ETF - what's the easiest way to buy?

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Ret45

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I'm looking to invest/speculate EURO 10 k in the Goldman Sachs non-energy Commodity Index ETF. I have looked through previous threads on ETFs but cannot find information on the best way of buying them - do you have to go through an Irish stockbroker? I checked Sharewatch but it wasn't clear if you could buy ETFs through them.

If anyone has bought an ETF recently, I'd be grateful to know how you did it.

thanks
 
Would buying through a low charges online broker (possibly a US based one if possible) not be the best way to buy?
 
Thanks Clubman. I would prefer to buy and hold in EUROs if possible. Do you know the names of any popular/recommeded brokers?
 
I have purchased and spld ETFs on the AMex through Sharewatch in the past, but as on the AMEX the currency was US$.
 
The Goldman Sachs Indice is dollar denominated so any of the EFTs tracking these indices will also be in dollars
How could you expect to hold an EFT tracking Goldman Sachs and be in EUROS ????????????????
 
many ETF's have dual listings.
its essentialy the nav price in the home currency multiplied by the spot fx rate
 
Could you buy in Euro and if so who is carrying the currency risk ?

Unless an EFT was listed on a european exchange I don't see how you could buy it in euros
 
Hi PatsPost,

How did you buy anything on the AMEX through Sharewatch - they keep telling me they don't deal US Shares. Which is actually really annoying because I opened they account based on the expectation that I could deal US Shares. When opening an account the documentation says to deal US shares you need to complete a W8 BEN form - which I did and paid my €60 account fee only to discover they don't deal US Share. I feel this was false advertsing on their part.

MM
 
Eagle Star are selling a fund based on the Goldmann Sachs Commodoties

[broken link removed]
 
On a related point, does anyone know on which european stock exchange the Deutsche Bank Commodity Index Tracking Fund (DBC) is available? I can only see it listed on AMEX. Is there a website where basic info on all ETFs is available. Seems to be very hit and miss...
 
Sorry to be replying to my own post again but I am discovering that trying to buy a couple of ETFs is an extremely frustrating exercise! Perhaps noting my attempts to date will be of use to others...

You cannot buy ETFs through NIB ebanking. They will trade over the phone but at 1.5% commission.

Sharewatch don't seem to trade any of the commodity tracking ETFs that I was looking for (Oppenheimer Real Asset Fund; Deutsche Bank Commodity Index Trading Fund; Pimco Commodity fund) and said to try their London office...

Half the US stockbrokers don't seem to accept Irish citizens on their books and frankly I don't know if the rest are worth the hassle.

So it looks like the only alternative is to give Davy's a call, however to buy 2 ETFs amounting to €20,000 it will proably be quite expensive given the annual account maintainence charges etc.

Going through Eagle Star is an option but again expensive with a 1% annual charge and is less flexible. I would also prefer not to go with the Goldman Sachs Index.

Surely there is an easier way to buy a popular ETF?? Anyone got any bright ideas?
 
Having the same difficulty, opened an account with Share Watch only to discover they only trade on UK and Irish markets.

Check out the www.ishares.co.uk site for ETF listed on these markets. What broker to buy them with seems to be the difficult part. I've seen a lot of good reports about Interactive Brokers mentioned in these threads, maybe look into that.

NIB are very expensive at 1.5% for buying ETF, I was talking to them today inquiring about opening an account - failed to mention the 1.5% charge for buying ETF of course - so thanks for sharing.

Looks like Davy for me too. Seem to offer the most choice but charges are still high - like everything in this country I guess.
 
Actually, I think you may have the NIB charges incorrect:

Just checked their website and this is what I found. Which is quite competitive. I was sure the guy I spoke to in NIB said 0.75% which is why I double checked.

Brokerage rates for securities trading [broken link removed]Shares[broken link removed]UK/Ireland
€ 0 - 15,000
€ 15,000 - 30,000
€ 30,000 - 150,000Charge
0.75% minimum € 20
0.50%
0.40%
 
Just to clarify, those charges you mentioned are correct for stocks etc, HOWEVER you cannot buy an ETF using NIB ebanking so you will have to go through one of their brokers over the phone and because you are kind of ordering 'off the menu' they take a 1.5% commission.

this is what is was told today by NIB anyway...
 
Keytrade. No annual maintenance fee. No issues dealing with them. You can buy ETF's on the main European markets and on the US market
 
I use a French broker - www.cortal.fr - and can buy many ETF's online for a 0.2% with a min charge of €16.50 as long as they are traded on the Euronext market.

IMHO Irish brokers are charging way over the fees accepted on the continent.
 
thanks JPD but this trading is confusing enough without having to do it in French!
 
They also have a .LU site which is in English but after having a quick look it's not clear to me if they offer ETFs.
 
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