In my previous article on uSMART (If you have not read it, do read it here first), I introduced the latest new kid on the block who is finally here to make its own mark and highlighted a few key features such as the Daily Stock Picks and Smart Orders.
During the recent market turmoil which impacted stocks globally, I utilized and took advantage of these features by topping up my accounts and purchasing my first shares in the app. Although the stock is currently in a negative position, I remain confident of its prospect longer term.
The uSMART Intel subscription was awarded to users at an affordable $0.01 for the first 30 days trial.
One of the feature – The Daily Stock Picks was particularly impressive as I was fascinated and had the first-hand opportunity to witness it churning out many positive returns for a few consecutive days despite the challenging conditions in the market.
In this follow-up article, I will be highlighting a few more key features for uSMART SG which is uniquely as important to investors.
Fractional Shares: No Stock Is Too Expensive
The first feature which I wanted to introduce is fractional shares trading – which you can now do so on the uSMART SG App.
Fractional shares trading has been a feature which many investors have been waiting for.
Trading fractional shares allows investors to get exposure to companies which they may not be able to afford the full share otherwise.
Think of it this way – while it is relatively easy to purchase a company like Apple (which currently trades at USD 142.5 at the point of writing), it may not be easy otherwise if you are trying to purchase the likes of Alphabet, Amazon or Booking Holding as all of them are currently trading above USD 2,000 (as of writing).
By using fractional shares trading, users can now utilize his or her investment without concern on the nominal share price of a particular company.
For instance, imagine a young graduate who has just started working and commands a salary of SGD 3,000. After deducting for CPF, his take home pay would be in the range of SGD 2,500. He saves 15% of his take home income which is around SGD 375 and allocates it into investment.
Using the current equivalent exchange rate, it would translate to approximately USD 270.
Now, without the fractional trading feature, the graduate might be able to only purchase 1 share of Apple for his portfolio and kept the rest in cash until he has enough to purchase the next one – not to mention he would have difficulty allocating it to multiple blue chip companies.
With fractional shares, he is now able to allocate his USD 270 investment savings into three blue chip companies at USD 90 each.
In addition, trading fractional shares also makes it easier for investors to diversify their portfolio by allowing them to own shares in multiple companies that they would like to have at a fraction of money that they can afford.
This is especially important for investors who are just starting out their journey and do not have an enormous amount of savings to invest – fractional shares allow them not to over-allocate in one or two particular stocks.
As far as the fees are concerned, they work the same way as how trading normal stock is.
Featured Strategies
One of the notable features I recently found out on uSMART is the Featured Strategies which is constructed by experts of industries using allocation of stocks, ETFs and funds.
These strategies are constructed based on different objectives that the intended objective they are trying to achieve and it caters to investors of different risk profile.
For instance, the US ETF Mid-Frequency Quantitative Strategy is constructed based on the objective that US Stock may continue to exhibit long term outperformance but with shorter term volatility in mind, thus by hedging and including a short ETF in the portfolio, this would reduce your maximum drawdown and increase your upside potential.
As of today’s writing, the portfolio has an allocation holding of Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund, Nasdaq 100 ETF, Tuttle Capital Short Innovation ETF, and Cash.
The Portfolio has achieved an accumulated return to date of 68% (annualized 16.6%) with a maximum drawdown of 5.34% since inception in 2019. This strategy outperforms both the S&P and Nasdaq respectively, which are down approximately 18% and 27% to date.
Another strategy which has caught my eye and attention is the US Growth Equity Strategies – which has amassed an impressive accumulated return of 56.9% (annualized 47.5%). The portfolio currently only holds a simple allocation of cash (~68%) and ProShares UltraPro S&P500 (~32%) but looking through their past historical transactions, the strategy has rebalanced quite a few others.
Value Stock Screener
At last, we have a brokerage which embeds a value stock screener into its trading app.
This is particularly useful for someone who is looking more into the longer term and how the company performs over the earnings period.
For instance, I set a certain criteria like the one above which meet my long term objective and the screener returns a few companies which meet the criteria set.
Upon clicking the company, you can view the key details which include its revenue and earnings history, debt to equity ratio, fair value estimation, and finally a conclusion if the stock is currently trading overvalue or undervalued.
In the case of Warner Bros Discovery Inc. (Nasdaq: WBD), the stock is currently undervalued by approximately 36%.
If you have any stocks in mind, you can also key in the search and view the key details and fair intrinsic value of the company.
Conclusion
Honestly, I am quite impressed by the amount of features they have started to build on the app which differentiates them from the other online brokerages.
From the subscription of uSMART Intel Subscription itself to the various key features they have on the app such as Daily Stock Picks, Fractional Shares Trading, Featured Strategies and the Value Stock Screener – I think they are trying to build an app that is not meant just for trading but also an educational platform that can cater to both short term and long term investors and how they can help investors make better informed decisions.
If you find the article to be useful and would like to give it a try, you can use my referral link to sign up.
Apart from receiving a $15 cash voucher reward upon signing up right away, you’d also be entitled to $100 worth of free shares or a comprehensive Investment Master Course worth SGD720 if you deposit an amount of SGD2000 or higher.
Disclaimer: This article is written in collaboration with uSMART Singapore. All views expressed in the article are the independent opinions of mine. This article is intended for information purpose only and should not be construed as financial advice. This article has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore
