indexfundfan @ indextown

Sogoinvest has been reasonably receptive to client feedback. I have provided feedback to them through various channels, including emails, this blog [1] [2] and through Grant’s TheCornerOffice blog.

Two of my greatest dissatisfactions with Sogoinvest had been the following:

• Long ACH delay between bank debit of funds and posting of credit into the Sogoinvest account.

• Margin interest accruing from trading day instead of the normal day T+3 where T is the trading day.

I am happy to report that Sogoinvest has taken steps to address these issues:

1. From Sept 15, 2006, the ACH posting date is reduced from day T+5 to day T+2 where day T is the date of ACH submission. Not as fast as Izone’s T+1 but good enough for me. The following is their reply regarding the new ACH timeline:

2. Sogoinvest will charge margin interest only from day T+3. This is as reported on TheCornerOffice blog:

Notice that the above message says “has always been to charge margin interest … upon settlement” whereas I had been told on the phone and through their secure mail that “to avoid margin, I must clear my margin positions at the end of the day”.

It appears that this is probably a case of mis-information from the CSR or that Sogoinvest has changed its policy but does not want to admit it. Either way, I can confirm from my August statement that margin interest is indeed only charged from day T+3 onwards. So I am happy with this outcome.

With these positive steps, I think I am willing to direct more of my investments through Sogoinvest.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 14th, 2006 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Brokerage, Investing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.