Base currency question - IB / Interactive Brokers

U

uk_trader

Hi everyone,

This is my first post and I've tried to keep it brief. Please let me know if anything is unclear.

INTERACTIVE BROKERS ACCOUNT DETAILS:

Country of residence: UK
Base Currency: GBP
Account type: CASH (no margin)
Deposited funds: Deposits made in GBP

BACKGROUND:

- I would like to solely trade US stocks and ETFs.
- Before doing so, I am figuring out the costs involved but went ahead with the IB account opening as approvals can take time.
- I'm a fairly active trader (intraday - 2 weeks).
- I would like to perform a cost comparison between a UK broker and IB:

UK BASED BROKER EXAMPLE TRADE:

Fee per trade: USD 10
Conversion rate: FX +1%
Ticker: AAPL
Open: 143.5
Latest: 148.26
%: + 3.32
P/L: Still at a loss due to difference FX conversion at open/close, plus fees per trade.
Screenshot: Attached

INTERACTIVE BROKER EXAMPLE TRADE:

Fee per trade: USD 0.005 per share
Conversion rate: ?
Ticker: AAPL
Open: 143.5
Latest: 148.26
%: ?
P/L: ?

QUESTIONS:

1) I cannot see anything on the IB trading ticket (TW or web) that shows me the conversion rate before a trade. Is there any way to see this?
2) Does anyone know what the p/l would be if placing the exact trade (above) with IB as opposed to the UK broker?
3) I can simply change my base currency to USD, and if so what would the p/l be in the example.

Many thanks to anyone who has read this far and can assist.
 

Attachments

  • AAPL_EXAMPLE.png
    AAPL_EXAMPLE.png
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You are borrowing USD in your case with the GBP being collateral and the conversion rate is market rate (no extras).
 
d08 said:
You are borrowing USD in your case with the GBP being collateral and the conversion rate is market rate (no extras).
More...

Thank you for your response. Do you know if there are any implications of changing my base currency to USD? Note that I'm comfortable trying to grow a USD account and accepting the currency risk when I withdraw (once a year for example).
 
You might as well convert your base to USD then and withdraw in GBP. Makes more sense. I don't recall what happens to your previous statements though, they might still remain in GBP. But if you don't need them, it's a non issue.
 
Thanks a lot. I haven't placed a trade yet so have no previous statements. The aim is to simply reduce the cost per trade (compared to the UK broker charging $10) and try to grow the account. Currency risk on profits would be a nice problem to have!
 
If you are trading only USD instruments then it probably makes sense to set USD as your base currency. If you feel the need to hedge the currency movements, you can buy some 6B.
 
fyi, you also incur currency risk on losses, just so you know...;-)

uk_trader said:
Thanks a lot. I haven't placed a trade yet so have no previous statements. The aim is to simply reduce the cost per trade (compared to the UK broker charging $10) and try to grow the account. Currency risk on profits would be a nice problem to have!
More...
 
uk_trader said:
Thanks a lot. I haven't placed a trade yet so have no previous statements. The aim is to simply reduce the cost per trade (compared to the UK broker charging $10) and try to grow the account. Currency risk on profits would be a nice problem to have!
More...

That's what I did years ago. I opened the account in EUR, used SEPA for transactions and then converted to USD. This is something IB has made very simple and easy.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I think I've decided to convert to USD and take it from there.

With the sizes I trade I'll be paying $1 a trade compared to $10 in the UK so any currency risk is offset by the fee saving. Not to mention that I barely get into profit with the UK broker because I have to clear the fees first.

Thanks again.
 
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