You will be able to check that a trade has settled and find it in your broker and CDP records.
Nadia's order filled at 10.40 on a Tuesday morning. The app showed 1,400 units of Fund X in her portfolio straight away. She took a screenshot, closed the app and felt done.
She wasn't quite done. The app showed what she had agreed to buy. The money hadn't moved yet, the units hadn't reached her CDP account, and the official record of the trade was still on its way to her inbox. What happens in the next few days is routine, but it's your job to check it.
When an order fills, you and the seller have agreed a deal. The actual exchange, your cash for the units, happens later, on the settlement date. On SGX, settlement follows a set cycle counted in market days, so weekends and public holidays don't count.
Rather than memorising the cycle, read it from your paperwork. Every trade comes with a contract note that shows the trade date, the settlement date and the date your payment is due. Those dates are the ones that count for your trade. If you want to know the current standard cycle, SGX publishes it, but the contract note is what you act on.
Until settlement, the units show in your broker's app as bought, and in a CDP-linked account they won't yet appear in your CDP account. That's normal.
Your broker sends a contract note for every trade, usually by email on the trade date or the day after. It's the formal record of what you bought and what you owe, and you should keep every one.
Read each one when it arrives. Here's what to check against what you meant to do:
The security: the fund's name and code match the one you chose, including the right counter if it trades in more than one currency. The side and quantity: it says buy, not sell, and the number of units is what you ordered. The price: it's at or below your limit price. The fees: commission, exchange and clearing fees and any GST, and that the commission matches your broker's fee schedule. The amount due and the due date: the total you owe and the day it must be paid.
Nadia's made-up contract note showed 1,400 units of Fund X bought at S$3.50, for S$4,900, plus S$11.50 in commission and fees, for a total of S$4,911.50. The payment due date was two market days later. She checked each line against her order and her fee sheet from lesson 1.4.
If anything is wrong, such as the wrong fund, the wrong quantity or a fee that doesn't match, contact the broker the same day. Errors are much easier to fix before settlement than after. Keep a copy of your message and any reply.
Lesson 3.2, Link your bank for funding and dividends, set up how your broker collects payment. Now is when that matters. Before the due date on the contract note, make sure the money is where your broker will take it from: in your linked bank account for a direct debit, in your broker cash account, or sent by transfer if you pay manually.
After the due date, check that the payment has left your bank account or cash balance for the right amount. If it hasn't, and you expected it to, ask the broker. A missed payment can bring interest and, in the worst case, a forced sale.
For a CDP-linked purchase, the units move into your CDP account on settlement. You can check this two ways.
The first is online. CDP's portal on the SGX website shows your holdings, usually within a day of settlement. Log in and look for the fund and the number of units.
The second is your CDP statement. CDP sends a monthly statement of your holdings and any movements, by post or electronically depending on your settings. The month after your purchase, check that the fund appears with the right number of units.
If you bought through a custodian, the units won't appear in CDP at all. Your broker's statement is the record instead, so check that.
Nadia found her 1,400 units in her CDP account the morning after settlement. That, rather than the screenshot she took on Tuesday, was the moment her first ETF was really hers.
These steps feel slow the first time. They get quicker, and they matter just as much on your twentieth trade as your first, because that's when you stop paying attention. A short list you follow every time catches the occasional mistake before it costs you.
Write out your own checklist for after every trade now, in the order you'll follow it: contract note, payment, settlement and CDP statement. Lesson 6.4, Place your first order and keep the records, puts it to use.
Write the checklist you will follow after every trade: contract note, payment, settlement and CDP statement.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).