The Fastest, Most  Effective, & Low-Cost Way To Start Investing

  • No Lockin - Withdraw all your money whenever you want.
  • No Minimums - Invest as little, or as much as you want.
  • No contractual obligations - Add money as and when you want.
  • Lowest costs ever - Small annual fee regardless of how much you invest. 
  • Best Investment Options - Buy the best stocks, ETFs and investments in the US stock market.

contact form

Enter your contact details below, and we will contact you within 24 hours.

the Process

The process is really simple:

  • Step 1 - Enter Your Details In The Contact Form Below
  • Step 2 - One of my staff or I will contact you to assist you in opening your investment brokerage account 
  • Step 3 - Open a Stockal Gold account for $399 per year (which works out to be the cheapest overall), and get my recommendations of the 10 best stocks and ETFs to buy today, as well as one FREE 20-minute consultation with an account manager.

Frequently Asked Questions

Click on the questions below to see the answers

What are the documents required for opening an account with Stockal?

Any one of the following documents for a combination of Picture id proof + Proof of address

Picture ID proof:
  • Government issued Photo ID (voter id, PAN card)
  • Valid driver’s license
  • Passport
  • Voters registration card and photo
Proof of address:
  • Utility bill
  • Mobile phone bill, Bank or credit card statement

Else, any one of the below documents would suffice

Picture ID proof of address:
  • Valid driver license with address
  • Government issued Photo ID with address (Aadhar card, Passport)

How do I fund my account?

Just click on the "Add funds" button available in many places on Stockal.

  1. Enter the amount you want to send to your brokerage account.
  2. Enter the bank details from which you will send the money, and click 'Next'.
  3. Note the bank details of Stockal, where you have to send the money to, and click done.
  4. You will also receive an email with the instructions and wire transfer details.

Is there a minimum amount that I need to invest?

No.

Unlike most traditional investing platforms, we place no restrictions on user accounts. There is no account minimum at Stockal.

Who owns the stocks?

You own the stocks through your account with Stockal and DriveWealth.

DriveWealth manages the books and records and stocks are held in custody by ICBC Financial Services, New York.

How does it work?

Just create an account on Stockal. Your brokerage account is, in turn, automatically created with DriveWealth - our US partner for clearing and brokerage services. It will take 2 business days for your account to get approved. Once approved, you will have to fund the account by transferring money into the brokerage account from your bank account.

Once the funds become available in your brokerage account, you will be able to make investments on Stockal. Feel free to use the extensive research and support available on the platform.

After selling any of your investments, whenever you want to get your money back, just click on "Withdraw" and all your available cash will be sent over to your domestic bank account.

Do I need to negotiate with my bank for forex charges?

Yes, Stockal has nothing to do with the exchange rate offered by your bank. Please check with your bank on the exchange rate they offer as it changes daily.

What is the safety-net on my account? What if Stockal closes?

You global investing accounts are held by brokerage and clearing services providers. The custody of your account is managed by some of the largest banks and clearing firms in the world. If Stockal goes down, your account will still be safe and secure with them and you will be able to access it and/or move it to another brokerage firm as you please. 

Additionally, you also have automatic insurance on your US investing account. Read more about this below.

US brokerage ecosystem recommends that ever investor account should have insurance. 

Stockal's brokerage partner, DriveWealth, is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) which currently protects the securities and cash in your Account up to USD500,000 of which USD250,000 may be in cash.

Please note that this USD500,000 is not applicable to general losses in the stock market. 

SIPC says the following: SIPC protects against the loss of cash and securities – such as stocks and bonds – held by a customer at a financially-troubled SIPC-member brokerage firm. The limit of SIPC protection is $500,000, which includes a $250,000 limit for cash. A non-U.S. citizen with an account at a brokerage firm that is a member of SIPC is treated the same as a resident or citizen of the United States with an account at a brokerage firm that is a member of SIPC. 

SIPC does not protect against the decline in value of your securities. SIPC does not protect individuals who are sold worthless stocks and other securities. SIPC does not protect claims against a broker for bad investment advice, or for recommending inappropriate investments. 

Explanatory brochure available upon request or at www.sipc.org

How do I withdraw money back to my account?

All you need to do is click the "Withdraw" button on your Portfolio page or inside "My Account".

You will be shown how much money is available for you to withdraw. This is the "cash" in your account - either uninvested money or generated from sales of securities you, previously, owned. You can place a withdrawal request and the money will be wired to your domestic bank account. It takes 2-3 business days for the money to hit your account.

There is a $35 fee associated with withdrawals, charged by the US bank, so the cash balance in your account should be at least $35 at the time of placing the withdrawal request. 

I was recommended to Stockal by my investment advisor. Do I pay them a fee on Stockal?

No.

If there is a fee-based arrangement between you and your investment advisor or wealth manager, currently you will manage your fee payments outside of Stockal. We are working on a functionality to help investment managers manage multiple client accounts and fees within Stockal. 

How many securities are available on Stockal?

Stockal offers nearly 3,400 securities - listed on NASDAQ and NYSE - as of now. These are a mix of stocks and ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). Almost all the marquee listed companies in the US with USD Billion+ market caps, are available.

What is a limit order?

A limit order is an order to buy or sell a stock at a specific price or better. Therefore, a buy limit order can only be executed at the limit price or lower, and a sell limit order can only be executed at the limit price or higher. 

A limit order is not guaranteed to execute because it stands only for the day and it's possible that the price you specify, for a particular stock, is not reached during the day.

When to use limit order?

The best way to use the limit order facility is when you've decided that you will buy a stock only if it's price touches or goes below the price you want. Conversely, it might be a good idea to use limit order while selling a stock if you expect a certain minimum price for the same.

How do fractional shares work?

One of the unique things about the US stock markets is that investors can own fractions of stocks. Unlike in countries like India. So you could own 0.05 of Apple stock. Our brokerage partner DriveWealth allows you to own as low as 0.0001 share of any stock.

And this is great for 2 reasons:

  1. You don't have to think in terms of "how many shares should I buy?". You can simply decide to invest a certain amount of money and the number of units to be allocated to you gets automatically calculated and would get credited to your account. For instance, if a stock is valued at $27 and you decide to invest $100 in it, you will get 3.70 shares. 
  2. Many popular US stocks are more expensive than typical Indian stocks. While a single Apple stock is valued at over $200 as of this writing, Google costs over $1,000 and Amazon costs more than $2,000. Pepsi, Nike, Coke - all between $100 and $200. As of this writing. So, with fractional stocks you could effectively build a pretty diversified portfolio with small amounts of money. 

Which are the countries from where Stockal can be used?

Stockal is currently available to investors in India and UAE.

We will shortly become available to investors in Canada, United States, Qatar and Oman as well. The other countries on our list are Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil for now.

Does Stockal give investing advice?

While Stockal does not give recommendations to its users, we have quite a few features on the platform that help users shorten their decision cycles. 

In order to help you discover ideas, Stockal automatically gives you "Trending Stocks", stocks that you might like (based on your investing profile), other stocks related to any stock that you may be looking at, stocks with breaking news, stocks buzzing on social media, stocks and ETFs in themes or sectors you may be interested in ... and a lot more.

Additionally, for every security (stock or ETF), Stockal gives decision support indicators and data based on company's past performance, analysts' opinions, and the company's predicted performance trends. 

Does Stockal provide any research support related with investment?

Stockal has a lot of data and research available for various kinds of investors. If you are a hobbyist investor, you will see stocks you might like (based on your investing patterns, time you spend on various kinds of stocks, your watchlist etc.). If you are an experienced investor, you can make good use the sophisticated stock screener that Stockal provides. 

Stockal also gets you various kinds of investment intelligence from sources such as analyst reports, regulatory filings of companies, breaking news and social media. 

How soon can I start investing?

You can start investing as soon as you have money in your brokerage account. 

Once your brokerage account gets approved (you will be notified), you will fund that account by doing a bank transfer from your domestic account. Stockal works with multiple domestic banks to make the process easy and seamless for you and also to get you very low forex rates. You can do all this sitting at home or office. Then it takes 2-3 business days for the transferred money to reflect in your account. You can start investing immediately afterwords.

Is there any tax deduction for my withdrawals or gains in the US markets?

There is no TDS (Tax Deduction at Source) for your stock market gains in the US. So when you make money and send it back to your Indian bank account, the broker in the US does not deduct any tax on it. You will have to pay Short-term Capital Gains Tax OR Long-term Capital Gains Tax in India, whatever is applicable. Short-term Capital Gains apply if a security is held for less than 36 months. 

A 30% TDS applies only on your dividend earnings. This is when stocks in your portfolio give out dividends to their investors. 

US and India have a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). This means that you pay tax only once. For the TDS done on your dividend earnings, you will get W-8BEN from DriveWealth. You can use it while filing your taxes in India to show that you have already paid taxes on this income. W-8BEN can be issued whenever you request. 

Where is my US investing account held?

Your investing (brokerage) account is opened at our US brokerage and clearing services partner DriveWealth - a FINRA regulated brokerage firm. It is a licensed carrying and self-clearing broker offering brokerage services to global investors. DriveWealth is backed by Softbank Group and other leading venture capital firms in the financial services ecosystem.

The custody of your account, in turn, would be held by DriveWealth one of their custodian partners. Let us know if you need more information regarding the custody of your account. You can reach us by raising a ticket.

How much can I invest in US stocks from India?

Currently, you can invest up to USD 250,000 every year in foreign stocks from India. This amount can change, subject to RBI guidelines. So your investments in US securities are also governed by the same limit. 

Foreign investments fall under clearly defined RBI guidelines. The remittance of money for foreign investments comes under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS).

Under LRS an Individual can remit up to USD 250,000 per financial year to invest in foreign equities done through an authorized dealer (commonly, your bank). As per RBI policy, having a PAN card is required to purchase shares in foreign countries.

How much time does it take to create a Stockal account?

It takes just 3-4 minutes to fill the account opening form on stockal.com. You will need to upload your address and ID proofs during this process. Then it takes 2-3 business days for your account to get approved by our brokerage partner, DriveWealth, in the US. They do the KYC documentation and filing within this time frame.

Do I get voting rights on fractional stocks? And what about dividends?

You don't get voting rights on fractions of stock you own. So if you own 34.5 stocks of a company, your voting rights will be for 34 shares.

Dividends, yes! If a hundred dollar dividend per share is announced, you will get $3,450. The only limitation is that we cannot give you fractional money so if you own 0.0001 stock and the dividend announced is $5 per stock, you will not be able to receive half a cent. 

Can I create an account on-behalf of someone else?

Not as of now. Stockal currently allows personal investing accounts only. We will, however, let you know as soon as we have that facility available. 

Who is the custodian of my account?

Stocka's US brokerage partner, DriveWealth, works with Electronic Transaction Clearing Inc. (ETC), New York, for the custody of brokerage accounts.

Which stock markets are available on Stockal?

Currently, Stockal helps you invest in US stock markets. 

In another three months, we will have multiple other markets available - Germany, Japan, India, UK and Hong Kong. Over time, we will make investing totally ubiquitous - if you have an idea or come across a company you want to invest in, you will be able to make that investment without having to think if that stock is listed domestically or in some other country.

Interestingly, many large global companies have US listed ADRs which are available on Stockal. From Chinese giants like Alibaba to many Indian and European companies are all available. 

What are the documents required to transfer money to invest out of India?

The following documents are needed:

  • Form A2 along with a declaration form: As per FEMA, required every time the money is sent abroad to declare the sum amount that is to be transferred. Your bank will file this for you within the LRS filings. Stockal automatically fills this for you - all you need to do is, make sure that the information is correct, then download the filled-in form, sign and upload it back for your bank to file.
  • Bank KYC documents: PAN card and your address proof.

How much can I invest in US stocks from India?

Currently, you can invest up to USD 250,000 every year in foreign stocks from India. This amount can change, subject to RBI guidelines. So your investments in US securities are also governed by the same limit. 

Foreign investments fall under clearly defined RBI guidelines. The remittance of money for foreign investments comes under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS).

Under LRS an Individual can remit up to USD 250,000 per financial year to invest in foreign equities done through an authorized dealer (commonly, your bank). As per RBI policy, having a PAN card is required to purchase shares in foreign countries.

Take Action Now!

request details of the investment platform below, 
& get a 20-minute free consultation

contact form

Enter your contact details below, and we will contact you within 24 hours.

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

The 20-minute consultation call is at my cost. If you don't like what you hear, you don't pay anything,

... more importantly, your goals, and your timeline are exactly that, they are your responsibility, no one will follow-up and chase you to start.

My job is to present you with the information you need to make the right decision, that's it.

Amit Mitbawkar

P.S.: I look forward to speaking with you.

Copyright 2018 - www.AmitMitbawkar.com

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