Are there any online investing platforms that are accessible to both UK and Swiss nationals? Or platforms expats can use in multiple different locations just to buy a basket of passive funds/ETF’s?

Are there any online investing platforms that are accessible to both UK and Swiss nationals? Or platforms expats can use in multiple different locations just to buy a basket of passive funds/ETF’s?

There are two aspects to your question.

The first one is easy enough. If you are living in Switzerland or the UK, it is simple to open a trading platform.

What is more difficult is investing long-term productively on a DIY investment account, because people tend to get emotional investing.

We saw that this year after people panic sold after seeing events like this on the news:

The difference between what investors on DIY platforms get and the market has been documented by firms like MoringStar, in their “mind the gap report”.

Essentially, people get less than the market due to emotional reasons when they invest themselves.

The stats below speak volumes:

You only have to look at Quora to see why this occurs. Every time markets hit a record, there aren’t many questions on it.

Every time there is a crash or even correction, then thousands of people are asking questions about it!

The second part of your question is much more difficult. If you are living in the European Economic Area (EEC) or EU, there are many platforms that accept for the whole continent.

Yet countless only accept for one or just for the EU. Very few platforms accept for almost every country in the world.

I have ran out of the number of people that have approached me after firms like Degiro closed down their accounts.

This was often due to them moving outside the 18 areas which they accept for.

This can often cause numerous problems including tax liabilities if they force you to liquidate the positions.

As an expat, people never know where they will move. In Japan after the natural disaster of 2011, countless expats were moved home or to another location.

The same thing has happened globally after the pandemic and lockdown

Therefore, the only safe thing to do is invest with a firm or platform which has a great track record of accepting for almost any country in the world.

It is much safer than relying on only being in one country, area or continent as an expat, in an uncertain world.

Get in touch today concerning expat-specialised solutions -Personal Investment Services - Adam Fayed

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