Vanguard Brokerage Services: Funds Availability Policy For Trading

Now that I’m probably going to set up Vanguard Brokerage Services (VBS) with a taxable account, I did an online chat to figure out their funds availability rules for buying and selling stocks. The main reason is that their money market funds don’t yield very much right now (0.04% for Prime Money Market), so I want to keep my cash elsewhere.

Bank Transfers, Trade Dates, and Settlement Dates
According to their bank transfer policy, transfers from a bank to a money market fund submitted before 10 p.m., Eastern time, on a Vanguard business day will receive the next business day’s trade date. Purchases submitted “after 10 p.m., Eastern time, or on weekends or holidays will receive a trade date of the second business day after your submission.”

Your bank account will be debited on the business day following your trade date (typically two business days after you enter your purchase request). For most mutual funds, the settlement date is one business day after the trade date. This is known as “T+1″.

Stock Settlement Timing, T+3
When you buy a stock, the settlement date is three business days after the trade date. This is known as “T+3″. According to the SEC, this rule means that when you buy securities, the brokerage firm must receive your payment no later than three business days after the trade is executed.

What Does This Mean?
Let’s say I get the urge to buy some shares of VWO while the market is still open, call it Day 1. But my sweep money market is empty. I can actually place a buy order for VWO as long as I place a bank transfer on Day 1 as well, and I already have other assets at Vanguard. (There may be a warning message, but you can override it.) Theoretically, my trade date will be Day 2 and my bank account will be debited on Day 3. Therefore, the money will be ready by the due date of Day 4.

This is nice, because it means I don’t have to keep any cash in the sweep account until I wish to make a purchase (as long as it’s not larger than my existing assets).

Warnings
However, you should be sure that you have money in the bank, because if the bank transfer does not go through, Vanguard has the right to sell your other assets (mutual funds, etc.) to fill that VWO order. They won’t just cancel it, because otherwise this would be an easy way to cheat the market if the stock price dropped in the meantime. The Vanguard Rep said that they would call you in this case, probably to either get you to wire money over or have you choose what assets to be liquidated.

Another option would be to enable margin on your accounts, which lets you borrow money against your other assets and pay interest. You can then use that borrowed money to buy stocks. Sometimes paying a few days of interest is worth the flexibility.

Find more in Investing | 5/18/10, 1:14am | Trackback