ASB Securities Review

ASB Securities Review

ASB Securities is the online share trading arm of ASB, and it is one of the few remaining brokerages in New Zealand where the platform is bolted onto a bank. That matters more than it sounds. If you already bank with ASB, the trading account sits alongside your everyday money, and you deal with an NZX firm rather than a startup.

The thing that surprised us most when we pulled the numbers apart is the fee shape. ASB Securities does not charge a flat rate per trade. It charges a tiered rate, and the middle tier is where the cost bites. On a trade between $1,000 and $10,000 you pay a flat $30. On a $1,500 trade, that is 2 per cent of your order. On a $10,000 trade, the same $30 is 0.3 per cent.

That single detail changes who this platform suits. It is built for larger, less frequent trades, not for someone dribbling $200 a week into the market. We go through the fees, the market access, and how it stacks up against the newer platforms below.

How We Researched This Guide

We worked from ASB Securities' own rates and fees page, the FMA's consumer guidance on investing, and Inland Revenue's material on how listed and unlisted funds are taxed. We did not rely on any comparison site or rate table. Where a figure appears in this guide, it comes from the provider's own published pricing or a regulator.

One thing tripped us up. The FMA's guidance on brokerage notes that fees vary between providers and typically start at around $15 to $30 per transaction, with percentage-based fees running at 0.3 per cent and up. ASB Securities sits squarely inside that band, which tells you the FMA's range is describing the market as it actually is, not a low-cost outlier. We also checked the Financial Service Providers Register requirement, which is set out in full on legislation.govt.nz.

The Quick Summary (60-Second Version)

If you only read one part, read this.

• ASB Securities is an NZX firm offering online trading on the New Zealand and Australian markets, with other overseas markets handled by phone through the broker team.
• NZX brokerage is tiered: NZ$15 up to and including NZ$1,000, NZ$30 over NZ$1,000 up to NZ$10,000, then 0.30 per cent above NZ$10,000.
• ASX brokerage follows the same shape in Australian dollars: AU$15, AU$30, then 0.30 per cent.
• Fixed interest trades are charged on capital value with a minimum of NZ$35 per trade, and if you hold bonds to maturity you only pay on the buy.
• Printed contract notes cost an extra $2 per trade, and phone brokerage rates are higher than online rates.
• There are no fractional shares and no third-party managed funds, so it is a share and ETF platform rather than a complete investing hub.

What You Actually Pay, and Why the Middle Tier Matters

The tiered structure is the whole story here, and most summaries miss it. A flat $15 headline sounds cheap until you realise it only applies to the first $1,000 of any trade. Cross that line and you are paying $30 regardless of whether your order is $1,100 or $9,900.

Run the maths on a few order sizes and the pattern is obvious. A $500 NZX trade costs $15, which is 3 per cent of the order. A $1,500 trade costs $30, which is 2 per cent. A $10,000 trade costs $30, which is 0.3 per cent. A $20,000 trade costs $30 plus 0.30 per cent on the $10,000 above the threshold, so $60 in total, or 0.3 per cent.

The practical upshot is that ASB Securities is expensive for small orders and competitive for large ones. If you buy $500 of shares at a time, you are handing over 3 per cent before the share price moves at all. That is a hard hurdle to clear.

The Fee Compared

Market Access, Settlement, and the Phone-Only Gap

ASB Securities gives you online access to the New Zealand and Australian markets. That covers NZX main board stocks, NZX-listed ETFs and bonds, ASX shares and ASX-listed ETFs. Other overseas markets are accessible, but by phone through the broker team rather than through the online platform, and phone brokerage rates are higher than online rates.

That is worth sitting with. If you want to buy a US-listed stock, you are not clicking a button on a screen at the same price as an NZX trade. You are calling a broker and paying more. For an investor who wants straightforward US exposure, a platform built for it will usually be cheaper and simpler.

What Is Not on the Menu

There are no fractional shares, so you buy whole units or nothing. There are no third-party managed funds on the platform, which means you cannot build a diversified fund portfolio in the same account. Options, futures and standalone foreign exchange are not available either.

Fixed interest is a genuine feature, though. Bond brokerage is charged on the capital value of the transaction with a minimum of NZ$35 per trade, and if you hold your bonds to maturity, fees are only charged when you buy. That is a real advantage for anyone building a bond ladder and holding it.

How It Compares to the Specialist Platforms

The honest framing is that ASB Securities is not competing with Sharesies on price for small investors. It is competing on access and on being an NZX firm. Here is how the main options line up on the costs you would actually pay.

Invest Direct is worth noting because it was formerly known as Jarden Direct and is now branded Invest Direct. Its $29.90 minimum makes it a poor fit for small orders, but above NZ$15,000 it charges 0.20 per cent, which is cheaper than the 0.30 per cent ASB Securities charges above NZ$10,000.

InvestNow works differently again. It charges no platform fee, and its Foundation Series High Growth fund carries an estimated fee of 0.37 per cent a year, though there is a 0.50 per cent buy and 0.50 per cent sell transaction fee. That round trip of 1 per cent matters if you move money in and out.

For an ASB customer making two or three NZX trades a year of several thousand dollars each, the cost difference against the specialists is small in absolute terms. For someone trading weekly in small amounts, it is not.

Questions You Might Have

Is ASB Securities good for beginners?

It depends on how you plan to invest. If you are putting in a few thousand dollars at a time and holding, the tiered fee is manageable and the bank integration is genuinely convenient. If you want to start with $100 a week, the $15 minimum on small trades is a heavy drag, and a platform with fractional shares and a percentage fee will serve you better.

Can I trade US shares through ASB Securities?

Other overseas markets are accessible by phone through the broker team, not through the online platform, and phone brokerage rates are higher than online rates. If US shares are a core part of your plan, a platform built for that market will usually be cheaper and easier to use. If it is an occasional one-off, the phone route works.

How does the ASB Securities fee compare to Sharesies?

Sharesies charges 1.9 per cent per NZX order, capped at $25. ASB Securities charges $15 up to $1,000, then $30 up to $10,000, then 0.30 per cent. Sharesies is cheaper on small and mid-sized orders; ASB Securities is competitive on very large ones. The crossover depends entirely on your order size.

What does it cost to trade bonds?

Fixed interest brokerage is charged on the capital value of the transaction with a minimum of NZ$35 per trade. If you hold your bonds until maturity, fees are only charged when you buy. That makes it a reasonable option for a buy-and-hold bond ladder, less so for active trading.

Do I need to be an ASB customer?

You do not need to be, but the platform is designed around ASB's banking. Being an existing ASB customer makes the account setup and the money movement between your transaction account and trading account much smoother than it would be otherwise. If you bank elsewhere, weigh that friction against the fee structure.

What Matters Most

The single number to remember is $30. That is what you pay on any NZX or ASX trade between $1,000 and $10,000, and it is the band most retail investors live in. If your typical order sits near the bottom of that band, ASB Securities is an expensive way to buy shares. If it sits near the top, it is entirely reasonable.

The platform's real strength is that it is an NZX firm attached to a bank you may already use. That brings a level of institutional stability and integration that the newer platforms do not offer, and for some investors that is worth a premium. It is not worth pretending the premium does not exist, though.

Our view is simple. If you trade NZX and ASX shares in larger chunks and value dealing with an established broker, ASB Securities does the job. If you invest small amounts regularly, or you want US exposure without picking up the phone, look at the platforms built for that instead.