Exchanging a very large amount of currency -- limit order possible?

aiyamei

Hello,

I'm buying a property abroad, and I have to exchange a sizeable chunk of currency. I have looked into various currency exchange services without finding what I'm looking for. What I really want is a service that allows me to open an account, similar to an investment account, and then, as in buying stock, place a limit order, basically saying I want to sell my euros to buy dollars IF and ONLY IF someone will give me price X. If no one will make the exchange on those terms within specified time parameters, the exchange will not take place.

Does anyone know a broker who has this option, with a user-friendly, easy-overview interface?

Thanks for any replies.

ognum

Even though you are doing this to buy property I don't think you are on the right board for this type of question

can I suggest you repost on more of a savings and investments board.

Hope this helps

happylucky

As ognum says....but since you are here....

Yes you can do this, but depending on the amount you will get best rate agreed (function of spot price when your order is triggered) if you set up with a private broker within whichever company you use, as opposed to the ordinary interface.

Your order will normally remain until triggered or cancelled. Can combine with rolling over to forward contract on margin payment etc.

I use HiFX...not sure of threshold for private dealer services but I did quite a bit recently and was happy.

I'd like to use one which can do trailing stop orders, though, which HiFx can't...doing this manually by phoning dealer all the time is unnecassarily stressful and time consuming.

aiyamei

Thanks so much for this reply, happylucky! This is extremely helpful and heartening. Just to confirm -- you'd second my feeling that this is a good way to handle such a large currency exchange? Or am I overlooking some smarter strategies?

Also, sorry to everyone for using the wrong board. I'll remedy it...

happylucky

You're welcome. I would always say use forex broker for large transaction, and always try to get a private dealer to manage your account with preferential terms.

A good private dealer will spend time listening to your circumstances, risk parameters etc. and recommend suitable strategy tailored to that.

Your basic points are around time (when currency A part/all available versus when currency B is needed) and risk (how much can you afford to lose versus how much would you like to gain). Future contracts are helpful weapons but fraught with risk depending on your position, especially in today's volatile world of currency wars.

To get you in the mood, XE.com has a great app and widget to help evaluate exactly how much you have at stake on a minute by minute basis (OCD nightmare).

I used this to help manage foreign property sale funds which I needed to secure back into sterling before the local currency tanked...and before I had actually sold property. Good luck!

knightstyle

We have used Currencies Direct to move money to and from Europe many times over the past 20 years or so. Only once did we have a problem and that was soon sorted.
Main thing to be aware of is that once a company has your money it is not protected!
So when moving large amounts break it into several bits and move them one at a time, waiting for one to clear before sending the next.