Invest in the U.S. Market Wisely

Create Your Investment Plan

As a foreign national, you can securely access the depth, liquidity, and growth potential of the United States financial markets. Our firm provides specialized cross-border advisory services to help non-U.S. residents navigate international regulations, optimize tax efficiencies, and build institutional-grade U.S. portfolios.

Key Financial Advantages

Capital Gains Exemption: Non-resident aliens are generally exempt from U.S. capital gains taxes on securities trading, allowing your investment growth to compound efficiently.
Tax Treaty Optimizations: While the U.S. imposes a standard 30% withholding tax on dividends, we help utilize bilateral tax treaties to significantly reduce this rate based on your home country.
Institutional Customization: Access advanced U.S. asset allocations, including high-conviction equity strategies and liquid alternatives, that may not be available in your local market.

Regulatory Safeguards & Estate Protection

Asset Insulation: We guide you through sophisticated ownership architectures—such as corporate wrappers or specialized trusts—to shield your wealth from strict U.S. estate tax rules.
Compliance Maintenance: Our team handles the vital tax documentation, such as the required IRS Form W-8BEN, to formally certify your non-resident status and secure your tax exemptions.

Seamless Onboarding: What We Need to Start

To comply with the USA PATRIOT Act and institutional anti-money laundering (AML) protocols, opening your U.S. custodial account requires a few standard pieces of documentation:

Proof of Identity: A clear copy of your valid, unexpired international passport.
Proof of Physical Address: A recent utility bill, bank statement, or official government document written in (or translated into) English.
Tax Identification: Your local country's national tax identification number (TIN).
Source of Wealth Verification: Simple documentation showing the origin of the investment funds (e.g., business revenue, inheritance, or real estate sale).

Discover More

Opening a U.S. investment account as a foreign resident is complex due to strict international tax laws and anti-money laundering regulations. To comply, custodians like Charles Schwab require rigorous identity checks. You must provide a valid passport, recent proof of address, a foreign tax ID, and a completed W-8BEN form

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Global Investment Insights

Investing in the United States while living abroad as a U.S. expatriate provides unparalleled access to global markets, but triggers severe regulatory bottlenecks.

Strict Restrictions & Pitfalls

1. Widespread Institutional Brokerage Account Closures

Major domestic brokerages frequently freeze or force the liquidation of accounts when they discover a client physically resides abroad. To prevent legal issues with foreign regulators, custodians restrict international addresses unless the expat uses a specialized international wing, like Charles Schwab International.

2. The "PFIC" Tax Trap on Foreign Mutual Funds

The IRS punitively taxes Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFICs), which include nearly all non-U.S. mutual funds, foreign ETFs (such as European UCITS), and offshore insurance products

3. Strict Local Regulations (e.g., EU PRIIPs)

Local consumer-protection laws often prevent expats from buying U.S. products. In the European Union and the UK, the PRIIPs regulation bans brokers from selling U.S.-domiciled ETFs to local retail residents because U.S. funds do not publish a European-formatted Key Information Document (KID). This traps EU-based American expats: they cannot buy EU ETFs due to U.S. PFIC rules, and they cannot buy U.S. ETFs due to EU PRIIPs rules.

4. Heavy Disclosure and Filing Burdens

Living overseas dramatically increases tracking and reporting requirements. Expats must manage

Disclosures & Info

Brookwood Investors

Brookwood is headquartered at 3930 E. Ray Road, Suite 155, Phoenix AZ 85044. It is important to read our disclosures available at this link: https://brookwoodinvestmentgroup.com/disclosures/. Advisory Investments contain risk which may result in the loss of principal.

Insurance Tips

Our representatives are licensed insurance agents with affiliated or non-affiliated companies. In this role, they may recommend certain insurance-related products for which they may receive compensation via direct commissions. This creates a potential conflict of interest, as the commission earned could influence their recommendations. It is crucial that you review your representative's Brochure Supplement to understand any potential conflicts.

You are under no obligation to purchase any commission-based products from our representatives. You are free to purchase insurance-related products recommended by our representatives through other, non-affiliated representatives and/or companies.

Tax & Legal

Our advisors do not give legal or tax advice. You should always consult with a licensed professional in these areas concerning your financial plan. Our professionals may provide referrals but do not practice law nor prepare tax documents.