How to get started with US share trading

How to buy US shares

New to ii? Open an account

You can buy and sell US shares with any of our investment accounts. It only takes a few minutes to get started.

Stocks and Shares ISA
A tax-efficient way to invest up to £20,000 a year.

Trading Account
Our flexible account for making your money grow even further.

SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension)
Take control of your pension with our great-value, award-winning SIPP.

Set up your account for US trading

There are a few things you need to do before you can add US shares to your account.

— Complete a W8-BEN form. This usually reduces the amount of tax you pay on US dividends. You can find the form, and instructions for sending it back to us, on our Useful Forms page. You don't need to do this if you are only investing in a SIPP.

— Agree to our online Exchange Agreements so you can get live US prices. To do this, log in to your account, click ‘Trading’ and select ‘Trade now’. Then click the ‘International’ tab, followed by ‘Sign the exchange agreements. 

Do your research

You can find ideas by visiting our International investing page, check out the best performers in the Dow Jones and Nasdaq, or head over to our international shares news.

— Jump to: What shares can I buy?

You’re ready to go

A few useful things to remember about trading US shares:

— US markets are usually open from 2.30pm to 9pm UK time (that's 9.30am to 4pm Eastern time) - so you can trade later than UK shares.

— You will see prices in dollars and cents – not pounds and pence.

— When you trade US shares, you will not see the 15-second countdown with a fixed price as you do with UK shares. Your order will be sent directly to the US exchange, and the actual traded price will be confirmed when the trade completes.

— With our Trading Account and SIPP, you can convert pounds into dollars and hold it in your account until you’re ready to trade. This saves you having to pay currency conversion fees on every trade.