How to buy U.S. ETFs 🦅 from Europe?
In many countries, buying U.S. domiciled exchange traded funds (ETFs) is very hard or seemingly impossible to do. Are you also wondering how to buy U.S. ETFs from Europe/U.K.?
Like you, I was looking to spend some money on 🗽 liberty-containing financial instruments. Based on my findings, I have compiled a free and easy guide that will let you buy any U.S. ETF you like, such as:
- Vanguard VOO, VTI and VXUS
- ARK Invest ARKK, ARKQ, ARKW, ARKG, ARKX, and ARKF
- ProShares UPRO, TQQQ, SPXU, and SQQQ
- Direxion SOXL, DFEN, SPXL, and TECL
- Invesco TAN, CQQQ, QQQM, and QQQJ
- Covered call ETFs QYLD, QYLG, XYLD, RYLD, JEPI, KNG, …
Ways to buy U.S. ETFs
Despite all the boring 💤 regulation (PRIIPs) requiring specific documentation for ETFs (Key Information Document, or KID/KIID), there still are ways for Europeans to legally buy U.S. domiciled 📈 ETFs. It’s not even much of a hassle and has very little costs. Let’s have a look at the options.
Method #1: Buy ETFs cheap and easy via 🍒 Tastytrade (formerly Tastyworks)
Difficulty: 👶 Easy
Minimum: 💶 ~€2,000
Access: 💯 All ETFs
This method is by far the most accessible of all. It works by simply using a U.S. based broker instead of a European one. Besides offering ETFs, the broker has to support funding from Europe with low fees 💵 for this to be attractive. So far, I’ve found it works great with Tastytrade.
Tastytrade also doesn’t charge any fees for buying stocks and ETFs, a major advantage compared to most European brokers. Follow the steps below and you’re good to go.
Tastytrade also doesn’t charge any fees for buying stocks and ETFs, a major advantage compared to most European brokers. Follow the steps below and you’re good to go.
- Open a Tastytrade account here.
Click here for detailed instructions.
- Open a CurrencyFair account here.
Transfer €2,000+ for a €50 free bonus 🎁, click here for instructions.
- Transfer funds from your bank to Tastytrade.
Initiate cheap transfers via 💱 CurrencyFair, click here for instructions.
- You can now start buying U.S. ETFs! 🎉
Click here to read how to place an order on Tastytrade.
Still got questions? Place a comment below!
Method #2: Get U.S. ETF exposure 🌎 via CFDs
Difficulty: 👶 Easy
Minimum: 👛 ~€500
Access: 🛒 250+ ETFs
Though CFDs aren’t available for all U.S. ETFs, it may still be a good option if you’re mainly interested in the popular ones. The ease and low minimum deposit makes this an attractive option for people looking to buy common U.S. ETFs through a European broker.
Click this link to check out the simple guide I wrote to help you setup your eToro account, and get 🧠 informed about what CFDs are and how to use them to trade U.S. ETFs.
Method #3: Obtain 👨💼 professional investor status, trade unrestricted
Difficulty: 🧠 Medium
Minimum: 💰 ~€500,000
Access: 💯 All ETFs
Got a large (€500,000+) 💰 portfolio and want to stick with a European broker when buying U.S. exchange traded funds? In that case, obtaining professional status might be suitable for you. Find the instructions here, but be aware this method will only suit a very select group of people.
Method #4: Buy ETFs by exercising options, for experienced traders
Difficulty: 🤯 Hard
Minimum: 💳 ~€10,000
Access: 🔥 Most ETFs
Still work in progress…
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Hi,
Thanks for the article. I have been investing in efts through CFDs (etoro) as a european with not that big of an account. Could you please highlight some risks this might have. I know of the risk of not owning the asset and not being able to move it to another broker. I am into dividend etfs and plan on holding for a long time.
If you don’t have that much in it anyway, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Some people care about owning the underlying, but to me that is not very important. Even ETFs have this “issue” sometimes, if they’re so called “synthetic” ETFs that work with swaps. Upside with those is that they’re generally lower on fees, too. Similarly, some people prefer real gold over funds that represent it, whereas others don’t care.
I’m not telling you what you should buy or care about—it’s everybody’s decision to make and a matter of conscience and preference. But personally I would prefer ETFs over CFD more so because of the costs than whether I would own the underlying or not.
Just discovered https://leverageshares.com/
They offer leveraged ETPs on some popular US stocks like 5x QQQ and 5x SPY. Those ETPs are traded on European exchanges.
Disclaimer: not an investment advice. Leveraged products bear higher risk.