Moving investments out of Japan

[eagleyes]

From a Japanese standpoint, I think waiting on IBKR is the smartest move, as this is their bread and butter.

Sorry if I missed the point, so IBKR will allow to hold an account wherever you are resident and you hold stocks in Japanese yen?

[TokyoBoglehead]

From a Japanese standpoint, I think waiting on IBKR is the smartest move, as this is their bread and butter.

Sorry if I missed the point, so IBKR will allow to hold an account wherever you are resident and you hold stocks in Japanese yen?

Where do you have citizenship? What are your local brokers policies on non-resident accounts? The most logical move would be to hold in an account where you can keep things permanently.

....

IBKR operates in virtually every country. They can switch account statuses around depending on what is permitted in each jurisdiction, or transfers shares, etc.

[goran]

IBKR operates in virtually every country. They can switch account statuses around depending on what is permitted in each jurisdiction, or transfers shares, etc.

Piggybacking on this one;　Is transferring assets from Rakuten to IBKR possible?
Even if it was, may be this might not be possible for our favorite emaxis slim series, right?

[beanhead]

Even if it was, may be this might not be possible for our favorite emaxis slim series, right?

They don't sell it, so no.

[TokyoBoglehead]

Even if it was, may be this might not be possible for our favorite emaxis slim series, right?

They don't sell it, so no.

No, as Gnakarmi said. Mutual funds are often domestic only. Their structure wouldn`t meet compliancy rules in other countries.

[aussieinjapan]

I think in preparation for moving from Rakuten to IBKR or Monex (Aus), I will sell my emaxis slim funds (mostly all country, but have some others) and buy Maxis ETFs. There are other providers that might be slightly cheaper, but I guess I'm sold on their brand at this point See https://maxis.mukam.jp/ for a list.

Probably, the main one will be - 2559 MAXIS World Equity (MSCI ACWI) ETF (0.078% management fee) https://maxis.mukam.jp/etf_fund/182559.html

Based on the great analysis over in this thread viewtopic.php?t=1453, I'll be trading some performance and convenience for being able to transfer these ETFs internationally. Given the cost/hassle of trying to sell and transfer small amounts with Wise/my bank if I was to do this in cash in the future (not to mention being at the mercy of the exchange rate) I think it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

[goran]

I think in preparation for moving from Rakuten to IBKR or Monex (Aus), I will sell my emaxis slim funds (mostly all country, but have some others) and buy Maxis ETFs. There are other providers that might be slightly cheaper, but I guess I'm sold on their brand at this point See https://maxis.mukam.jp/ for a list.

Probably, the main one will be - 2559 MAXIS World Equity (MSCI ACWI) ETF (0.078% management fee) https://maxis.mukam.jp/etf_fund/182559.html

Based on the great analysis over in this thread viewtopic.php?t=1453, I'll be trading some performance and convenience for being able to transfer these ETFs internationally. Given the cost/hassle of trying to sell and transfer small amounts with Wise/my bank if I was to do this in cash in the future (not to mention being at the mercy of the exchange rate) I think it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

Again, apologies for another naive question:
Will this strategy of selling emaxis slim mutual funds and then purchasing similar ETF's incur "losses" in terms of taxes (when selling), as compared to holding the mutual funds forever? (IF holding emaxis slim forever was an option. I understand its not an option when moving out of Japan.)

[TokyoBoglehead]

I think in preparation for moving from Rakuten to IBKR or Monex (Aus), I will sell my emaxis slim funds (mostly all country, but have some others) and buy Maxis ETFs. There are other providers that might be slightly cheaper, but I guess I'm sold on their brand at this point See https://maxis.mukam.jp/ for a list.

Probably, the main one will be - 2559 MAXIS World Equity (MSCI ACWI) ETF (0.078% management fee) https://maxis.mukam.jp/etf_fund/182559.html

Based on the great analysis over in this thread viewtopic.php?t=1453, I'll be trading some performance and convenience for being able to transfer these ETFs internationally. Given the cost/hassle of trying to sell and transfer small amounts with Wise/my bank if I was to do this in cash in the future (not to mention being at the mercy of the exchange rate) I think it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

Again, apologies for another naive question:
Will this strategy of selling emaxis slim mutual funds and then purchasing similar ETF's incur "losses" in terms of taxes (when selling), as compared to holding the mutual funds forever? (IF holding emaxis slim forever was an option. I understand its not an option when moving out of Japan.)

It is possible you might lose out on some price movement when you wait for the mutual fund sale to settle.

Of course you would 1. have to pay capital gains on any profit you have already made. 2. The ETF would distribute dividends not reinvest them, which would be a capital gain and taxable event.

[eagleyes]

I think in preparation for moving from Rakuten to IBKR or Monex (Aus), I will sell my emaxis slim funds (mostly all country, but have some others) and buy Maxis ETFs. There are other providers that might be slightly cheaper, but I guess I'm sold on their brand at this point See https://maxis.mukam.jp/ for a list.

That sounds great idea but perhaps before making the move check if these Maxis ETFs are available for trade in IBKR or Monex. Sometimes not all products are available depending on the trade platforms. I opened a free trial account with IBKR and this is what I am checking to validate my transfer strategy.

[aussieinjapan]

Thanks all for your advice! I have completed my transition from e-maxis slim mutual funds to ETFs on the TSE!

Here's what I did:

- I sold all of my mutual funds, over the course of about a week, a few weeks ago. I now have an entry in "realised profit/loss" for the first time.
- I bought a range of ETFs that I felt gave me a similar exposure over the last week or so totalling a similar amount to what I had originally in mutual funds.
- I noticed (via an app) that I should expect to receive more dividends than before. Many of these ETFs pay dividends, whereas the e-maxis slim funds would reinvest dividends automatically. The funds are likely more tax efficient, and don't require you to have enough to buy the minimum units. This is covered somewhere in another post. But this gives me (I hope) the freedom to move them to another broker later.

The ETFs I chose, in case you're interested are as follows. As you might expect, the majority is in 2559 (maxis all country).

1348 ＭＡＸＩＳトピックスＥＴＦ (TOPIX index)
1478 ＩＳＭＳＣＩ高配当ＥＴＦ (high dividend paying Japanese stocks)
1660 ＭＸＳ高利Ｊリート (Japanese REIT)
2511 ＮＦ外債ヘッジ無 (Foreign bonds, unhedged)
2515 ＮＦ外ＲＥＩＴへ無 (Foreign REIT, unhedged)
2520 ＮＦ新興国株式ヘ無 (Developing economy stocks, unhedged)
2559 ＭＸＳ全世界株式 (All country stocks)
2858 ＧＸ日経カバコ (Nikkei covered calls)