An account with a US-licensed broker (Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab) gives you the deepest, cheapest access. Spreads are tight, fractional shares are available, the product universe is the whole NYSE/Nasdaq surface. The downsides are US-situs estate exposure and the operational lift of an offshore brokerage relationship.
Three routes to US exposure
5 min · For educational purposes only
Direct brokerage, IFSC AIF feeder, Irish UCITS — each has a clean use case.
Direct US brokerage
IFSC AIF Cat-III feeder
An Indian-regulated entity that aggregates investor capital and routes it to a US strategy. Tax reporting is Indian. Estate situs is Indian. Operational lift is light. Cost is higher than direct (TER of 1–2% vs sub-0.1% for direct ETFs). Right for investors who value simplicity and clean inheritance.
Irish UCITS
A European-domiciled fund holding US underlying. Tax-efficient for dividend accumulation. No US estate exposure. Available through IFSC broker-dealers and global private banks. Costs in the 0.07–0.20% range. The global gold standard for non-US investors with USD 100k+ positions.
Key takeaways
- Direct = cheapest, US-situs.
- IFSC AIF = simplest inheritance, highest cost.
- UCITS = tax-efficient global standard, mid-cost.