Buying foreign shares is easier than you think – here's how to do it

UK investors are increasingly turning their attention to shares listed in the US and beyond. Cris Sholto Heaton looks at five common questions about trading on overseas markets.

Trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange © Alamy
More UK investors are trading on the New York Stock Exchange
(Image credit: Trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange © Alamy)

Buying foreign shares directly remains a minority sport among British investors. There were around one million trades on overseas exchanges through UK stockbrokers in the last quarter of 2020, compared with around 7.5 million trades in UK securities, according to analysis from Compeer, a benchmarking firm that compiles data for the wealth-management industry. However, this is substantially higher than it was just a couple of years ago, when international trades would never come close to half a million even in a strong quarter.

Even allowing for the fact that many people traded far more than normal in the turmoil of 2020, it’s clear that investors are becoming more willing to invest in overseas stocks than they used to be. Particularly popular international shares such as Tesla now routinely appear in lists of the most actively traded shares at major UK stockbrokers – something that we almost never saw before.

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Cris Sholto Heaton

Cris Sholto Heaton is an investment analyst and writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2006 and was managing editor of the magazine between 2016 and 2018. He is especially interested in international investing, believing many investors still focus too much on their home markets and that it pays to take advantage of all the opportunities the world offers. He often writes about Asian equities, international income and global asset allocation.

Cris began his career in financial services consultancy at PwC and Lane Clark & Peacock, before an abrupt change of direction into oil, gas and energy at Petroleum Economist and Platts and subsequently into investment research and writing. In addition to his articles for MoneyWeek, he also works with a number of asset managers, consultancies and financial information providers.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Investment Management Certificate, as well as degrees in finance and mathematics. He has also studied acting, film-making and photography, and strongly suspects that an awareness of what makes a compelling story is just as important for understanding markets as any amount of qualifications.