Edo

Thanks.

Tax is actually what I am concerned about too as I don't want any complications coming from the UK now that I am not a resident anymore.

So I'm guessing you provided a UK based proof of ID? I only have Canadian IDs but on the tax identification I'm wondering if they'd require my Canadian tax number or would my UK NI suffice 🤔. I guess I have to start an application to find out.

scrubbedexpat141

No, I had to show ID from here - passport and Emirates ID I think. They asked for house bills but I just told them I don't have them (I don't, they're all in her name).
Didn't give any tax info other than that I'm a UK citizen but don't live there - it was a while ago so I'm just trying to remember.
As a Canadian - I can't offer you much to be honest, I know nothing of your tax laws or personal liabilities if out the country etc. I'm sure there'll be advice somewhere online.

I actually got caught up with Lloyds as my UK shares I've had since '08 were there. When I opened an offshore account with them I forgot they'd be linked, now the account is restricted to selling only and by phone as they know I'm overseas and non-resident. Other than that, they couldn't care less.

Johnnyboy11

When you say you're not a resident anymore, are you sure you understand how to become and remain UK non-resident for tax purposes? You mention Canada, but where is your Domicile (usually your father's place of birth)?

Edo

Hey did you invest into these through the UK or USA? I am looking into VWRP vs. SWDA and will be investing through LSE.

Edo

Hey did you invest into these through the UK or USA? I am currently looking into VWRP vs. SWDA and will be investing through LSE but I prefer to avoid the currency risk.

csdf

What currency risk are you worried about? IWDA is in $ and SWDA is in £.

scrubbedexpat141

There also is no currency risk.

csdf

Well, there is. If you invest in IWDA but eventually want to buy, say, a house priced in GBP, then you take the currency risk on the FX rate at the time of selling your IWDA holdings. There's a secondary risk of the FX rate pairs between every non-USD holding inside of IWDA and the fund currency (USD), but frankly life's too short. You can buy currency hedged ETFs but I don't think it makes sense to do that for a multi-currency fund like an all-world equity ETF.

scrubbedexpat141

Sorry, I was just talking about the currency it's listed in. It doesn't matter, it all ends up equal at the end.

Edo

Thanks for the insight folks. What csdf pointed at is exactly what I was referring to in my post but I didn't phrase it well. I am looking for an ETF that is purely made of UK based companies but I have not found a good one yet (already quite exposed to the US market through my other investments so wanted to diversify a little bit).

Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts on VWRP vs. SWDA?

scrubbedexpat141

VWRP isn't a FTSE focused fund. It's a global fund. The top holdings are all American - this doesn't diversify your holdings much.

Edo

So is SWDA with more than 65% exposure to the US.

So question is which one is better.

scrubbedexpat141

Neither if you want to diversify away from US markets.

csdf

When I compare new ETFs that are otherwise similar in terms of constituents, I make a judgement based on (in my personal order of importance):
- Fees
- That NAV is large enough to allow for a small bid/ask spread
- Sharpe ratio
- That it has HMRC reporting status

If you just want a UK company ETF, go for VUKE or something like that. Though it depends what you mean by "UK based": is this "UK listed", "UK HQ" or "do 100% of their business in the UK"? Because the latter will be very hard to find in an ETF.
Use the ETF screener at JustETF to narrow things down: https://www.justetf.com/uk/find-etf.html

Edit: VMID/MIDD (FTSE 250) is likely to be more UK-weighted than VUKE (FTSE 100)