Should I use Vickers or other brokers for Ireland-domiciled ETFs?

Hi otakboi,

As Chris has mentioned, Vickers is not a good option for foreign investments because of the ridiculous custodian fees. The bonus interest you earn would be eroded by the custodian fee. If you're bent on LSE, SC Online would be your next best choice. However, as the min commission fee is 10 USD, note that if you wish to DCA, this would be really expensive as well.

Instead, you may want to consider sticking with a US-listed ETF first like VOO, and use a low-cost broker like Moomoo/Tiger. Even though CSPX/VUSA may be more tax-efficient, if you're losing money to commission fees, then it really defeats the purpose of choosing an Ireland-domiciled ETF anyway. Choosing to invest in a US-listed ETF first will allow you to DCA/invest whenever you have money to minimise your cash drag and pay low commission fees. When your portfolio is at 100k USD or more, you can then consider switching to CSPX on IBKR.

Hope this helps & all the best!

Regards,

thefrugalstudent

If you want to avoid IBKR for inactivity charge, please don't use Vickers, they charge a custodian fee ($2 per month per counter capped at $150). You can consider Standard Chartered instead. While their fees are definitely not the lowest (0.2% min $10), they do not charge a custodian fee and they do have better comms than Vickers for sure.