No longer free: Thinkorswim alternatives to quickly move your assets

Thinkorswim (TOS) clients would have been shocked at the latest developments from TD Ameritrade.

Starting 27th October 2023, all non-Accredited Investor Thinkorswim accounts will be charged a hefty monthly account maintenance fee of USD$50. Worse still, users will need to force close their accounts before 31st December as TOS will not be an option even if current users are willing to pay the maintenance fee.

With only a month’s notice, Thinkorswim retail users will be scurrying to find an alternative.

Before you consider looking for the next brokerage, check if you qualify as an Accredited Investor (AI).

If you do, then you can continue using Thinkorswim, without worrying about the fee.

Accredited Investor requirements

The requirements to qualify as an AI are as below. So long as you qualify at least 1 requirement, you can convert to be an accredited investor on Thinkorswim.

But keep in mind. You will need to take some actions and provide supporting documents on your end in order to convert to an Accredited Investor. It is not automatic, so do spare some time to go through the full process here.

For those who do not qualify as an AI, your next course of action would be to search for an alternative.

But before that, your most immediate concern would be:

What to do with your assets on Thinkorswim?

If your account contains only cash, you can request a wire transfer for the cash to be withdrawn into your bank account.

If you are holding onto equities or options with open positions, you can opt to close the positions, wait for 2 business days for settlement to take place. Once settled, you can wire the balance cash into your bank account.

If you plan to hold on to the open positions and transfer them to your new alternative account, you would need to contact your new financial institution to initiate the Transfer of Assets (TOA). Your new financial institution may require you to complete their forms, most likely an Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS) transfer. 

Do note that there is a fee of $75 for ACAT transfers from TD Ameritrade Singapore to other brokers. 

For non-ACAT requests e.g. DTC or DRS, where the process excludes non-securities items like; cash or options on securities, the processing times will be much more lengthy, during which time you may not be able to trade on some of your securities positions. 

On top of that, non-ACAT transfers will only be applicable for whole shares of US stocks. If you are holding onto options or somehow have to deal with fractional shares, you can only transfer them using ACATS.

You should work out if it’s worth the cost of US$75 to transfer your positions out. If not, liquidating your positions and withdrawing the cash balance, will likely be a quicker (and more cost effective) solution.

ACATS Transfer vs non-ACAT requests

In case you’re as confused as I was, here are the differences between these transfer methods:

	ACAT	Others
Fees (TD Ameritrade)	US$75*	Free
Fees (Receiving Brokers)	Free	Free
What can you transfer	US Stocks, Options, Cash	US Stocks only. Fractional Shares cannot be transferred.
Process	Only need to initiate transfer from receiving account	Need to initiate transfer from receiving account AND submit a relevant Transfer-Out form to TD Ameritrade
Duration of Transfer	Few business days to several weeks.	~15 days

Best Thinkorswim Alternatives with $0 commission + Options Trading function

There are actually multitudes of brokerages for Thinkorswim users to choose as their next trading provider.

However, when you throw in the requirements for ACATs-approved, free brokerages, and options trading functions, the list suddenly thins down to just a handful of providers.

Here are some providers for your consideration, with no particular order.

Thinkorswim Alternatives	US stocks & ETFs fees (USD)	US options fees(USD)	Platform Fees (USD)	Can you transfer?	Promo
Interactive Brokers	$0.0005 – 0.0035/share	$0.15-0.65 per contract	$0	Yes, via ACATS.* Available for US Stocks & Options.	Nil. see latest here.
Syfe Trade	2 free trades / month. $1.49 thereafter	No options.	$0	Yes, via ACATS.* Available for US Stocks only.	First 3 months, commission-free, with transfer in promo. More details here.
Moomoo	$0	$0.65	[Stocks] $0.99 per order [Options] $0.30 per contract, min $0.99/order	Yes, via ACATS.* Available for US Stocks & Options.	Zero-commission trades for US Options for 180 days. Up to S$730 welcome rewards or up to S$1000 rewards with transfer in promo.
Tiger Brokers	$0.005/share. Min $0.99/order	$0.35 per contract	[Stocks] $0.005/share Min $1 per order [Options] $0.30 per contract	Yes, via DTC. Only US Stocks.	Zero-commission trades for US stocks for 180 days. Deposit/Transfer-in & trade to win up to US$888 worth of prizes. More details here
POEMS	From $1.88 to $3.88 (flat fee)	$0.88 per contract, min $2.88 per order	$0	Yes, non-ACAT. Only US stocks	$0 US Commission for 90 days. Find out more here
SAXO	From $0.25 to $2	From $0.25 to $2	$0	Yes, non-ACAT. Only US Stocks.	S$188 commission credit. Saxo offers flexible account plans to fit your needs. Sign up here.
Webull	0.025% or Min $0.50	$0.55/contract	$0	No.	$0 US commission for first 31 days. Plus, get up to 10 free shares (worth USD 80-5000).

Do note that this table doesn’t include other fees such as SEC membership Fee, settlement fees, trading activity fees or options regulatory fees.

Interactive Brokers (IBKR Pro)

Interactive Brokers is a popular online broker that gives you access to the US stock markets and options with relatively low commission rates. They are one of the OG choices for those who started their investing journey before choices became abundant.

Their commission-free IBKR Lite is only available to US citizens. But we have access to the Pro version, where brokerage costs and fees are also reasonable and affordable (see table above).

You can transfer your US shares, options and cash to your IBKR Pro account via ACATS.

Do note the following: 

• Transfer may take a few business days to several weeks.
• You may need to wait for up to 30 days before you can withdraw or transfer any equities received via ACATS.
• if your options are within the week of expiry, you will not be able to transfer them. 

You can find more information about transferring your shares and options to IBKR via ACATS here and here.

Syfe Trade

Syfe Trade is the trading platform under Syfe. They allow users to trade US stocks and ETFs, and the best part is that the ACATS fee from TD Ameritrade will be waived. 

Syfe Trade lets you trade for free over the first 3 months. Thereafter, you get 2 free trades a month too. 

Consider this if you do not trade options, and only expect to buy or sell stocks infrequently.

Moomoo

Moomoo has been making waves ever since it started operating in Singapore and remains as one of the default brokerages to ease newbie investors to open an account.

It also strives to offer sophisticated investors more products to trade as well.

For US stocks, ETFs and options, users can enjoy $0 commissions, on top of plenty of fundamental data and chart visualizations. Moomoo is offering up to S$730 worth of welcome rewards if you open a new account now, or up to S$1000 rewards with their transfer in promo.

Do note that moomoo charges a platform fee of $0.99/contract. There may be promotions that waive the platform fee for a limited amount of time. Do read the T&Cs to learn more.

From 16 Oct 2023, moomoo is ACTAS supported. You can transfer in stocks, ETFs, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and Options.

You can find more details on the process here.

Tiger Brokers

Tiger Brokers is a discount broker that is fairly popular in Singapore. They offer $0 commission on the first 180 days after your account has been set up, and charge relatively low fees thereafter. They are having a promotion currently to help existing TD Ameritrade customers find a new place to trade, you can check out the details here.

You can transfer your shares from TD Ameritrade to Tiger Brokers via DTC. The process requires a little more work, though it is still fairly simple.

You will need to submit a Transfer-Stock-In request in your Tiger Brokers account, Tiger Brokers will send you a completed Share Transfer form which you will then need to submit to TD Ameritrade to request for an outbound transfer. You will need to attach a copy of your NIRC in your request to TD Ameritrade as well.

You can find out more about the process here.

POEMS

POEMS is one of the OG brokers in Singapore, and they have been improving their offerings even as new competitors enter our shores.

If you are worried that other brokers might pull the similar stunt as TD Ameritrade, POEMS maybe the broker to consider. Although commissions are not free, they are fairly affordable at min. of $1.88.

POEMS is running a promo that gives you free commissions for the first 90 days along with other perks. You can find more information here.

SAXO

Those who have been investing for a while would probably have heard of SAXO. They offer a wide range of trading services – stocks, ETFs, options, futures, forex, CFD and even crypto FX. 

Unlike most brokers on this list, SAXO accounts are tiered. You can choose the best tier that offers features based on your needs. Account plans start from $1 per month. From 1st Dec 2023. SAXO has removed the $1 monthly fee for their Bronze Plan. Custody fees will also be waived if you opt-in to Securities Lending.

You can find out more here.

Webull

Webull is a US-based online stock brokerage firm that offers commission-free trading on stocks, ETFs, and options. Due to its user-friendly platform and wide range of trading tools, it is one of the go-to app for beginner and experienced investors.

However, do take note that the free commission is not perpetual. New clients get to enjoy $0 commission free trades for US stocks and ETFs for up to 31 days from the day their account is approved.

The promotion applies to US options as well but will incur a commission of USD 0.55 per contract after the promotion period is over.

All in all, the rates are still very affordable and should not be a show-stopper for TOS users in searching for their next trading platform. They’ve upsized their sign up offers with up to 10 free shares worth US80-5000 in their latest promotion.  New users who fund over USD2000, activate Moneybull and fulfil the requirements may also earn up to USD3000 in cash rewards.

One important consideration that TOS users want to take note of is that you cannot transfer your shares and options to Webull!

Trading fees should not be the only decision making criteria

Back when brokerages were charging about USD 20 per transaction, it made a lot of sense to scrutinize service providers that could offer the lowest fees and commissions.

Fast forward to today, most brokerages offer either free commission trades or very affordable feels. Percentages point-wise, $0 and $1 do seem a lot, but on a qualitative spectrum, if paying USD 1 per trade provides you with good customer service and response, I think it’s a fair price to pay.

Would you want to have your funds quickly available after you make a transfer?

Or would you eventually trade more markets?

These would help in the decision-making of which platform to migrate to. Fees and commissions charged are at the discretion of each service provider, subject to potential changes.

It would not make sense to keep switching brokerages if commission-free brokerages suddenly stop providing free commissions for long-term value investors as compared to traders who trade frequently.

If commission-free trading is really the go-to key decision-making factor, the highlighted options are solid choices to consider for investors and traders to move on swiftly.

However, do note that most available brokerages mentioned are not ACAT-approved. So choose your poison accordingly!

Note: This article contains affiliate links. We may receive a small commission if you sign-up after clicking on one of these links. Sign-up offers are offered by the brokerages and will vary. Always check for the latest offer.