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How to Buy American ETFs in Europe with PRIIPs ETF Regulation?
Last Updated on March 18, 2021 by Mr. FightToFIRE
Most retail investors that trade on their own already noticed starting 2018. As a European, it’s not possible to buy US-based Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) anymore.
If you were trying to find out how to get these US-based ETFs in Europe, I hate to burst your bubble, but there is no straight forward for this after a new ETF regulation in Europe (no, options aren’t straightforward). The major culprit? PRIIPs.
PRIIPs stands for Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products. Phew, that’s a mouthful, isn’t it? No wonder everyone uses the abbreviation.
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But what do these fancy words mean? According to Investopedia:
The term PRIIPs, created by the European Commission to regulate the underlying market, is defined as any product that is manufactured by the financial services industry, to provide investment opportunities to retail investors, where the amount repayable is subject to fluctuation because of exposure to reference values or the performance of underlying assets not directly purchased by the retail investor.”
– Investopedia.com
Investopedia defined PRIIPs, but it doesn’t answer why it affects European investors.
JustETF has a solid article answering why the EU has this directive. The article has a clear message and you notice this. It answers why US ETF’s aren’t an outstanding idea and why PRIIPs ETF regulation is thus good for the retail investor. I will not argue about whether PRIIPs ETF regulation is a good or bad thing for Europeans. It’s too late anyway and as a retail investor, we aren’t able to make a change anyway.
Instead, I’ll help in another way by answering the questions:
- As a European investor, why can’t I invest in US-based trackers or ETFs?
- How to buy US ETF in Europe?
- What are some alternatives to the most bought US funds?
PRIIPs: no KID, no fund
PRIIPs requires funds, so both active and passive, to provide a Key Information Document (KID). This KID enables investors to assess the risk, reward, and costs in one swift read.
Because it’s a European regulation, European funds were ready by the time the new rules came into effect. Without it, they wouldn’t be allowed to be public after all.
US-based ETFs didn’t bother to comply as their focus is the US. Creating this EU approved documentation wasn’t and still isn’t a priority for them, nor will it ever be. It’s also very likely a money thing, why allow your European investors the access to a cheap tracker when you can just let them enjoy a more expensive one?
Unfortunately, as a result of this decision, EU brokers don’t make the US-funds that don’t offer a KID to their clients available.
Read something else ...... Or continue below
The markets run day and night, worldwide. Every second the prices change, driven by a never-ending stream of news and the millions of decisions of all kinds of investors.
The markets run day and night, worldwide. Every second the prices change, driven by a never-ending stream of news and the millions of decisions of all kinds of investors.
Whenever you request guidance on how to invest to reach FIRE, you will often receive the comment you should invest in Emerging Markets e.g. through IWDA + EMIM. But should you?
How to buy US-index ETFs in Europe
Now we have identified the consequences of PRIIPs ETF regulation for Europe.
Time to go over the step by step guide on how to buy US index ETFs in Europe:
- Figure out what type of investor you are by doing your due diligence. Before you invest in general, and not just in US ETFs from Europe, know your risk threshold for crazy market movement and investment horizon.
- Open an account at one of the many online brokers that offer low commission trading and gives an easy and user-friendly platform. The biggest one is DeGiro, available in 18 countries (Degiro, 2020). There are others that allow European to invest in US ETFs from Europe. For Belgium, and 9 other countries, there is Lynx (Lynx, 2020).
- Got your account? Fund it with the amount you want to risk and can miss for a longer time (remember 1?).
- Research what you want to invest in. You can read what I have in my portfolio and what I think of thematic funds or dividend aristocrats. But there is tons of info out there, so be careful and question everything! Look at regions, sectors, themes as mentioned above, and much more. There is an ETF for everyone’s taste.
JustETF.com is an excellent site with a plethora of information including the symbol (AKA ticker) or code. Either way, think long term and follow your risk appetite.
To help you out, some more tips on what to look for when you want to buy US ETF in Europe:- Pay attention to the expense ratio and keep an eye on their size. The lower the expenses the better, though there is much more to it.
- The domicile and currency of the respective ETF you want to trade with. Domicile is the “home country” of ETF. ETF taxation varies according to domicile. It’s also country-specific, so you have to do your due diligence here. If you wish to invest in US index funds from Europe, you will probably end up with a fund domiciled in Ireland.
Finally, the currency is important to avoid conversion fees, choose the ETF, and broker with the same currency as your account.
- Purchase the (US index) ETF based on your research and using either ISIN code or the ticker of the ETFs. That way you get exactly the one you wanted.
But what if I really want to buy US-based trackers in Europe?
The above steps are generic and work if you are in Europe. However, there is a way to get access to US trackers that don’t comply with European regulations if you really want to trade those:
Register with a US broker!
While it sounds simple you have to realize that these brokers do not comply with EU regulations and thus you will have to do all the work to make sure you provide all the necessary documentation and deposit all the owed taxes on time. Having all the paperwork in order is very important as you also won’t be exempt from a 30% dividend tax US brokerages if miss filling in the W-8BEN form (aka the Certificate of Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting form).
If you are unsure your country has a tax treaty with the US, you can find more info on the website of the IRS.
Not scared away by this extra administration? Then here are trust-worthy American brokers to start investing in US-based ETF or trackers:
- TastyWorks
- Interactive Brokers
- Lightspeed
- Charles Schwab International /TD Ameritrade
- Firstrade: Limited to a number of countries. You can find the full list on their site.
European alternatives for US-based ETFs
You might have noticed I use “US-based“. While you can’t buy US-based ETFs, you can still buy US index ETFs. Let me clarify.
The former are trackers with a listing in the US such as SPY. This ETF tracks the S&P500 index and has an ISIN code starting with ‘US’ (US78462F1030). However, since it tracks an index, nothing is stopping a fund to be listed in Europe (if it follows PRIIPs) but still track a US index just like SPY. An example of this is CSPX. Instead of having an ISIN code starting with ‘US’, this tracker’s ISIN starts with ‘IE’ (IE00B5BMR087).
So, since brokers aren’t allowed to make US-based funds available these huge fund firms provide European alternatives to these very large and highly liquid US exchange-traded funds.
For most US ETFs there is a European alternative ETF that is equivalent to the US ETF. That way it is possible to buy US ETFs for European investors.
Naming all of them is outside the scope of this article, but below are some of the most popular funds and their European counterpart. Of course, these EU-domiciled funds aren’t nearly as big and might be a tad bit more expensive, but there is no alternative for the retail trader if they want to invest in US ETFs from Europe. We’ve got to make do with what we have.
Concerns
As mentioned earlier in my steps on how to buy US index trackers, since European traders are forced into lesser-known funds and thus more often than not, smaller funds, you do have to take their size into consideration.
The popular American trackers don’t have this concern and it becomes apparent when you look at the size of the below-mentioned funds.
Let’s take IBB and SBIO. IBB has a hefty 8.15 billion dollars in Assets. SBIO? 345.48 million dollars. Bit of a difference no? Of course, biotech is still pretty popular, so even the lesser-known Invesco NASDAQ Biotech fund still has a comfortable amount of Assets. Others on the other hand, not so much. Take the SPDR MSCI Europe Telecommunications UCITS ETF. It currently sits at 5.93 million EUR in assets. This is very low. I’m not saying it’ll disappear tomorrow, but it certainly isn’t a fund you want to consider if you want to focus on telecommunications.
For the ones mentioned below their size isn’t a concern just like with most fonds, but you have been warned.
US-based ETF
European alternative ETF
SPDR S&P 500 ETF – SPY
iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF USD (Acc) (EUR) – CSPX (part of my portfolio)
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF – EEM
iShares Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF USD (Acc) (EUR) – EMIM (part of my portfolio)
Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund – XLF
iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF – IBB
Invesco NASDAQ Biotech UCITS ETF – SBIO (part of my portfolio)
iShares Russell 2000 ETF – IWM
All the above-mentioned ETFs have a link to justETF that has a large (public) database of various trackers that are located in Europe. An additional benefit is that they allow you to filter on the fund’s domicile country.
I highly recommend you take a look on their site if you are interested in a certain fund.
Sources:
- DeGiro. (2020). About DEGIRO – The first pan European broker. DEGIRO Pan-European online securities broker. https://www.degirogroup.com/about.html
- Lynx. (2020). Over LYNX. LYNX België. https://www.lynx.be/over-lynx/
I'm a developer for a major financial institution in Belgium that is present in over 40 countries. I have over 8 years of working experience in the development of customer applications focussing on all aspects of banking. This helped me gain a deep understanding of the inner workings of a commercial bank. All of this experience in both banking and life culminates in this blog about personal finance and my fight towards FIRE.
1. How to Buy American ETFs in Europe with PRIIPs ETF Regulation?
Thanks man! Saved me from lots of frustration:)
You got a new subscriber to your blog:)
Hello Andre,
Thank you for your comment. I really appreciate that. I’m happy my post was of use to you.
I hope you like my other and future material as well.
Greetings,
Mr. FightToFIRE
This may be fine for EU Citizens that don’t have US Citizenship; but if you do (so you have tax liability in the US) and you buy any EU based Fund or ETF, you are exposed to IRS PFIC rules that are extremely laborious (therefore expensive) and error prone (therefore dangerous) and likely wipe out any potential gains just by taxation and compliance fees.
On the other hand PRIIP seems to also apply to EU residents that do have US citizenship (even temporary expats, which makes no sense), so the US Brokerages refuse to sell them ETFs or Funds citing missing KIDs for any of the US based products.
What alternatives would you recommend to an Expat US citizen living in Europe ?
Thank you !
Hey Gerd, That’s a very specific situation where I don’t immediatly have the answer to. I’ll try to see if I can find an answer for you. I’ll keep you posted!
Dear Mr FightToFire,
This information is priceless – Thank you very much for sharing – I am forced to close my recent opened US based broker account for this very same reason, I am not able to purchase ETF’s. – They suggested to purchase the ETF via Options and Futures…. not a thing for me.
Is the only solution to hire an US based broker which will purchase on my behalf ? or commission will kill me ?
Thank you for some light in this darkness..
Hey Giancarlo,
Unfortunately, the only option is through… options or futures. US brokers most likely won’t accept you as you will need a US postal address, at least, that is what a couple of brokers told me when I tried.
I fear the only solution is to find alternatives like the ones I mention in the post.
All the best,
Mr.FightToFIRE
Thank you, Mr.FightToFIRE.
Very useful information.
I wish you all the best in what you are doing.
Hey Apelsyna,
Thank you for your comment.
Have a great day and good luck with your endeavors as well!
Greetings
Hi,
I managed to buy through eToro a couple US based ETF (VTI, VOO) – like 1500 ISD worth!
Then I came to you r article and it made me understand I shouldn’t be able to buy those ETF.
What you advise me to do now?
Sell all? Or how can I get myself out of this?
Thank you!
Hey Teodor,
It’s interesting that you are able to buy them through eToro. I would have to see the details in your account but what I believe has happened is the following.
EToro might have in fact sold you a Contract For Difference or CFD. This is not a share. You do not own VOO outright as a result. It’s legal but it’s dubious (that they act like you traded shares of VOO).
It’s basically a contract (what’s in a name) between you and the broker, in this case eToro. It’s a financial contract that pays the differences in the settlement price between the open and closing trades of an underlying asset, in this case VOO.
Honestly, it’s not a big issue but you must be aware that a CFD is not really meant for the long-term like you would do with a stock like VOO. I’d suggest, if you want to keep VOO for multiple years, to get the EU equivalent and hold that. Sell the VOO CFD when you are in green.
Greetings,
Mr.FightToFIRE
Hi, you mention it is not possible to buy us based etfs in Europe, which is true. However, you can still buy them in the US instead. You register an account with a US broker and buy them so that EU regulations don’t apply. Best solution when there are no alternative funds, like for ARKK. https://europoor.com has instructions
Hey Henry,
You are very correct.
I will update my post accordingly, thanks for the clarification! though it has to be said that US brokers operate a bit differently so it’s important that if you go to a US broker you understand the consequences (think mainly taxes).
Merry Christmas,
Mr. FightToFIRE