The short answer

Custody means holding your investments safely on your behalf. On a well-run platform, your assets are held by a custodian in a nominee account registered for your benefit and kept separate from the platform's own money — so they remain yours even if the firm gets into difficulty. Administration is everything around that: collecting and reinvesting income, handling company events, keeping records, producing statements for tax, processing transfers and dealing with your estate. A good arrangement makes your financial life simpler, safer and more efficient — and setting it up properly at the start, with the right account type and beneficiary or trust arrangements, saves your family a great deal later. Lawrence will review how your investments are held, free.

What custody means

In everyday life, if you buy a share in a company, you might imagine holding a certificate in a drawer. In modern investing, almost nobody does that. Instead, your investments are held electronically by a specialist firm — a custodian — whose job is to keep them safe and keep a precise record of who owns what.

Most platforms use a nominee structure. The investments are registered in the name of a nominee company, which holds them on behalf of each customer. You're the beneficial owner: the investments are yours, the income is yours and the value is yours, even though the nominee's name is on the register. This makes buying, selling and administration fast and efficient, and lets platforms hold thousands of investments for thousands of customers in an organised way.

The custody chain

Behind a platform, there can be several links in the chain:

1. The platform — the firm you deal with, which provides the account and the website or app.
2. The custodian — often a large bank or specialist firm that safeguards the assets.
3. Sub-custodians — local firms that hold assets in particular markets around the world.
4. The nominee — the registered holder, acting for you as beneficial owner.

A long chain isn't a problem in itself — it's how global investing works. What matters is that every link keeps accurate records and keeps your assets separate.

Segregation: why your assets stay yours

The single most important feature of good custody is segregation: your investments are kept separate from the platform's and custodian's own assets. They don't appear on the firm's balance sheet as its property, and they can't be used to pay the firm's debts.

That separation is what protects you if a firm gets into difficulty. Because your assets were never the firm's to begin with, they're identified and returned to you or moved to another provider, rather than being lost with the firm. Any delays tend to be administrative rather than a loss of your investments — which is why choosing a platform with robust custody arrangements and clear records is so worthwhile.

Cash is worth a separate thought. Uninvested cash on a platform is usually held in client money bank accounts, separate from the firm's own money, but it's held at a bank rather than as a named investment. Many investors keep only the cash they need on a platform and hold larger cash reserves in their own bank accounts.

• Ask who the custodian is, and in which country your assets are held.
• Ask whether your assets are segregated from the firm's own money.
• Ask where uninvested cash is held, and with which banks.
• Ask what happens to your assets if the platform changes hands or closes.

What good administration does for you

Administration is the work that keeps your portfolio running smoothly. These are the jobs a good platform does in the background.

You rarely notice good administration — that's the sign it's working.

Income: reinvested or paid out?

One administrative choice has an outsized effect on your long-term results: what happens to the income your investments produce.

Many funds come in two versions. Accumulation units reinvest income automatically inside the fund, so it keeps working for you without you doing anything. Income units pay the income out to your account, where you can spend it, hold it as cash or reinvest it yourself. Platforms can often reinvest income from shares and funds automatically too.

The chart at the top of this page shows why it matters. £200,000 growing at 6% a year with a 2% income yield could be worth about £932,000 after twenty years if all the income is reinvested — but about £641,000 if the income is paid out and spent. If you don't need the income, setting up automatic reinvestment is one of the simplest ways to make your money work harder.

If you do need an income — in retirement, for example — taking it is exactly what the portfolio is for. The key is to make it a deliberate choice, built into your plan.

Where to start

Someone to check how your investments are held and set up, and the best way to move money to and from them.

Choosing the right account type

How an account is owned decides a great deal about how it's administered — especially when one of you dies. Platforms typically offer several types, and choosing the right one at the start is far easier than changing later.

Individual accounts

Owned by one person. Simple, but when you die, your family will usually need to prove their right to the money — through probate or the equivalent — before they can reach it.

Joint accounts

Owned by two people, often a couple. On many platforms, a joint account passes automatically to the survivor, which can make life much easier for a partner. Check how your platform treats joint accounts, and whether that suits a couple of different nationalities.

Trust accounts

Held by trustees for the benefit of others, such as children or a partner. Trusts can help money pass smoothly and to the people you intend, and can be valuable in estate planning — especially for families spanning two countries.

Company accounts

Held by a company you own. Useful for business owners, but with their own administration and tax considerations.

Offshore investment bonds — insurance-based wrappers that hold funds — are another option. They can often be placed in trust and may name beneficiaries, which can make passing them on particularly smooth.

When you move country

For expats, one of the most important administrative questions is what happens when your address changes. Platforms must know where their customers live, and some can only serve residents of certain countries.

1. Tell the platform before you move, and ask whether they can keep serving you in your new country.
2. Update your tax residence and any tax identification numbers.
3. Update your bank details if you'll be paid into a new account.
4. Keep your contact details current — especially your email and phone for security codes.
5. Expect to re-confirm your identity from time to time; keep documents to hand.
6. Check that income and tax reporting still suit your new tax position.

A platform that serves customers in many countries makes these moves far smoother — one of the main advantages of a good international platform. Our guide to international investment platforms explains how to choose one.

Records and reporting for tax

Good administration makes tax far easier. If you're Thai tax resident, foreign income earned from 2024 onwards that you bring into Thailand — which can include dividends, interest and gains — may be taxable. If you still have UK obligations, you may need UK figures too.

A well-run platform provides clear annual summaries of income received, gains and losses on sales, and the cost of every holding. Combined with your own simple log of what you transfer into Thailand and what each transfer represents, those records make tax returns quick and give you the evidence you need.

• Download every annual tax summary and keep it safely.
• Keep investment income separate from the capital you invested where you can.
• Log transfers into Thailand — date, amount, currency and what the money was.
• Keep records of when you bought each investment and what you paid.

When you die: making it easy for your family

Administration is at its most important — and most emotional — when an account holder dies. Your family will need to tell the platform, prove who they are and their right to the money, and follow the platform's process before the investments can be transferred or sold. For an expat, that can mean documents from two or three countries.

A little preparation makes a huge difference:

• Choose the right account type — joint or trust ownership can avoid long delays.
• Name beneficiaries wherever the platform or plan allows it.
• Have wills in each country where you hold assets, drafted to work together.
• Keep a "where is everything" list of every platform, account number and contact.
• Tell someone you trust where to find it.
• Consider whether a trust would help your investments pass smoothly.

It's also worth remembering that UK inheritance tax can still apply to your worldwide estate for three to ten years after you leave the UK, and that US-listed investments can create US estate tax above $60,000 for non-Americans. Good planning and good administration together make sure your family receives what you intended, as smoothly as possible.

If you can't manage your own affairs

Planning for death is only half the story. Illness or an accident could leave you unable to manage your investments for a while — and if nobody has authority to act for you, your family may not be able to pay bills, move money or make decisions on your behalf.

A lasting power of attorney in the UK lets someone you trust manage your financial affairs if you can't. Many platforms will accept one, though the process and paperwork vary, and you may need arrangements in Thailand as well for Thai assets. Joint accounts can also help a partner keep things running in the short term. It's far easier to set these up while you're well than to arrange them in a crisis.

Bringing scattered accounts together

Expats who have lived in several countries often end up with investments on several platforms, each with its own login, statements, charges and administration. Bringing them together on one well-run international platform can make life much simpler:

• One view of everything you own, in one place.
• One set of statements and tax summaries each year.
• Often lower costs, especially with a flat-fee platform.
• Far easier for your family to deal with if something happens to you.

Moving investments "in specie" — transferring the holdings themselves rather than selling them — keeps you invested throughout. Check any exit or transfer fees first, and think about tax before selling anything.

Questions to ask any platform about custody

1. Who is your custodian, and in which country are my assets held?
2. Are my assets segregated from your own money and the custodian's?
3. Where is uninvested cash held, and with which banks?
4. What happens to my assets if your firm is sold or closes?
5. Which account types do you offer — joint, trust, company?
6. What is your process when an account holder dies or loses capacity?

A well-run platform will answer all six clearly and in writing.

Administration that pays you an income

In retirement, good administration becomes part of your monthly budget. Most platforms can pay you a regular income — monthly, quarterly or yearly — by selling a little of your investments or paying out the income they produce. Set up well, it works like a salary: the same amount arriving on the same day, ready to transfer to Thailand.

• Choose a regular withdrawal date that suits your budget and your transfer route.
• Keep a cash buffer on the platform so withdrawals never force a sale after a fall.
• Decide which investments fund the income — usually the steadier ones first.
• Review the amount once a year, alongside your rebalancing.

A custody and administration checklist

• I know who holds my investments, and that they're segregated.
• My accounts are in the right names — individual, joint or trust.
• Income is reinvested unless I need it.
• My address, tax residence and bank details are up to date.
• I keep every annual tax summary and a log of transfers to Thailand.
• Beneficiaries and wills are in place, and someone knows where everything is.

Two worked examples

Martin and Dao: setting it up properly

Martin is British and Dao is Thai; they live in Udon Thani. When they open an investment account, Lawrence helps them choose a platform with clear custody arrangements, set up a joint account so it passes to the survivor, switch to accumulation units so income is reinvested automatically, and keep a Thai will and a UK will that work together. Dao has a simple list of every account and contact, in Thai and English.

Helen: tidying up after years abroad

Helen, 66, has lived in Dubai, Singapore and now Phuket. Her investments are spread across four platforms in three countries, two still showing an old address. A free review with Lawrence brings them together on one international platform that serves Thai residents, updates every address and tax detail, sets up income for her retirement and names her children as beneficiaries. Her finances are now simpler to manage — and far simpler for her family to deal with in future.

The mistakes we see most often

1. Never asking who holds the investments, or whether they're segregated.
2. Leaving income uninvested in cash for years by accident.
3. Forgetting to update an address after moving country.
4. Accounts in one partner's name only, with no plan for the other.
5. No beneficiaries, no will in the right country and no list of accounts.
6. Investments scattered across many platforms that nobody else could find.
7. Throwing away tax summaries and having to reconstruct them later.
8. Keeping large cash balances on a platform instead of investing or banking them.

Keeping your accounts secure

Good custody protects your assets; good habits protect your access to them.

• Use a password manager and a different strong password for every platform.
• Turn on two-factor sign-in on every investment and bank account.
• Use a private, protected connection on hotel, café and condo Wi-Fi.
• Never act on unexpected requests to change bank details — contact the platform directly.

How we researched this guide

We drew on our guides to international investment platforms, cross-border investing and financial planning for expats, which cite KPMG UK on US estate tax for non-US individuals, HaysMac on UK residence-based inheritance tax, and Thai tax rules on foreign income brought into Thailand. Custody and administration arrangements differ between providers, so always check your own platform's terms. The reinvestment figures are an illustration, not a forecast. Checked 13 October 2026. Investment values can fall as well as rise. This guide is general information, not personal financial or legal advice.