Yes. Americans who buy onshore stuffs have to pay capital gain tax too anyway.

You want 0 tax, then offshore islands like Cayman and BVI are your main options. Or, use derivatives like forwards/futures/options/swaps etc. to circumvent the rules (regulatory arbitrage).

I just avoid US bond etfs altogether. I buy those closer to home.sgx, hkex.

For bonds, the coupona are quite an important part of total returns, so being subject to wht sucks.

Better to just buy individual bond over etf. Tax free. And not as capital intensive as our Malaysian or sg bonds at 250k a piece.

U mean USD individual bonds? Where do u  buy for small.ticket size?

I will reply you here.
1. Open CIMB Sg account.
https://ringgitfreedom.com/banking/opening-...for-malaysians/
2. Open interactive broker account one you are able to login to CIMB SG account.
https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/home.php
3. Enable trading permission for UK market
4. Open up Sunway money account
https://sunwaymoney.com/
5. Use Sunway money to transfer RM to SGD into your CIMB Sg bank account
6. Use FAST transfer to send money to IBKR SGD bank account using CIMB sg.
7. Convert into the currency you want Interactive broker
8. Buy Ireland based S&P500 ETF off London Stock Exchange.
Why Ireland etf and not US  based etf?
Go for Ireland based etf cause you save 15% on dividend tax vs 30% if you buy US based ETF directly.
If you want to go for options down the road, go with US based ETF namely SPY.
More info kindly read this post and the ringgit freedom blog.

Avoid lifebalance steps or recommendation for ETF. Not cost effective and lousy. Use the above steps. Anything you can ask here or ask in
Interactive broker thread
Or
https://t.me/sgIBKRcommunity

Unlike him who don't want you to talk about ETF investing, I am all ears if you want to ask about EFF investing

Btw, he reported my post in the insurance part for pointing out that he's wrong and his steps are expensive and inefficient.

The already denuded technology sector is about to be stripped of yet more companies in the latest shake-up of industry definitions, pushing stock concentration to unprecedented highs.

Back in 2018 erstwhile tech titans Facebook (now Meta), Netflix, Twitter, Snap and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, were reclassified as communication services companies under the widely followed Global Industry Classification Standards (GICS) framework. With Amazon already classed as a consumer discretionary company, this means only one of the infamous five FAANGs — Apple — was actually technically still a tech stock.

Now Visa and Mastercard, two of the five largest remaining technology companies, are about to be reclassified as financials, alongside the likes of PayPal and Fiserv, while Automatic Data Processing and PayChex are among those being shipped off to industrials.

The moves will raise the weighting of Apple and Microsoft, which already account for a combined 44.4 per cent of the S&P 500 Information Technology sector, to almost 50 per cent.

“The changes reinforce our unfavourable view on tech exchange traded funds, which will grow more concentrated. We prefer equal-weighted sector ETFs,” said analysts at BofA Securities.

The impact will vary widely from fund to fund, however. The $158bn Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ), often thought of as a tech fund, will be unaffected as it invests in the largest non-financial Nasdaq-listed companies irrespective of sector, ranging from PepsiCo to Walgreens Boots Alliance and Marriott International.

The repercussions for the $49bn Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) and the $40.1bn Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), the world’s two largest sector ETFs, according to data from Morningstar Direct, will differ, however — in part because some are already as tightly concentrated as US regulations permit.

Under the US Internal Revenue Code, regulated investment companies, which include funds, must ensure that no more than 25 per cent of their assets are invested in a single issuer, or company, at the end of each quarter, and that the sum of the weights of all issuers representing more than 5 per cent of the fund should not exceed 50 per cent.

The S&P 500 Technology Select Sector Index, tracked by XLK, already appears to be fully maxed out by these parameters, with Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia, the third-largest remaining tech company, having a combined weighting of 50.45 per cent, and Apple alone at 23.04 per cent.

This means their weight cannot rise any further post the rejig, which for S&P indices will occur after the close of trading on March 17.

As a result the index, and any fund tracking it such as XLK, will be underweight the big three, vis-à-vis their underlying market capitalisations, and overweight the remaining tech companies, headed by Broadcom, Cisco Systems and Salesforce.

Matthew Bartolini, head of SPDR Americas research at State Street Global Advisors, said the changes were “relatively minor from a weighting perspective and the fund will continue to have a very diversified exposure to the technology sector”.

In contrast, VGT tracks small and mid-cap tech stocks, as well as the blue-chip names in the S&P 500, so its exposure to the largest companies is somewhat diluted.

As of January 31, the latest available data, VGT’s combined exposure to Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia was 43.6 per cent, giving it headroom to rise further when MSCI (whose index VGT tracks) implements the GICS changes, which will occur in May.

Thus VGT’s exposures will probably be in line with the underlying market caps, but it will become more concentrated in a handful of stocks.

Vanguard said it was still analysing the likely impact on its funds, but added that “GICS changes will have little impact on investors in broadly diversified equity funds, like Total Stock Market Index or 500 Index”.

The story is different again for the $8.8bn iShares US Technology ETF (IYW), which tracks a version of the Russell 1000 Technology index. FTSE Russell does not follow the GICS framework, instead using its own Industry Classification Benchmark.

As a result, IYW invests in some companies off limits to VGT and XLK, such as Meta, Alphabet and Pinterest. The forthcoming GICS changes will narrow the divide however, as FTSE Russell does not classify Visa and Mastercard as tech stocks (they are instead ranked as America’s two largest industrial companies).

The ripples from the GICS rejig will spread further still. BofA believes it will lead to net selling of the payments giants, with tech funds selling $15bn worth of stock but financials funds buying just $11bn.

With a combined market cap of almost $800bn, Visa and Mastercard are on track to become the second and fourth-largest stocks respectively in the S&P 500 financials sector.

Bartolini supported the transfer of Visa and Mastercard saying they “should probably be in financials, given their relationship to the financial industry itself. That change is really welcomed by investors, as far as the conversations we have had,” he added.

As to the conflation of the FAANGs acronym with technology, Bartolini said: “It’s catchy, it caught on and it can lead to confusion.

“It became mainstream in the financial lexicon and it’s unlikely to go away, even though FAANGs is not representative of technology or innovation or high growth.”

I will reply you here.
1. Open CIMB Sg account.
https://ringgitfreedom.com/banking/opening-...for-malaysians/
2. Open interactive broker account one you are able to login to CIMB SG account.
https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/home.php
3. Enable trading permission for UK market
4. Open up Sunway money account
https://sunwaymoney.com/
5. Use Sunway money to transfer RM to SGD into your CIMB Sg bank account
6. Use FAST transfer to send money to IBKR SGD bank account using CIMB sg.
7. Convert into the currency you want Interactive broker
8. Buy Ireland based S&P500 ETF off London Stock Exchange.
Why Ireland etf and not US  based etf?
Go for Ireland based etf cause you save 15% on dividend tax vs 30% if you buy US based ETF directly.
If you want to go for options down the road, go with US based ETF namely SPY.
More info kindly read this post and the ringgit freedom blog.

Avoid lifebalance steps or recommendation for ETF. Not cost effective and lousy. Use the above steps. Anything you can ask here or ask in
Interactive broker thread
Or
https://t.me/sgIBKRcommunity

Unlike him who don't want you to talk about ETF investing, I am all ears if you want to ask about EFF investing

Btw, he reported my post in the insurance part for pointing out that he's wrong and his steps are expensive and inefficient.

I have managed to open all 3 Account now.Its my first time using IKBR how would one perform step 8?Buy Ireland based S&P500 ETF off London Stock Exchange.is there some step by step or guide I can follow?

Also is the reason why use the Sunway Money to transfer the money into CIMB Sg instead of transferring from CIMB My purely for better rate convert?

One quick way is to check the Irish ETF/UCITS providers' website and inspect the list of UCITS offered. I list some examples below, with S&P 500 UCITS in the second link of each AM respectively:



Usually people will focus on liquidity of ETFs/UCITs, so Vanguard and Blackrock's ETFs/UCITS are more popular.

---------------------------

Yes, Sunway Money offers a better rate than many other FX fintech providers at the moment. The spread against interbank market is around 0.3-0.4% for large sums (a few thousand SGD) and around 0.5% for smaller amount. But take note that unlike Wise, Sunway Money's transfer is not instant. Sunway Money seem to have a tendency to "speculate" on FX rates by withholding the transfers a few hours to see if the FX rate moves in their favour before releasing it to you. So sometimes, you will need to wait till the next day to receive you money if you initiate the transfer at late afternoons of 4 to 5 pm. If transfer is initiated in the morning, you should be able to receive it by afternoon within the same day.

I have managed to open all 3 Account now.Its my first time using IKBR how would one perform step 8?Buy Ireland based S&P500 ETF off London Stock Exchange.is there some step by step or guide I can follow?

Also is the reason why use the Sunway Money to transfer the money into CIMB Sg instead of transferring from CIMB My purely for better rate convert?

Thank you , this been very helpful. How would one proceed to buy this Vanguard ETF for example on IKBR ? I am not familiar with this IKBR website actually and when it try to navigate it seems to be slightly confusing.

Thank you , this been very helpful. How would one proceed to buy this Vanguard ETF for example on IKBR ? I am not familiar with this IKBR website actually and when it try to navigate it seems to be slightly confusing.

IBKR is geared towards professional and institutional investors, so the interface is daunting for newbies,

OptimusStar Frankly IBKR is not that hard. Their website is just nice. If you want simpler interface use IBKR global trader.

1. Malaysian banks -> Sunway money -> deposit SGD into CIMB Sg -> Open IBKR -> follow the steps listed into the article on how to deposit money into IBKR.
https://investmentmoats.com/money/fund-with...rokers-account/
2. Once SGD inside your account, convert it into USD via IBKR app.
3. Login to IBKR enable trading permission for UK market.
4. Search for CSPX
5. Key in price you want and wait.
https://investingintheweb.com/education/inv...n-sp500-europe/

You want to have more SGD per RM you convert?
Yes. Then you use Sunway money. You get more SGD per RM.

You want to give banks free money?
Yes. Then don't use Sunway money. You have lesser SGD to invest cause banks took some money from you.☺️
See guide above.

But Ireland domiciled ETF if you want to save on dividend tax.

Frankly I will buy US etf and sacrifice dividend tax. Why?
I can do covered call on it. Once I have 100 units, I can do cover call on it and generating say USD20-50/week on my investment. This USD20-50 x52 weeks (there's 52 weeks in a year) is more than what the US govt tax on my dividend. In simple English I am getting paid more with extra Vs what the US govt is taxing me.

I can't do covered call if I buy Ireland demociled ETF..

I am just stating that why I prefer US version over Ireland version. No need follow me.

You can follow Ramjade's guide from step 1 to step 5 listed. IBKR is geared towards professional and institutional investors, so the interface is daunting for newbies, but you will enjoy services with better quality/privilege as a result (such as the ability to execute orders in different exchanges/ECNs, which is important for European stocks/ETFs as the fees can vary from 1.25 EUR to 4.4 EUR minimum for several hundred EURs worth of order).

You may also consider using the desktop Trader Workstation portal: https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/tws.php

And no, you don't have to follow his "options/covered call" approach. Options are not for everyone, certainly not for someone new to investing. The premium on options are paid and earned precisely because you are taking positions and views on the underlying ETFs/indices/stocks' volatility. It's not free money and there is no free lunch in financial markets.

---------------------------

You can buy domestic onshore ETFs listed on NYSE Arca or offshore UCITS. Either one is fine. Onshore ETFs enjoy local regulatory protections and are usually more liquid than their offshore counterparts. However, there is usually dividend withholding tax (30% for US) which most people hate and hence they go offshore.

One important risk with offshore UCITS is that you are subject to European laws and in particular, Irish law. Ireland is a famous tax haven. The US-Ireland double-taxation agreement currently allows you to save 15% dividend withholding tax on US stocks/ETFs while offering the "accumulating" share class for long-term investors. That said, as long as you understand you are bound by European laws, that's good enough for a start.

Investors in a suite of Canadian exchange traded funds face being trapped for an extended period after regulators imposed an “indefinite” trading ban on the funds.

Both primary and secondary market trading has been suspended in 11 ETFs after their sponsor, Emerge Canada, failed to file audited financial statements by a March 31 deadline.

The “cease trade order” imposed by the Ontario Securities Commission means that both the creation and redemption of shares in the funds has been halted, and that existing investors cannot sell their units to other investors in the secondary market.

“The CTO means that while we still actively manage our strategies and performance continues, liquidity cannot be achieved as there cannot be any creations/buys of units or redemptions/sales of units,” said Lisa Langley, chief executive of Emerge Canada, in a statement.

Analysts said the trading ban was unprecedented for an ETF anywhere in the world.

“I have heard of similar cease trading orders being issued for individual companies, but a CTO for an ETF provider is a first for me,” said Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research, North America, at Morningstar.

Deborah Fuhr, co-founder of consultancy ETFGI, said she was unaware of any previous cases of ETF trading being suspended because of a failure to file accounts.

However, ETFs have been suspended or delisted for a variety of other reasons, such as failing to meet minimum criteria for the size of assets or number of investors, or because trading in some or all of the underlying securities has been halted, she said.

This happened last year when trading in Russian equity ETFs was suspended after the invasion of Ukraine, said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at consultancy VettaFi.

The Ontario Securities Commission told the FT it had never “previously taken similar action against a family of ETFs”. It said the CTO was issued for an “indefinite period of time” and that “when a CTO is issued with no expiry date, it will remain in effect until . . . when and if the company or individual corrects the deficiencies or meets certain conditions”. 

Emerge Canada’s ETFs have combined assets of C$109mn ($82mn).

The Toronto-based company was the first Canadian distributor of Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest ETF range, which accounts for six of its ETFs. The other five are in its EMPWR range, a roster of “elite, emerging women portfolio managers . . . with a special focus on promoting sustainability, diversity and equality within the industry”.

Emerge Canada bills itself as “Canada’s first and only woman-owned investment fund firm”.

It announced in a securities filing in December that BDO Canada LLP had resigned as auditor of its ETFs “on its own initiative” on November 3.

With BDO yet to be replaced, the ETFs missed the deadline to file audited annual financial statements, management’s reports of fund performance and associated filings for 2022 by the prescribed deadline of March 31.

Langley said in a statement to the FT that “the decision to end the relationship [with BDO Canada] was mutual. Since then, we have been engaging in discussions with other potential auditing partners to secure a new auditor.

“Due to our shift to a new auditor, our 2022 financial statements missed the filing deadline, and we are working diligently to complete the requirements provided by the OSC,” she added.

BDO Canada declined to comment.

Langley added that “we are unable to provide any assurances on the timing of lifting of the CTO or whether the CTO will be lifted at all”.

She reiterated that the ETFs “still exist and they have value. All assets of the Emerge ETFs are held in custody by our custodian, RBC Investor Services.”

“This is an unusual sequence of events,” said Armour. “The company’s former auditor resigned in November 2022, so it raises the question of why they haven’t replaced the auditor in the five months since.”

Armour feared the trading suspension could be both long running and potentially terminal for at least some of the affected funds.

“The order requires Emerge to secure a new auditor and file audited annual financial statements before trading is allowed to resume. I would not expect that process to happen overnight, so investors in Emerge ETFs may be held captive for a while longer,” he said.

“I would anticipate many will consider selling their shares once the CTO is lifted.”

Fuhr did not, though, believe that Emerge Canada’s travails should deter people from investing in other small providers, which account for the bulk of the 657 ETF issuers currently active globally.

“Given it hasn’t happened before and there are a lot of small ETF issuers out there, I wouldn’t want to raise a flag about having these issues. It might be a bit alarmist,” she said.

Armour agreed. “I would not conflate this issue with small ETF providers more broadly. This seems to be an Emerge Canada-specific problem that I don’t expect to occur very often,” he said.

ETF should be easy and safe, right? Your assets are segregated from the parent company, no?

Lo and behold...

ETF Hub: Exchange traded funds

Investors trapped in Canadian ETFs after trading ban
Emerge Canada funds suspended following failure to file financial statements

Steve Johnson YESTERDAY
The key risk missed out here is liquidity. Your assets may be safe in a segregated trustee's hand. But you can't liquidate your funds as you do before.

But to be fair, Canada has a troubled history of shady counters listing in its stock exchange.

Article source: https://www.ft.com/content/fd9560b5-fa14-49...33-47ff9364eff7

Moral of the story stick with trusted name like vanguard and iShares.

Hi guys, looking for alternate options for vti + vxus + bnd . Aiming To reduce withholding tax . Any recommendations?