I've been thinking about buying some Lockheed Martin but given how small my investment would be the fees involved in buying international shares males it seem hardly worthwhile. I was wondering if anyone here had experience of this and thoughts on the most efficient way to do it. I wouldn't be buying and selling often, just buying and holding one purchase and possibly selling eventually but even collecting dividends seems complicated and expensive... It's a shame there isn't an asx etf got most of the big US stocks, maybe just the fortune 100 or something.
If you already have an Australian share trading account, your broker probably offers international share trading, for example, Commsec charge A$65 for an international share trade (but watch for account inactivity fees, etc). My suggestion would be OptionsXpress (http://optionsxpress.com.au), accounts are free to open, US$14.95 per trade, and doesn't charge inactivity fees as far as I know. As for a US-focused ETF, try iShares IVV - S&P 500 index ETF.
If you just want an ETF you can buy these on the Australian market: ISHARES CORE S&P 500 (code IVV). I believe there's other ETFs around and you can look these up on the ASX site. If you're looking for individual shares the fees can be expensive, but Halifax Investment Services are not too bad. However, US shares can get a bit messy when dividends are paid as they're taxed at about 30% when they leave the US and you have to try to get them back.
I use Interactive Brokers for everything outside of Australia except for Forex. They have the broadest range of products with all the trimmings. They have Lockheed Martin http://www1.interactivebrokers.ch/c...x.php?action=Details&site=GEN&conid=161048508
phrenzy - from a subscription service I use and tend to trust: "OPTIONSXPRESS http://www.optionsxpress.com.au/ If you want simplicity, ease of use and excellent tools then OptionsXpress may be for you." "INTERACTIVE BROKERS http://www.interactivebrokers.com.au/ If you are an experienced online investor and prefer functionality over simplicity then Interactive Brokers (IB) may be for you."
When I said a us etf I meant one for each of the top 100 cap companies rather than a composite. Thanks for the leads, I'll check them out. When I looked at commsec it was going to be pretty expensive by the time you lost 5% on currency conversion for the purchase and then again on the sale. I'm hoping I can find a place that will let me fund an account with an international bank transfer through ozforex... Anyhow, plenty to go on with. Cheers!
