How does auto wealth handle dividends and withholding tax?

There are dividends on all the ETFs we purchase on behalf of clients. Dividends are credited directly into the client's custody account in his/her legal name. Dividends are automatically re-invested.

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The U.S. imposes a withholding tax on dividend payments made out of U.S. listed securities. These are automatically deducted at source before the net dividends are credited into the client's custody account in his/her legal name.

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Despite a relatively higher withholding tax, ETFs listed in the U.S. are still preferred over ETFs listed in other countries like the U.K. after taking into consideration factors including liquidity, bid-ask spread, expense ratio, ETF fund size amongst other factors.