One thing I have learnt through my journey of investing is the need for diversification. This word was literally pumped into our brains even before we knew what investing meant.
Now that I am an avid investor, I understand the importance of that word. But one persistent misconception is that you only need to diversify the assets you invest in.
There are many levels of diversification and one that I have now mastered is regional diversification. I do not invest in a single economy. I also want to give other people this choice.
The US is the host to some of the largest companies in the world and these companies can be purchased individually or in various denoted selections such as Indices or ETFs or Mutual Funds.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the New York Stock Exchange (NASDAQ) are two of the world’s largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and, as a result, the most popular. With these two exchanges, you will have access to all those major companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Zoom and the list goes on.
Before you can begin investing in stocks, the first and most important step is to identify and register with a stock broker. The stock broker is in charge of carrying out all your orders.
Given that people’s stock portfolios can be worth thousands or even millions of dollars, choosing a stock broker requires considerable caution and due diligence.
The recommended broker (eToro) is fully online and make it simple to invest in US stocks from the Kenyan stock market or from Africa as a whole.
eToro is an online trading platform. So far, it is my favourite broker when buying or trading international stocks.
Here are a few reasons why they’re so great:
- It is so easy to open an account. To open an account, you will need to display a form of identification, normally a passport, a bank statement that shows your address details and that you are a Kenyan resident or whichever country you come from, and your KRA PIN which is useful for tax information.
- There are no fees for opening or maintaining an account. One of the things you want to avoid as an investor are unnecessary fees that will eat into your investment.
- Debit cards may be used to make deposits. All deposits are completely secure. Your account must be funded with a minimum of $50. They used to only accept USD, but they’ve recently added a few more currencies, but KES isn’t one of them. We are hoping that soon they will incorporate KES into the platform. As a result, if your debit card is in KES, your bank will convert the transaction to USD and you do not have to worry about doing that manually.
- They don’t charge any fee on any trades. A flat fee is paid for withdrawals. Most brokers will make it so difficult to withdraw your own money and I have experienced this with a number of them. eToro makes it easy and fast.
- They have stocks from 17 different markets, as well as commodities like gold and forex. I spoke about diversification and with eToro, you will have so many levels of diversification and the opportunity to create a well-balanced portfolio.
- The fact that they have fractional shares is by far the best function. One does not have to deposit so much to access some of the best funds and stocks in the world. You can always buy a piece of a share and build from there.
- They have a great selection of products including US stocks, ETFs and extend to also cryptocurrencies, CFDs and commodities. For those who love the hype, you will always have access to many options to trade.
If you feel this is the broker for you, feel free to create an account here.
