Portfolio composition

[Snoopy]

Voltage wrote: "Also, is there a point to have investments in a trust?"

If the ETFs you own in your own name are overseas domiciled - possibly. Although NZ has abolished death duty, it still exists in the UK and USA, for example. So you may find your estate gets stung by overseas jurisdictions if the lawyers have to write to a registry overseas and say you have died and can you please transfer those shares to your wife's or daughters' names. By owning overseas shares in the name of a trust all the transfers of ultimate ownership can be done within NZ.

I should add that if an NZ broker holds shares on your behalf in a UK or USA domiciled share entity, those should be held in a broker nominee company here in NZ. If they are not held in your name, that means the broker should be able to get around any overseas death duty issues. And that means no need to set up your own trust in NZ to get around overseas death duty issues.

In the USA at least, death duties start at quite a high net worth level for US citizens. But for overseas holders owning US based assets, the level where death duties kick in is much lower.

SNOOPY