Case study
Ryan
- Investment plan after brokerage denial
The result
Portfolio value
- Return
- +39%
- Gain
- ~€29,650
- Timeline
- Under 3 years
Ryan can now invest from Germany as a US citizen, with access to institutional funds and without the brokerage blocks that stopped him before.
Ryan invested €75,100. His portfolio is now worth over €104,750, a gain of ~€29,650 (+39%) in under 3 years. He invests with ease, and we manage the portfolio on an ongoing basis. No tax headaches either: this setup doesn't impact his US taxation, so no FATCA reporting stress. Full access to institutional-grade funds.
The problem
Most brokers in Germany refuse to open accounts for US citizens. The reason: US tax reporting obligations (FATCA) make compliance too complex for standard providers. Ryan was stuck with no way to invest while living in Germany, even though he knew he needed to make his money work for itself: build capital for a real estate purchase he's planning and create passive income for retirement. On top of that, he was concerned about the tax reporting implications as a US citizen investing abroad since he didn't want to be taxed twice.
Solution
We set up a brokerage account for Ryan with a provider that specifically enables US citizens to invest without triggering the reporting issues that block standard brokerage accounts. His portfolio is diversified across global institutional index funds: Europe, North America, Emerging Markets, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Global Small-Cap. We selected institutional low-cost funds that are not available on normal neo-brokers.
Fund allocation
| Fund | TER |
|---|---|
| Fidelity S&P 500 Index Fund P-ACC-EUR | 0.06% |
| Fidelity MSCI Europe Index Fund P-ACC-EUR | 0.10% |
| Fidelity MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund P-ACC-EUR | 0.20% |
| Fidelity MSCI Japan Index Fund P-ACC-EUR | 0.10% |
| Vanguard FTSE Developed Asia Pacific ex Japan UCITS ETF | 0.15% |
| Vanguard Global Small-Cap Index Fund | 0.29% |
These are institutional share classes not available through standard retail brokers. Average TER across the portfolio: ~0.15%.
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