[coolgirl]

Would you know which banks offer low initial fee/maintenance fee/custodian fees, and all the fees possible?

HSBC charges an insane 5.5% initial fee even on bond funds, whose historical record only shows 3% per year...

[wanderer]

depends on your level of investment with hsbc... everything is negotiable...

[discobay]

HSBC occassionally offer new funds with a 0% initial fee. I have never tried to negotiate down a fee with them.
Hang Seng are offering index funds at 1% initial fee otherwise 2%.
DBS are offering a 2.5% initial fee.

[chris_in_hk]

Coolgirl,

Fund fees are determined by the fund houses, e.g. Merrill Lynch, Fidelity. So it would be the same for all banks for most cases. Fund houses may offer special prices every so often to attract investors. It's only if you can get a discount or special offer from a bank, and that would take a cut out of the bank's commission/fees. Go to a site like: http://www.hk.morningstar.com/ and you'll see the normal fund fees listed there. The banks don't charge anything on top of those.

If you've got a lump sum you may be better off getting an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund). Read more about them in another thread I've been posting at at: Investing in Emerging Markets if you haven't already read it.