone or online or both, and what's the difference in brokerage?
• are there frequent trader discounts?
• do they offer any value added services (company research, price alerts, dynamic market data)?
• will you need to set up a Cash Management Trust?
• what's the procedure for placing orders?

With a full-service broker there are some additional things you'll want to consider:

• the fee structure
• research resources available
• how are clients contacted (is there a newsletter, does the broker call clients)?
• access to new floats
• how often is your portfolio reviewed?

You may even want to select both a discount and a full-service broker - using the discount broker when you know exactly what you want to buy, and the full-service broker when you need some advice on share selection.

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