Brokerage Cost

The standard brokerage fee is AU$6.50 and is always deducted from your AUD Cash account.

What are the fees for converting between AUD < > USD?

We follow our FX provider's (Currency Cloud) market FX rate and charge a 0.5% fee. Check out this article for an in-depth explanation.

When is the US market open?

US market (NYSE/NASDAQ) are as follows:

• 1:30am - 8am (AEDT) during the wintertime (First Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March)

• 11.30pm - 6 am (AEDT) during the summertime (First Sunday in April to the first Sunday in October).

Please see the full list of U.S. market holidays here, as well as bank holidays here.

Fractional Investing

US investments allow you to hold fractional units of shares/ETFs, which means you will be able to buy/sell in fractional units. An example would be if AAPL is $130 per unit, you can buy 0.1 of a unit for $13.

Limit orders can be placed for full units only

Can I access all US stocks?

Drivewealth offers shares/ETFs that have at least 300 million in assets under management. You can view all available options on our Explore > Invest page.

W8-BEN tax form

The W8-BEN tax form is pre-filled and filed on your behalf by our brokerage partner (DriveWealth) when you open a US investment account with us! No further action is required from you (until the 3-year renewal period comes around).

Are the stocks held under my name? or Pearler?

Your holdings are held under our brokerage partner in your name. Here is a snippet of the legal statement from our US broker (DriveWealth) :

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DriveWealth custodies Securities and Other Assets held in your Account at approved Depository Trust Company Custodians (“DTC Custodians”). DriveWealth holds all positions in nominee name with the DTC Custodians; DriveWealth maintains all records related to the holdings in your Account.

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CHESS-Sponsored vs Custodial vs Micro-investing

Insurance

Our brokerage partner (DriveWealth) is a US broker-dealer registered with FINRA (US regulator) and is a member of SIPC.
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If Pearler fails, you will still have access to all your cash and securities. DriveWealth will establish contact with you on how to proceed.
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If DriveWealth fails, the SIPC gets involved and appoints a trustee to manage the liquidation of the firm and protect customers' cash and securities up to $500,000. ($250,000 for claims for cash).

Share Registry?

Since the shares are held custodially by our US brokerage partner, you won't have a direct relationship with the company or its share registry.

Dividends

You will receive any dividends of a share in proportion to your holding (accounts for fractional units) and it will go into your US Cash account on Pearler.

What happens to my USD when I sell shares?

Your USD will remain in Pearler Cash USD which you can use to buy other US shares, if you want it back as AUD in Pearler Cash AUD, you will have to make a USD -> AUD transfer which normally takes 2-4 business days.

Autoinvest

Yes! You can include US shares and ETFs as part of your Autoinvest portfolio.

Can I transfer US shares to Pearler?

Yes, you can, please check out this article for more information.

What is a Good Faith Violation (GFV)?

A Good Faith Violation is a policy in the US where you cannot sell shares you bought with unsettled funds.

If you have completed a buy recently, you will need to wait T+2 days for settlement (date shown on the contract note) before selling any of the units purchased.

If you earn three GFVs in a 12-month period, our US broker (Drivewealth) will restrict the cash account for 90 days. This means that during this time, you will only be able to buy with fully settled funds.