Can I invest in US shares and ETFs with my trust/SMSF account?

US investing is not available for our Trust / SMSF / Company accounts.

What details will I need for my trust application?

Trust/SMSF (individual Trustee/s)

• TFN or ABN

• Other trustee/s details

• Beneficiaries details

• Full certified trust deed

Trust/SMSF (with a corporate trustee)

• TFN or ABN

• Corporate trustee company details (either ABN/ACN/TFN + Company director details)

• Other trustee/s details

• Beneficiaries details

• Full certified trust deed

• Company certificate of registration (please refer to the link for reference)

Who can certify my trust deed?

Approved certifiers include:

• Legal professions: Legal practitioner, patent attorney, trademarks attorney

• Court positions: Justice of the Peace, Judge, Magistrate, Registrar, or Deputy Registrar, Clerk, Master of a court

• Accountant (member of ICA, ASA, NIA or CPA, ATMA, NTAA)

• Commissioner for Affidavits, or Commissioner for Declarations (dependent on jurisdictions)

• Notary public

• An officer with, or an authorised representative of, a holder of an Australian financial services licence, having two or more years of continuous service with one or more licensees

• An officer with, or a credit representative of, a holder of an Australian credit licence, having two or more years of continuous service with one or more licensees.

• Police officer

• Australia Post employee

• Pharmacist

For further information, you can refer to the Services Australia website.

What parts of my trust deed would I need to be certified?

The govt KYC and ID requirements generally for registration and AML/CTF mean you will need certified copies of the: Summary, Title, Schedule, Execution, and Resolution. The trust deed must be signed and list an execution date.

What is the Trust / SMSF designation?

Account designations are relevant to Trust, SMSF and Company accounts and acts as a label or identifier that indicates the purpose of the trust and/or who the trust is for. The holdings for these types of accounts are registered under the name of the trustee(s) and the trust entity in the account designation. Your trust designation is shown in the <> field of your registered CHESS name.

For example, if your Trust name is "Jones Family Trust", the trust designation would be "Jones Family". It would be something similar to your Trust / SMSF name.

Please note that there is a 28-character limit imposed on the account designation field and the word trust and fund is not allowed by CHESS rules.