Whenever I read posts like this they leave me totally confused. The thread starter is located in the UK, with London being one of the major hubs of the financial industry on this planet, yet there is no cheap, easy and commonly known way to buy popular and widely traded US shares in your home currency for a private investor? We are talking about the United Kingdom here, not some remote under-developed country, right?
So the advise is to open an account in a foreign currency abroad, and start trading there.
Goodness gracious.
Eh, most brokerages can do it no trouble. All of them can sell ETFs which comprise the S&P 500.
IB are an American company, but they work just fine in the UK. Another poster said Schwab *UK*. I suggested HSBC. I know iWeb work.
The thing is, most people don't deal with currency conversion without having a managed account or paying crappy fees. So. It's not "not available", it's "costs more, and there is plenty of stuff available".
Eg, from iWeb:
Our Share Dealing Account gives you...
• Just £5 dealing commission per trade on UK and international* trades
• No annual/quarterly administration charges
• No inactivity charges
• Access to 7 world markets
BUT *Foreign currency conversions are required to facilitate the settlement of international transactions. We adjust the exchange rate by 1.5% and keep the difference as our fee when buying and selling international securities. The available exchange rate is based on the exchange rate provided by Digital Look. Indicative exchange rates are provided prior to trading, and the rate applicable to the individual trade is confirmed on the contract note once the trade has been completed.
Which is bullshit. And why I suggested Interactive Brokers, where you basically get spot and it costs ~$2 to exchange GBP-USD.