How to Invest in UK Stock

Single-country funds are an interesting way to invest

Investing in the stock market can be a good way to save for retirement, the education of your children and other long-term goals. While every individual investor needs to find her own investing strategy, many investors find that investing part of their money in a single country can pay big dividends over time. If you think the U.K. market is a good place to be, there are a number of investments that will allow you to profit if you are right.

Things You'll Need

• Brokerage or mutual fund account
• Investable funds
• Application

Instructions

1. Contact your broker if you already have a brokerage account. Otherwise, open an account with a full-service or discount broker.

2. Use the stock screening tools on the broker's website to filter for stocks of U.K. companies. A number of multinational corporations have their headquarters in Britain, while others do a substantial percentage of their business there.

3. Consider investing in a mutual fund with substantial holdings in the U.K. A number of European mutual funds are heavily weighted toward the U.K. market, and those funds should do well if the U.K. market accelerates.

4. Contact your broker for information on the U.K. exchange traded fund, or ETF. Like mutual funds, the U.K.-centered ETF invests in a wide variety of companies. But unlike a mutual fund, the U.K. ETF can be bought and sold in real time during the trading day. This fund trades under the ticker symbol EWU.

5. Complete the application provided by your brokerage firm or mutual fund company and submit it along with your investment funds. Make sure you mail your application to the proper address; many mutual fund families and brokers use a separate address for overnight mail.

6. Wait for your funds to settle and then log on to your account to make the purchases you wish. Check your trade confirmations carefully to make sure the trades are correct.

References

• Yahoo! Finance: UK ETF