Due to heated competition between investment service providers, various securities brokers are competing for new customers. In recent months, securities brokers are going above and beyond competing with services, and account opening welcome offers are becoming a norm among securities brokers in Hong Kong.
Consumers are opening securities accounts for investment, and no welcome offer would prove to be more attractive than having blue-chip stocks in the newly opened account, for free!
Free stocks are especially great for new investors
From experienced investors’ perspective, receiving a few free shares may not have any impact on their overall portfolio, however this may not be the case for new investors. According to a survey done by Hong Kong Investor Education Center, over 62% of their survey respondents want to increase their wealth through investment, but they are afraid of losing money.
First time experiences are often scary, and they intensify when money is at stake. New investors may be concerned about making the right investment choice or they feel unfamiliar with the buying/selling process of investment which ultimately lead to the fear of losing money.
Free stocks solve this problem for new investors by giving them stocks to manage for free as soon as they open an account. They can experience the up and down of investment, then try selling off stocks for profit before they invest their own money.
Furthermore, securities firms like Futu and 9F do not charge any custodian fee so new investors can take their time and experience investment process free of charge. Since welcome offers typically give out popular blue-chip shares, new investors can also use this chance to get to know these companies and their performance before consider investing their own money.
Odd lots
Most welcome offers will give out 1 or 2 share(s), which will be considered an odd lot because it amounts to less than 1 single board lot (For example 1 single HSBC lot size contains 400 shares). According to HKEX, odd lots are not accepted by the Exchange’s trading system for auto-matching, but there is a special lot market in the system for odd lots trading. In general, share prices of odd lots are slightly lower than that of the same security in the board lot market due to their lower liquidity.
Given the welcome offer’s odd lots are free in the first place and their selling price could increase in the future, a slight discount in share price should not be a big consideration. Although odd lots are typically eligible for dividend, if the number of shares is too small, any dividend could be offset by handling or platform fee.
The concept of odd lot does not apply if you receive U.S. stock as part of the welcome offer since the lot system is unique to the Hong Kong market. U.S. stocks are traded on per share basis so welcome offer shares will have the same liquidity as any other shares.
Welcome offer comparison and more details
Securities firms in Hong Kong are offering a wide range of welcome offers to new customers. Find out more and compare them below:
HK Market
US Market
Robo Advisors
Webull
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 10
Welcome Offer: During the promotion period, new customers who apply via Planto, successfully open a Webull account, and complete some simple tasks can enjoy rewards valued up to HK$1,000:
- Successfully open an account, deposit HK$10,000, and retain it for 60 days to receive a HK$1,000 supermarket voucher. (Complete Planto reward redemption to receive the offer)
Terms and conditions apply.
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Transaction Fees: No commissions - just a HKD 10 platform fee per trade.
For a HKD 10,000 trade, that’s: HKD 10 per transaction
Products Available: Hong Kong and US stocks, A shares, ETFs, warrants, IPOs and odd lot shares
Real-time market information: Free real-time quotes for Hong Kong stocks (BMP quotes) and quotes from major global exchanges
Margin Trading: Unavailable
License: Licensed with the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (CE No. BNG700) for carrying out type 1 regulated activity (“dealing in securities”).
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Webull
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 0
Welcome Offer: During the promotion period, new customers who apply via Planto, successfully open a Webull account, and complete some simple tasks can enjoy rewards valued up to HK$1,000:
- Successfully open an account, deposit HK$10,000, and retain it for 60 days to receive a HK$1,000 supermarket voucher. (Complete Planto reward redemption to receive the offer)
Terms and conditions apply.
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Transaction Fees: No commissions - just a HKD 10 platform fee per trade.
For a HKD 10,000 trade, that’s: HKD 10 per transaction
Products Available: Hong Kong and US stocks, A shares, ETFs, warrants, IPOs and odd lot shares
Real-time market information: Free real-time quotes for Hong Kong stocks (BMP quotes) and quotes from major global exchanges
Margin Trading: Unavailable
License: Licensed with the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (CE No. BNG700) for carrying out type 1 regulated activity (“dealing in securities”).
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Tiger Brokers
Other Fee
0
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 0
Welcome Offer: Successfully open an account through Planto’s exclusive link then complete certain tasks from March 15th to May 31st 2024 to enjoy up to HK$1,400 worth of reward: Exclusive HK$400 supermarket vouchers from Planto, plus:
1. Time-limited Commission-Free Rewards*
- 0 Commission for HK stock trading (Lifetime)
- 0 Platform fee for HK stock trading (until 30th June 2024)
- 3-month free HK Stock Lv1 streaming quotes (until 30th June 2024)
- NYSE Arca Level 2 Deep Quote streaming for US stocks (until 30th June 2024)
- 0 Commission for US stock option trading (until 30th June 2024)
- US Stock Option Lv1 Real-time Quotes (until 30th June 2024)
2. Open an account and maintain a accumulated net funding of at least HK$10,000 within 45 days, to enjoy HK$300 stock voucher (3x HK$100 vouchers)
3. Complete 5 non-forex trades with each trade amounting to or exceeding HK$100 within 60 days after successful account opening (applicable to both Hong Kong and US stocks), to enjoy HK$500 stock voucher (5x HK$100 vouchers)
4. Complete the first option trading to enjoy HK$200 stock voucher (2x HK$100 vouchers).
Please note that the award received after successfully opening a Tiger account must be activated after maintaining daily cumulative net deposits equivalent to or exceeding HK$10,000 for 45 consecutive days starting from the account opening date.【45 days】refers to the day of account opening as the first day, followed by a complete 45 days, calculated as a total duration of 45 days * 24 hours. Daily cumulative net deposits = (from the account opening date) cumulative deposit amount - (from the account opening date) cumulative withdrawal amount, excluding asset fluctuations caused by normal trading activities.
Welcome Offer: On or before 30 April 2024, apply via Planto, successfully open an account and transfer net asset worth HK$1,000,000, retain for 90 days and execute 60 transactions, to receive an iPhone 15 Pro Max 512G; you are still eligible if you open an account before 21 February but have not yet transferred the assets.
Deposit HK$10,000, you can receive up to HK$1,600 worth of rewards:
Planto exclusive HK$200 supermarket coupon
Total worth of HK$600 cash coupons (retain assets for 60 days)
Total worth of HK$800 cash coupons (retain assets for 60 days and execute 10 transactions)
HK Lv1 live stocks quote upon successful registration
Life-time free commission on US and Hong Kong stocks upon successful registration
Selected money market funds of up to 5.66% 7-day annualised rate of return upon successful registration
0 handling fee for Hong Kong IPO
NASDAQ basic quotes
Terms and conditions
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Transaction Fee: For HK stocks, commissions of 0.03% per trade (min HK$3), and platform fees of HK$15 per trade (0 commission during promotion period)
For a HKD 10,000 trade, that's: HKD 15 per transaction (excl. mandatory costs by the HK Exchange, etc.).
Product available: HK and US stocks and ETFs
Margin trading: Annual interest rate of 6.5%
License: Licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 4, 9)
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LONGBRIDGE
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 8
Welcome Offer: On or before 30 April 2024, apply via Planto, successfully open an account and transfer net asset worth HK$1,000,000, retain for 90 days and execute 60 transactions, to receive an iPhone 15 Pro Max 512G; you are still eligible if you open an account before 21 February but have not yet transferred the assets.
Deposit HK$10,000, you can receive up to HK$1,600 worth of rewards:
Planto exclusive HK$200 supermarket coupon
Total worth of HK$600 cash coupons (retain assets for 60 days)
Total worth of HK$800 cash coupons (retain assets for 60 days and execute 10 transactions)
HK Lv1 live stocks quote upon successful registration
Life-time free commission on US and Hong Kong stocks upon successful registration
Selected money market funds of up to 5.66% 7-day annualised rate of return upon successful registration
0 handling fee for Hong Kong IPO
NASDAQ basic quotes
Terms and conditions
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Transaction Fee: For US stocks, commissions of US$0.0049 per share (min. US$0.99), and platform fees of US$0.005 per share (min. US$1) - 0 commission during promotion period.
For a US$1,000 trade with 5 shares, that's about: US$2 (excl. mandatory costs by the SEC, etc.).
Product available: HK and US stocks and ETFs
Margin trading: Annual interest rate of 4.8%
License: Licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 4, 9)
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Futubull
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 15
Welcome Offer: Enjoy up to HK$1,900 from April welcome offer
Register a new account through Planto and receive an exclusive HKD 200 cash coupon (directly deposited into Futu account)
Open an account, deposit HK$10,000, and complete specific requirements can get 1 out of 2 rewards:
First level gift (1 out of 2):
- Deposit a total of HK$10,000 or above into the Futu HK account.Maintain 60 days daily average asset* of HK$10,000 or above.
1) Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) - 1 share or 2) HK$400 e-supermarket gift certificate
Second level gift:：
- Deposit a total of HK$80,000 or above into the Futu HK account by 15:00 29th February 2024. Maintain 60 days daily average asset* of HK$80,000 or above.
Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) – 1 share
The first reward and the second reward can be stacked. As of the closing price on December 19, 2023, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) stock price was US$74.390/share. As of the closing price on December 18, 2023, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) stock price was US$137.19/share.
Asset calculation method: Sum of the everyday assets/60 days; Including Cash/ Stocks/ Funds/ Options/ Futures
Investment involves risks. The fund price may move up or down. Investor should thoroughly study the funds' offering documents and other related documents (including risk disclosure statements).
Transaction Fees: For HK stocks, there are no commissions - just HKD 15 / trade as a platform fee.
For a HKD 10,000 trade, that's: HKD 15 per transaction (excl. mandatory costs by the HK Exchange, etc.).
Tiered pricing also available for people with larger number of trades (min. HKD 1 / trade)
Futu will provide users with free LV1 real-time streaming quotation services (including Hong Kong stocks, options, and futures)
Products Available: HK, US and China stocks and ETFs. Selected funds available via Futu MoneyPlus.
Margin Trading: Annual interest rate as low as 3.98% (for advanced investors)
License: Registered member of the HKEX and licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9)
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Futubull
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 15.5
Welcome Offer: Enjoy up to HK$1,900 from April welcome offer
Register a new account through Planto and receive an exclusive HKD 200 cash coupon (directly deposited into Futu account)
Open an account, deposit HK$10,000, and complete specific requirements can get 1 out of 2 rewards:
First level gift (1 out of 2):
- Deposit a total of HK$10,000 or above into the Futu HK account.Maintain 60 days daily average asset* of HK$10,000 or above.
1) Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) - 1 share or 2) HK$400 e-supermarket gift certificate
Second level gift:：
- Deposit a total of HK$80,000 or above into the Futu HK account by 15:00 29th February 2024. Maintain 60 days daily average asset* of HK$80,000 or above.
Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) – 1 share
The first reward and the second reward can be stacked. As of the closing price on December 19, 2023, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) stock price was US$74.390/share. As of the closing price on December 18, 2023, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) stock price was US$137.19/share.
Asset calculation method: Sum of the everyday assets/60 days; Including Cash/ Stocks/ Funds/ Options/ Futures
Investment involves risks. The fund price may move up or down. Investor should thoroughly study the funds' offering documents and other related documents (including risk disclosure statements).
Transaction Fees: For US stocks, commissions of US$0.0049 per share (min. US$0.99), and platform fees of US$0.005 per share (min. US$1).
For a US$1,000 trade with 5 shares, that's about: US$2 (excl. mandatory costs by the SEC, etc.).
Tiered pricing also available for people with larger number of trades
Products Available: HK, US and China stocks and ETFs. Selected funds available via Futu MoneyPlus.
Margin Trading: Annual interest rate as low as 3.98% (for advanced investors)
License: Registered member of the HKEX and licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9)
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Saxo Hong Kong
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
0.05%
(min. HKD 18)
Welcome Offer: Enjoy up to 4.27%* on cash deposits amount US$10,000 or higher
*the interest rate figure is for reference, it could change with the market condition
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Transaction Fees: For HK stocks, there is a 0.05% commission, with a minimum fee per trade of HKD$ 18. However there is no other trade or platform fee involved.
For a HKD$ 10,000 trade, that’s HKD$ 18 per transaction as HKD$ 18 minimum is higher than HKD$ 10,000 * 0.05% (excl. mandatory costs by the HK Exchange, etc.)
Custodian Fee: No custodian fee will be applied to Hong Kong client owning Hong Kong stocks
Products Available: 40,000+ investment instruments including stocks, ETFs, bonds, mutual funds etc. across 37 global exchanges such as Hong Kong, U.S., U.K., Japan, Singapore and many more
Margin Trading: From Hibor+1.62%
License: Licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 2, 3)
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Saxo Hong Kong
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
From HKD 0.039 / share
(min. from HKD 23)
Welcome Offer: Enjoy up to 4.27%* on cash deposits amount US$10,000 or higher
*the interest rate figure is for reference, it could change with the market condition
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Transaction Fees: For US stocks, there is a USD$ 0.005 - 0.008/share fee, with a minimum fee per trade of USD$3 (depending on your Saxo account tier). However there is no other trade or platform fee involved.
Charge is based on the number of US stocks you buy, regardless of how much they were bought for. (excl. mandatory costs by US stock exchanges, etc.)
Custodian Fees: There is no custodian fee
Products Available: 40,000+ investment instruments including stocks, ETFs, bonds, mutual funds etc. across 37 global exchanges such as Hong Kong, U.S., U.K., Japan, Singapore and many more
Margin Trading: From Libor +1.5%
License: Licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 2, 3)
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uSMART Securities
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 8
Welcome Offer: April special offer, Open an account with uSmart to earn:
• 2024 promotion : US$1.5 transaction fee per trade for US stock, 0 commission and platform fee for HK stock
• Real-time streaming quotation for HK stocks (Terms and conditions apply)• Lifetime free U.S. stock commission (only for standard accounts)
• HK$20 cash coupons X8
#For HK stocks, you can enjoy 0 commission and platform fee by trading the designated 16 ETF. For US stocks, you can enjoy US$1.5 transaction fee per trade when the value of each trading of main board stocks equals or higher than US$100.
Transaction Fees: 0% commission rate per US stock transaction for Standard Account users only, with a fixed US$0.005 platform fee per share
Investment product available:: HK, US and China stocks, ETFs and warrants. Selected funds available via Smart Fund platform.
Investment service available:: Discretionary Investment Management Account, Professional Investment Advisory
Margin Trading: 2.98% margin rate
License: Licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 4, 9)
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Interactive Brokers
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
0.05% of Trade Value
Welcome Offer: Earn up to 4.83% annual interest rate on positive settled cash balance for accounts with total NAV of US$100,000 or higher. *Accounts with NAV of less than US$100,000 receive interest at rates proportional to the size of the account
**Interest rate if for reference only, it may change any time according to market condition
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Transaction Fees: For HK stocks, commission fee of 0.08% to 0.015%
Product available: Stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds from 150 exchanges in 34 regions including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and India
Margin Trading: as Low as 5.637%
Hong Kong SFC license: SFC license Type 1,2,3
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Interactive Brokers
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
US$0.005 / share
(min. from US$0.35)
Welcome Offer: Earn up to 4.83% annual interest rate on positive settled cash balance for accounts with total NAV of US$100,000 or higher. *Accounts with NAV of less than US$100,000 receive interest at rates proportional to the size of the account
**Interest rate if for reference only, it may change any time according to market condition
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Transaction Fees: For US stocks, commission fee of US$0.005 / share to US$0.0005 / share
Product available: Stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds from 150 exchanges in 34 regions including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and India
Margin Trading: as Low as 5.3%
Hong Kong SFC license: SFC license Type 1,2,3
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Syfe
Account Funding Requirements
HKD 10,000
Fees
0.35%-0.65% AUM
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Minimum investment amount: No minimum investment requirement
Fees: 0.35% to 0.65% of total assets (annual)
Portfolio creation: U.S., China stocks and ETFs, including direct indexed and thematic portfolios
Account opening: 100% online account opening through Syfe mobile app
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Stashaway
Account Funding Requirements
HKD 10,000
Fees
0.2%-0.8% AUM
Welcome Offer: New customers who successfully open a StashAway account via Planto’s link can enjoy 3 months of free management for up to HK$50,000.
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Minimum investment amount: No min investment amount
Fees: 0.2-0.8% of the total assets (Annual)
Portfolio creation: 12 types of portfolios, covering 33 US ETFs, 14,000 securities assets and 20 different markets
Account opening: 100% online
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Aqumon
Account Funding Requirements
HKD 10,000
Fees
0.5%-0.8% AUM
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Minimum investment amount: USD 10 for Safe Haven Portfolio
Fees: 0 commission, 0 platform fee. Advisory fee based on AUM
Investment involves risks. This information is intended to be educational and is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific investor. This information does not constitute investment advice and should not be used as the basis for any investment decision nor should it be treated as a recommendation for any investment or action. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up, so you may not get back what you invest.
#Brokers welcome offer
#Free stocks
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