If I wanted to buy some CAD, who would be the best bank to buy this through? I've transferred a lot of money around the world over the years, but never changed my own money into another currency to hold - what is the best way to do this? Most banks appear to only have accounts for USD and HKD.. Thanks
You can open a multi currency account with HSBC, which also includes CAD. http://www.hsbc.com.au/1/2/personal/savings/multi-currency Regds
HSBC is your best option, if you insist it has to be a 'bank' in the traditional sense of the word. HSBC really excels at servicing international transactions thanks to their large Chinese expat client base. A regular TT (Telegraphic Transfer) which might take CBA,WBC,ANZ,NAB a week 'to process' usually clears from HSBC in three business days. Edit: I see you talking about HKD so I think you knew about HSBC already. There is also Ozforex, but they only provide a foreign currency exchange service. They have no shopfronts and you can't get CAD in banknotes from them. http//www.ozforex.com.au/ Retail deposits of CAD (only attracts ~1.20% p.a. in interest (in Canada), as Bank of Canada overnight target rate is current 1.0%. Still if we're talking about larger amounts (CAD$100,000+) over long periods of time, it may be an option to open a non-resident bank account in Canada.
I'll be doing exactly that early next year. Not that I will have a deposit quite that size, I'm just trying to hedge my bets and transfer some into CAD now. I suspect that we won't see the year out with as stronger AUD as we have right now. I must have glazed over HSBC, for some reason I thought they didn't do CAD - I will check into them now. While on the topic, do many of you just keep a store of cash in other currencies?
If you think the AUD is over valued, holding physical foreign cash is usually not such a great investment. Say the AUD to the USD is 1.05 at present and you reckon within a year it will be parity 1.00. Thats essentially a 5% drop so you would earn 5% on your money. For that 5% you have to do some work, pay fees and risk that the AUD will not drop to 1.00 and could even appreciate. You can get 5% guaranteed zero risk in high interest Australian bank accounts at the moment. Forex trading is usually only worth doing electronically and over short time periods (hours or days), not buy and hold.
I'm not doing it to make money, more to retain purchasing power. I'm (probably foolishly), planning on living in Canada for the foreseeable future - I'd love to say for a lifetime, but who knows, it could end up being for 6 months. Not leaving until early next year at this stage, possibly later. The idea is to transfer some now, and then take some AUD across when we move.
