Getting started with Investing on The Jamaica Stock Exchange is actually a lot easier than you think. Most people are afraid to start investing and this is often because they think its a complicated process and that only the rich and wealth can invest. However, this couldn’t be any further from the truth. There are essentially Three (3) simple steps you can follow to get started :
- Step 1 : Gather the Required Documents
- Step 2 : Identify the broker you want to Invest with
- Step 3 : Open the Investment account online or in branch
Gathering the Required Documents
The First step required when looking to open an Investment account is to gather the required documents. Regardless of the broker that you choose to open an investment account with the required documents will always be the same. The documents are as follows
- Valid Photo ID (Passport, Drivers License, Voters ID)
- Tax Registration Number (TRN)
- Proof of Income (Job Letter, Payslip, Bank Statement etc.)
- Proof of Address (Utility Bill, Telecom Bill, Loan Statement, Credit Card Statement etc.)
- Minimum Opening Balance (Some brokers may require a minimum deposit to open the account similar to some bank accounts.)
For most gathering these documents should be relatively easy and accessible. Additionally if you have opened a bank account before chances are you would have used the same exact documentation so you can just reuse the same information. Another issue some may have is the minimum balance requirement to open an investment account as some can range from as low as $0 and for others it can be as high as $1,000,000. The truth is though for most brokers the minimums are $25,000 JMD or less and this money isn’t a fee or cost to open the account so what this means is that once the account is actually open if you wish to not invest all the funds you don’t have to.
Identify the Broker you want to Invest with
Once you have gathered all the required documentation the next step is to identify the broker you wish to Invest with. There are quite a few different options you can choose from and you are not limited to just one broker either so if you wanted to you could use multiple. The good thing is that a lot of the banks we do business with already are apart of a group of companies that already have a Investment bank or Brokerage firm associated with them. Some examples include JMMB Bank, NCB Bank, Sagicor Bank and JN Bank that all have Investment firms associated with them. Here are the 14 Registered Brokers you can open an Investment account with :
- Barita Investments Limited
- CUMAX Wealth Management Limited
- FHC Investments Limited
- GK Capital Management Limited
- Ideal Securities Broker Limited
- JMMB Securities Limited
- JN Fund Managers Limited
- M/VL Stockbrokers Limited
- Mayberry Investments Limited
- NCB Capital Markets Limited
- Proven Wealth Limited
- Sagicor Investments Jamaica Limited
- Scotia Investments Jamaica Limited
- VM Wealth Management Limited
You can choose to open an investment account with any of the above brokers. However, some brokers have an easier to use Investment platform and may offer better customer experience. For Example JMMB Securities Limited and NCB Capital Markets Limited have their own Investment platforms respectively. Furthermore these platforms are integrated well with their banking counterparts so funding your investment account and taking profit is as simple as a online transfer. Where as with other brokers you’ll need to use JTraderPro to do both Funds in and Funds out Request. As a result, for new investors this may be a more difficult process as it involves additional steps and multiple platforms.
Opening your Investment Account
The final step once you have gathered all your documents and identified your preferred broker is to open your investment account. Depending on the broker you choose you’ll either be able to open the investment account online or physically in a branch. For example both JMMB and NCBCM allow online account opening for investment accounts. If you are interested in a step by step guide as to how to open investment accounts online with one of the aforementioned brokers. You can watch tutorials on my TikTok page for opening the JMMB account online HERE and for the NCBCM account HERE. Once you actually open the account you’ll then be onboarded and assisted in signing with signing up to the respective Investment platform of your broker. Once you’ve signed up you are now able to start Investing.
If you are a Beginner to Investing and want to learn more check out our Digital Products Page HERE!