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Placing your first online order
If you're new to trading online, placing your first order might seem daunting, but we’ve got good news for you. With ASB Securities’ Online Share Trading service and just a little know-how, you can be trading online with confidence in no time. This guide will walk you through how to make that first online trade, and some of the tools and resources available to you to help.
Getting ready to place your first order
Before you trade any shares, it’s always wise to do your research first. Researching companies is an important part of deciding what to buy or sell and we have a number of online tools that you might find helpful.
To start researching a company, you might want to begin with the company search tool. This will give you access to a range of useful information about the company, including:
If you want to expand on that research, you can also try these options:
Sign up
Sign up to receive our market reports by email, including:
- Morning brief, your daily update on business and share market news; and
- Markets monthly, an overview of trends and events in the financial markets over the last month
Google search an industry or company you're interested in and visit their website
Keep your finger on the pulse with Watchlists
Another great way to build your knowledge about which shares to buy or sell, is to use the watchlist tool with Online Share Trading.
With Watchlists you can:
Once you’ve established a shortlist of shares you’re interested in, try creating a personalised Watchlist so that you can monitor what’s happening with these shares.
Ready to trade?
When you feel the time is right to buy or sell, it's time to get organised:
- Check the market price for your shares at the moment, and decide which type of order you want to place. You have the option to place an order with a limit price or at the current market price, there is also the option to place a trigger order for those more advanced traders.
- Decide how many shares you want to buy or sell.
- Have your log in details handy to log in to Online Share Trading so you can place an order.
Important information for buy orders
- Make sure you have sufficient funds in your ASB Cash Management Account or ASB Foreign Currency Account for share trading to make the trade.
- You'll need to keep the funds in your account until your trade settles.
Important information for sell orders
If you're selling New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) shares:
- Make sure you have your Common Shareholder Number (CSN) or Holder number and Faster Identification Number (FIN) ready.
- Make sure that the ownership details of your account match the ownership details of the shares you want to sell. You're not allowed to sell someone else's shares.
- Make sure you have an up-to-date balance of the number of shares you own.
If you're selling Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) shares:
- Identify whether the shares you own are issuer sponsored or broker sponsored; let's explain.
Issuer sponsored shares means that you have a separate Security Reference Number (SRN) for each shareholding you own. So if you've bought shares in 10 different companies and they're all Issuer Sponsored shares, you'll have 10 separate SRNs.
Broker sponsored shares means that you have one Holder Identification Number (HIN) for all holdings bought through a single broker. So for example if you've bought shares in 10 different Australian companies, all through Finclear Execution Ltd (FinEx), you'll have one HIN for all 10 holdings.
- If your shares are broker sponsored with Finclear Execution Ltd (FinEx), you'll be able to sell them through the same account you either purchased the shares, or transferred into CHESS.
- If you have an issuer sponsored holding, you'll need to contact one of our brokers and let them know the SRN of the stock you want to sell. The broker will then check that the ownership details of the account match the ownership details of the shares you want to sell and will help you load the stock so you can sell them. Once the stock is loaded, you'll have 20 business days to place your sell order and sell the shares. After that, the sell order is removed from the system and you'll have to go through this process again to replace your order.
How do I place an order?
You can place orders to buy or sell shares through Online Share Trading for the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) and the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
Check out our video about buying and selling shares online with ASB Securities, and you’ll see how easy it is.
To place an order for fixed interest or International shares , call one of our brokers during business hours with your client number on 0800 272 732 (or +64 9 448 8120 if calling from overseas).
Once you've placed your order
You can track your order in the ‘View my trades’ menu in Online Share Trading. So long as your order is open and hasn’t traded or has only partially traded, you can amend or cancel your order (or the remaining part of your order where it's partially traded) at any time.
If you’ve specified a limit price on your buy order, it may not trade immediately. Your limit order will go into a queue until the market price of the share reaches your specified limit price and it’s your turn in the queue for your order to trade. Your limit order will remain valid for 20 business days, and after that it will expire.
All your online trades are automatically loaded to your Portfolio tool, letting you see what you’ve purchased or sold. You can immediately start tracking how your portfolio is performing. If you already own shares that you bought outside of your Online Share Trading account, you can manually add them to your online portfolio.
When your order trades, you’ll receive a trade confirmation by email with details on the number of shares, price, and the brokerage cost. This contains information about all your parcels of shares that traded for your particular order, including how brokerage has been charged and the settlement date. If this is the case, just be aware, you’ll be charged the minimum brokerage fee on the first parcel of shares that trade.
At the end of the day, you’ll receive what’s called a consolidated contract note. This contains information about all your parcels of shares that traded for your particular order, including how brokerage has been charged before and settlement date.
All about settlement date
Settlement date is when the transfer of shares takes place electronically. It’s the date at which the transfer of shares takes place in exchange for money between you and the other party.
As a buyer, it’s the date you must pay the seller for the securities you’ve bought, and the day you receive payment if you are a seller. The settlement period (or timeframe) is the same for buys and sells.
Settlement date on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges is two business days after your trade - this is referred to as T+2 (trade date plus two business days). So as a seller, you’ll see payment on T+2. As a buyer, your ASB Cash Management Account or ASB Foreign Currency Account (depending on the account you chose for settlement) will be debited in time for the seller to be paid two days after the trade, so in some cases, you might see funds deducted from your account before settlement date. For example, for Australian buy orders, your account will be debited on T+1, the day after your trade so the seller gets paid on time.
In your Online Share Trading account, your account summary will show you what is awaiting settlement.
What do I do after a trade has settled?
It’s a good idea to keep a copy of the contract note as a record of the transaction.
The first time you purchase New Zealand shares, the share registry will send you your Faster Identification Number (FIN) in the post. Treat it like a PIN number and keep it safe, because you’ll need this number when you sell shares.
Once you are a registered share owner, the share registry will send you regular information and updates which might be useful.
It’s also a good idea to register for online services with the share registry so you can update information such as your dividend payment instructions, your address and other contact details. You can also view transaction details.
You can keep track of your holdings and how they’re performing through your online portfolio. And if you bought shares through a nominee or custody arrangement with ASB Securities, we will post you monthly holding statements and will contact you regarding any corporate action events.
Next steps
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Email us if you'd like help to get started.
Call us
Contact the ASB Securities team from 7am to 6pm NZT, Monday to Friday.
Other helpful guides
ASB Securities Limited is an NZX firm. When you trade on the NZX markets through ASB Securities you must comply with NZX rules as outlined in the ASB Securities Trading Conduct for Online Share trading. ASB Securities terms and conditions apply. Pricing data supplied by ASX and/or NZX. ASB Cash Management Account, ASB Foreign Currency Account, ASB Margin Lending and ASB Term Deposits are provided by ASB Bank Limited. ASB term's apply. Rates and fees may change. Refer to asb.co.nz for other fees and charges. This page does not have regard to the financial situation or needs of any reader. As individual circumstances differ, you should seek appropriate professional advice. See the ASB Securities glossary for share trading and investment terms or Morningstar for research terms.
