CAD ETF investing as US resident

[birdadam]

Hi! I recently moved to the US from Canada (on a TN visa). I brought over ~ 30000 CAD, which is now in a US IBKR (Interactive Brokers) account. It is still in CAD (i.e. I have not converted to USD).

I was planning to invest this money in a CAD-traded ETF which covers the Canadian market (e.g. XIC). However, IBKR tells me that XIC is restricted for US residents. In fact, every CAD-traded ETF I have looked at (e.g. XUU, XAW, VSP) seems to be restricted for US residents.

1) Is IBKR correct about this? I have spoken with them at least 3-4 times - they are not particularly helpful, but tell me that these ETFS traded in CAD are restricted for US residents. If IBKR is correct about this, then I will stop trying, and go with a different approach (see (2) below). However, if IBKR is wrong about this, then I will talk to them again to try to sort things out.

2) If I cannot buy ETFs using CAD, then it seems I need to convert my CAD to USD. I do not have experience with Norbert's gambit, but I am comfortable with figuring that out. However, I am very leery of converting CAD to USD right now, given the current exchange rate. However, I am trying to wrap my head around this scenario: if I convert my CAD to USD, and then use that USD to buy an ETF that covers the Canadian market (e.g. EWC), does the exchange rate even matter? Since the value of EWC would go hand in hand with the exchange rate, does it all come out in the wash? Looking at the historical value of a CAD ETF like XIC to a USD ETF like EWC tells me that I may be mistaken about this, and I do think that I may be thinking about it wrong. This makes me fearful that converting my CAD to USD right now would be a costly mistake.

Any and all suggestions welcome. I have 30000 CAD in my US IBKR account, and don't know what to do with it!

Thanks!!

Adam

[daverobev]

You need to look into PFIC stuff for US reporting, the US does not 'like' people owning non-US domiciled 'things'. You should probably check with a qualified person if having stuff in a TFSA or whatnot counts (I'd imagine it does - everything except possibly an RRSP, but I'm not knowledgeable about it sorry).

With IB you do not need to use Norbert's Gambit, their forex rates are virtually spot. Just do a normal 'exchange funds' (I think it's called that, it's fairly obvious anyway - it's in the transfer funds bit, where you transfer in or out).

If you just want to buy XIC.TO, the currency doesn't matter - instead buy a US listed Canada ETF. https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239615/ishares-msci-canada-etf but the MER is a bit bleurgh.