Seven Tips for Successful Offshore Investing

sovereign-investor.com / By Jeff Opdyke /
Over the last 16 years or so, I’ve opened brokerage and bank accounts all over the world, from Africa to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe – all in an effort to gain access to a world of offshore investing opportunities that U.S. investors have typically been unable to reach.
I know from conversations with friends and people I’ve talked to through the years that the idea of trading globally scares some folks. I can promise you there’s nothing scary about it. I not only trade through brokerage firms in major markets like Sydney, Singapore and Hong Kong, I do so as well through firms in Zambia, Romania and Egypt – and I have never run into any significant problems. In fact, I routinely receive far more hands-on and attentive customer service than I ever have in my U.S. accounts.
So, today I share with you seven tips for trading overseas and offshore investing, built up through years of my personal trial and error.

Tip # 1: Open One Account to Trade Many Markets

Ever seen a Matryoshka doll – the Russian nesting-doll toys that hide dolls within other dolls? Well, what you want when you go overseas is what I call Matryoshka firms. They not only offer you access to trade in some major market you’re interested in, they also provide trading in multiple markets and multiple currencies, all from a single account.
That’s important because you don’t want to be in a position where you really want to trade a particular market, but first you have to go through the 10-day to two-week process of finding a firm in that country and opening the account. If you already have access to the market from another location, then you’re good to go the moment trading opportunities arise.
You’ll find Matryoshka firms in Asia, Europe and even Africa. The only dark spot is Latin America; finding any firms there that offer online access in English (more on that in a moment) is a challenge.
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