Any expected date? There is no point in buying US domiciled assets if Estate Taxes are at stake. Global funds have very high expense ratio.
Dear Nilesh,
UCIT funds currently available on Vested are mostly domiciled in Luxembourg and have high expense ratio. Defeats the whole purpose of buying an UCIT to prevent estate tax exposure.
I would personally not recommend these funds to invest.
Not sure why UCIT ETFs can’t be introduced on this platform.
UCITS funds as well as UCITS ETFs are domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg and aren’t traded in US exchanges. Besides, IBKR charges commission beginning at 0.05% (for LSE in Dollars) in comparison to 0.25% charged by Vested, but for investments and SIPs below $680, Vested works out to be cheaper. For this amount IBKR would charge $1.70 minimum (commission excluding 3rd party fees) as the UCITS ETFs would be traded on the London Stock Exchange in Dollars. For the same amount, Vested also charges $1.70 at 0.25%. However, for any amount below this Vested would be cheaper. I’ve not included Exchange and clearance fees charged by IBKR. Also, I’m comparing UCITS funds on Vested with UCITS ETFs on IBKR which isn’t an exact comparison. For investors who generally invest below 680USD at any single point, Vested is cheaper. Once Vested begins UCITS ETFs, we’ll be able to compare properly.
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Even if Vested is cheaper still it doesn’t make sense to risk your capital against US Estate Taxes.
I am using IBKR and happy to pay $1.70 fees for my investments but will no longer use Vested or any similar platforms until UCITS ETFs are launched. Till now I have not paid more than $1.70 including all charges by IBKR.
UCITS funds (Global Funds) through Vested are domiciled in Luxembourg or Ireland and are out of the purview of US Estate Taxes. Consequently, there’s no risk to capital. I’m afraid you’re mistaken.
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UCITS Funds are exempted from US Estate Taxes but they have high expense ratio. US ETFs are have lower expense ratio but estate taxes are applicable. UCITS ETFs are not available on Vested yet. IBKR is offering UCITS ETFs where I do my investments too.
I personally know of a few individuals who have moved their entire VESTED portfolio to IBKR exactly due to this gap in offering. I just hope the UCIT ETFs get introduced on priority.
My current investments in Vested are in US Exchange based ETFs. If Vested does introduce UCITS ETFs, would I be liable for a capital gains tax for transfer from US based ETFs to Ireland or any europe country based UCITS ETFs? I would rather transfer the ETFs to IBKR directly if I’m being subject to capital Gains Tax because the brokerage is much lower and also the shares would be in my name in IBKR rather than a custodian which is what the case in Vested Finance is.
Just a thought - Why can’t you diversify across different platforms IBKR + Vested(DriveWealth) + ViewTrade (NSEIX/IndiaINXGlobal). Because each platform has its own pros/cons.
In ViewTrade website they officially mentioned, US Estate Tax is not applicable for indian residents (not sure in reality how they will handle it, time will decide this).
If I’m not mistaken, US stocks and ETFs which are traded in US exchanges are always in the ‘street name’ and not in the inverstor’s name (like India). It would be the case regardless of whether you invest through IBKR or any other platform. Secondly, if your investments are in US ETFs, you won’t be subjected to Indian capital Gains Taxes as long as you don’t sell the ETFs. If Vested introduces UCITS ETFs too, you can’t just convert US ETFs into UCITS ETFs. You’ll have to sell the US ETFs, if you wish, and then buy UCITS ETFs separately and selling those US ETFs would invite CGT in India, if you’re an Indian resident tax payer. Introduction of UCITS ETFs by Vested wouldn’t compel anyone to sell off US ETFs unless one wishes to do so. Besides, unless one’s US holdings exceed 60k USD, Estate Taxes wouldn’t apply. Even estate taxes apply only on death of the investor.
It would be really beneficial for Indian investors if you applied UCITS as soon as possible. Please don’t just tell us that you are working towards it — give us a date or at least an approximate timeline.
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Helpful. Thanks.
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Hi everyone, quick update - UCITs ETFs is being worked upon as a top priority
The initiative is overall part of our new global exchanges addition project which will include LSE, EU and HK/China. As of now the target for beta launch is July 2026. We will definitely keep everyone here posted
Thanks for the patience!
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Thank you Viram for the update. Looking forward to this.
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Thank you for the update. Looking forward to try it.
Wonderful! Looking forward to it.
When available, will it be possible to transfer UCITS ETFs from other brokers to Vested?
Also, what would be a ballpark of trade charges?
If it doesn’t happen in this July even after more than a year of follow ups, I am definitely moving away to IBKR along with many other friends instead of waiting indefinitely
We really appreciate your patience. The launch availability for newer markets, including UCITS, is being actively worked on, but the timeline may be adjusted due to final dependencies. We’ll share a clearer update as soon as we have confirmation for the beta to go live. This remains a top priority for the team, and we expect to have it available within the next 2 months.