AU vs US shares

Hey Molly.

Great question!

As I understand it, yes. The AU shares are funds and shares which are purchased on the Aussie stock exchange (including funds which invest in US shares. The US side is for funds and shares which will be purchased through US exchanges and are all managed from over there.

There are some US tax implications for Aussie investors who invest into US listed funds + shares, which you can find more about here: https://passiveinvestingaustralia.com/fund-do...

It’s a bit complicated to be fair, but most Aussies simply invest in funds and shares which are listed on the Aussie exchanges because it’s a bit simpler given the above. Luckily we can still get access to US shares by investing in funds in Australia which invest in US companies.

Hope that helps.

Hi Molly,

Not a dumb question at all.

AU and US shares on pearler is designed to sit alongside one another. Although pearler investors tend to put most of their portfolio into ASX ETFs (some of which also include US holdings), there are some companies (see here) you can only own directly through our US account.

AU shares on pearler is CHESS-sponsored, whereas US investing works upon a custodial system. A benefit of that system is that certain tax-related tasks such as filling out and submitting a W-8BEN form is automatically done for you when you activate your US account.

For some further details on US investing, please check out this FAQs article.