Custody, currency conversion and minimums

Once funds are abroad, a few practical mechanics shape your experience.

Custody — where your assets actually live

Your foreign shares and ETFs are held by a custodian linked to your broker, usually recorded in a way that keeps client assets separate from the firm's own. Understand:

• Whether assets are held in your name or in an omnibus structure.
• What protection scheme (if any) applies in that jurisdiction.
• How you would recover assets if the broker failed.

This is the single most important safety question for Path 2.

Currency conversion at the broker

Even after remitting dollars, you may convert again — for example buying a euro-listed asset from a dollar balance. Each conversion carries a spread. Holding the currency your target assets trade in reduces repeated conversion costs.

Minimums and fractional shares

• Some assets, especially high-priced US shares, once required buying whole shares — meaning a single share could cost hundreds of dollars. Many brokers now offer fractional shares, letting you invest a fixed dollar amount regardless of the share price. Check whether yours does.
• Watch for inactivity or maintenance fees that can quietly erode a small, dormant account.

A practical workflow

A typical Path 2 cycle looks like: remit reais → hold dollars → buy ETFs/shares → reinvest or accumulate dividends → keep records throughout. The discipline that matters most is record-keeping, because it is what makes the tax chapter manageable rather than painful.