Distribution currency from ETFs

poseidon1

wmb194 said:

george4064 said:

Does anyone know if there's a way to find out if an ETF pays distributions in its base currency (USD) or in its share class currency (ie GBP)? Without investing in the ETF and waiting to literally find out!

If it's a platform specific issue, does anyone know how HL treat distributions from ETFs that may (or may not) be paid in USD base currency?

Some ETFs I'm looking at are SPX5.LN and USDV.LN

I own USDV on Trading212 in an Isa (so GBP) and its last dividend in July appears to have been received in sterling - if in a foreign currency it usually states it and shows the exchange rate - despite being declared in dollars. Sometimes these things can be because the funds/companies allow brokers to choose to receive dividends in a particular currency e.g., Shell and Unilever allow shareholders/brokers to make an election between euros, sterling and dollars.

Looking at USDV's webpage it isn't obvious.

https://www.ssga.com/uk/en_gb/intermediary/etfs/spdr-sp-us-dividend-aristocrats-esg-ucits-etf-dist-zpd6-gy

I clicked though to your link since I am specifically interested in acquiring US distributing etfs denominated in dollars and paying the income in dollars ( which Interactive Investors permits).

It's apparent that the link navigates to State Street's master trust for the domestic dollar etf with the ticker UEDV.

Sadly we in the UK cannot access it ( at least not through the conventional platforms such as HL,  AJ Bell et al). Instead we are stuck with the Irish domiciled sub fund of the same etf , wholly denominated in GBP under the USDV ticker you quoted.

Thus far the only S & P  500 etf traded in dollars I have found and can be  bought  and held in that state, is Vanguard's VUAA. Unfortunately, this is the dividend accumulating version, whilst the distributing version ,(ticker VUAA) is not available to buy on the platforms.

This leads me to suspect that there maybe a general compliance embargo preventing US etf providers from offering their dollar income distributing funds to us in the UK, driving us instead to their Irish domicile GBP denominated variants.

It's irritating that I can invest direct in all the listed dividend paying S & P companies themselves and via the W-8 Ben, receive and hold their dollar dividends, but effectively forced to accept a GBP pass through via the  Irish sub funds from etfs replicating those companies.

Would be interested to hear from anyone who has found a way to get around this problem.

masonic

poseidon1 said:
Thus far the only S & P  500 etf traded in dollars I have found and can be  bought  and held in that state, is Vanguard's VUAA. Unfortunately, this is the dividend accumulating version, whilst the distributing version ,(ticker VUAA) is not available to buy on the platforms.

What about SPY5, SPXD, IDUS, etc?

I think the established platforms tend not to list the USD versions because they are unpopular when a GBP variant is also available. The likes of InvestEngine and other new platforms tend to go the other way.

poseidon1

masonic said:

poseidon1 said:
Thus far the only S & P  500 etf traded in dollars I have found and can be  bought  and held in that state, is Vanguard's VUAA. Unfortunately, this is the dividend accumulating version, whilst the distributing version ,(ticker VUAA) is not available to buy on the platforms.

What about SPY5, SPXD, IDUS, etc?

I think the established platforms tend not to list the USD versions because they are unpopular when a GBP variant is also available. The likes of InvestEngine and other new platforms tend to go the other way.

Many thanks for highlighting these possible candidates. Will do a bit more digging, since only SPXD is showing an income yield with HL ( 1.55%) whilst the other 2 show 0%.