Buying and Selling Australian Shares and Managed Funds from Overseas

Whether you are an Australian expatriate, or an overseas investor, you will generally find it difficult to buy or sell Australian shares when outside Australia - even if living in financial centres such as New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong or the UAE.  Local markets will rarely deal in Australian shares and Australian online share broking accounts normally require you to be either resident in Australia and/or have an Australian bank account. 

We offer direct access, via the Inquiry form at the bottom of this page, to licensed Australian stockbrokers who can carry out buy or sell orders and provide share advice.  You should note that if you wish to buy Australian shares then you will need to establish an account with an Australian broker and provide proof of identity.

Selling Australian shares from overseas is usually a relatively simple process and can, if all the required information is made available, be completed on the same day an inquiry is made - with proceeds transferred to a nominated Australian or overseas bank account.

In any inquiry please provide details of the services required – for example, whether you wish the execution of an order for the purchase or sale of specific shares, or advice from a broker regarding the building or construction of a portfolio of shares.  Pure execution will attract brokerage costs similar to the following – exact amounts should be confirmed with the relevant broker:

Brokerage with advice may cost more than the above rates, but this is very dependent on the volume, frequency and value of trades and should be discussed directly with the broker at the outset. In addition, extra costs may attach to the transfer of proceeds to overseas bank account. The brokers will provide details of all costs in advance of any transaction.

Some other useful links for those interested in investing in the Australian market include the following:

As background, and an indication of the performance of the general Australian market, the chart below shows the month end status of the Australian All Ordinaries indices from January 2004 to Janauary 2012. Please note that your browser will need Flash 8 or higher in order to view the chart.

Complete the Inquiry form