Best custodial brokerage accounts for non-US residents

In the US and the UK, opening an investment account for your children is commonplace. These are known as custodial accounts.

They let parents introduce children to investing early, building a pot that can grow over many years and be handed over once the child reaches adulthood. Given the time horizon involved, even modest regular contributions can compound substantially.

Many US brokers offer these accounts for minors, including Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab, and Vanguard.

However, it is considerably harder to find a broker that will open an account in your child’s name if you live outside the US, including across much of Europe.

In this article we cover the options available to non-US residents wanting to invest on behalf of their children.

What is a custodial brokerage account?

A custodial brokerage account is held in a minor’s name but managed by an adult – the custodian – until the child reaches the age of majority, at which point control transfers to them. The assets legally belong to the child throughout.

That last point matters more than it sounds. Because the assets are the child’s, the custodian cannot reclaim them, and the transfer at majority is automatic. Depending on the jurisdiction, this can also affect eligibility for student financial aid and means-tested benefits, since the assets count as the child’s rather than the parent’s.

Historically, most European and international brokers did not offer these accounts. The landscape has shifted since 2025, though: German neobrokers including Trade Republic and Scalable Capital launched dedicated child accounts, partly in anticipation of Germany’s Frühstart-Rente state pension scheme beginning in 2026. Outside Germany, France, and Spain, most international brokers still do not offer this account type.

Brokers supporting custodial accounts outside the US

If you are a non-US resident, the options remain limited, though the picture has improved since 2025. Here is where the main brokers stand:

• Interactive Brokers: offers custodial accounts to US residents only;
• DEGIRO: previously offered this, discontinued in 2018;
• Trading 212: not offered;
• Saxo: not offered;
• XTB: not offered;
• eToro: not offered, and minors cannot open accounts;
• Trade Republic: launched its Kinderdepot (child savings account) in May 2025, available to parents and legal guardians resident in Germany, France, and Spain;
• Scalable Capital: launched Kids’ accounts in October 2025, available to legal guardians holding a Scalable account in Germany.

Beyond those, a small number of robo-advisors offer the account type, including Finax and inbestMe.

UK residents are in a better position than most of Europe. The Junior ISA allows up to £9,000 per tax year to be invested entirely free of capital gains and dividend tax, with the account converting to an adult ISA at 18. Several UK brokers offer Junior Stocks and Shares ISAs, and the tax treatment is considerably more favourable than a standard custodial account elsewhere.

Outside these options, choices remain limited. Below we cover the practical alternatives available if no custodial account is offered where you live.

Check your country’s national savings offerings

Most countries offer their own incentives for saving and investing, and governments frequently create tax-efficient structures aimed at families. These are often more favourable than a standard custodial account would be. Some examples:

• Junior ISA (UK): a tax-free account allowing up to £9,000 per tax year, with all gains and dividends free of tax. Parents or guardians manage it until the child turns 18, at which point it converts to an adult ISA. This is among the most generous structures available anywhere;
• PPR (Portugal): primarily a retirement savings vehicle, but usable for longer-term family goals such as education. Offers tax benefits on contributions and favourable treatment on withdrawal, subject to holding period conditions;
• Livret A (France): a savings account available to children, offering tax-free interest at a government-set rate. Managed by parents until the child reaches majority. Secure and simple, though the rate is capped and it is a savings product rather than an investment one;
• Junior Depot (Germany): investment accounts for minors allowing parents to hold stocks, ETFs, bonds, and funds on the child’s behalf. Since 2025, Trade Republic (Kinderdepot, May 2025) and Scalable Capital (Kids’ accounts, October 2025) have offered fully digital versions with fee waivers;
• Conto Deposito Vincolato per Minori (Italy): fixed-term deposit accounts for children, typically offering higher rates than standard savings accounts in exchange for locking funds away;
• Netherlands: various bank-offered children’s savings accounts are available, though the Dutch market offers fewer dedicated investment structures for minors than Germany or the UK.

One distinction worth keeping in mind: several of these are savings products rather than investment accounts. A Livret A or a fixed-term deposit protects capital but will struggle to outpace inflation over an 18-year horizon, whereas a diversified equity portfolio historically delivers considerably more over that timeframe – with more volatility along the way. Given how long the horizon typically is when investing for a young child, that trade-off usually favours investing over saving.

If none of these structures suits your situation, there are other options worth exploring.

Germany: Frühstart-Rente (launching 2026)

Germany is introducing the Frühstart-Rente (Early Start Pension) in 2026. Under the scheme, the state contributes €10 per month into an individual, capital-funded retirement account for children aged 6 to 17 enrolled in the German school system. The funds remain invested until retirement, with returns tax-free during the accumulation phase.

The rollout is phased, beginning with the 2020 birth cohort retroactively from 1 January 2026, with further age groups added in subsequent years. Both Trade Republic and Scalable Capital positioned their child accounts in anticipation of the scheme.

Worth understanding before assuming it solves the problem: the funds are locked until retirement age, not accessible at 18. That makes it a genuine pension product rather than a general-purpose savings vehicle, and it does not replace a Junior Depot if your goal is funding education or a first home deposit.

Alternative 1: open a secondary account at Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers is among the largest and most established brokers available internationally, accepting clients from over 200 countries.

If you already use Interactive Brokers, opening a secondary account earmarked for your child can be a practical workaround. IBKR allows multiple additional accounts under a single login, and you can transfer the holdings to them once they open their own account at 18.

Creating an additional account is straightforward, giving you separate accounts for yourself and each child, all accessible through the same login and with consolidated reporting.

Two things to be clear about, since this is not a true custodial account:

• The investments remain legally yours, not your child’s. That means they count as your assets for tax purposes, any gains are taxable in your name, and they form part of your estate;
• The transfer at 18 is not automatic. Your child would open their own brokerage account and you would transfer the holdings across, which may itself be a taxable event depending on your jurisdiction’s rules on gifts and capital gains.

Neither point makes this a bad approach – the flexibility of retaining control can be an advantage, particularly if you are unsure your child will be ready to manage a portfolio at 18. But it is a different arrangement from a custodial account, and worth checking the gift tax treatment in your country before the transfer rather than after.

Alternative 2: create a Pie on Trading 212

Trading 212 is a well-known international broker aimed largely at newer investors, with a modern and straightforward app.

Its Pies feature lets you build a portfolio around a specific long-term goal, which makes it a reasonable way to ring-fence investments intended for a child – even though it is not a custodial account.

Step 1: open a Trading 212 account

Step 2: create a Pie

1. Access the Pie feature: navigate to the Pies section within the app;
2. Build your Pie: you can include up to 100 different stocks or ETFs, or start from a ready-made Pie;
3. Set allocations: assign a percentage to each holding – for example, 20% across five positions.

Step 3: fund your Pie

1. Recurring contributions: set up a monthly deposit plan to fund the Pie automatically;
2. Buy and hold: contributions are invested according to your allocations, and the Pie rebalances toward your target weightings as you add money.

For a horizon of ten years or more, a broadly diversified Pie built around low-cost global ETFs is likely to serve better than a concentrated selection of individual stocks – the shorter the list of holdings, the more the outcome depends on a handful of companies performing well over two decades.

Pies and AutoInvest is an execution-only service that follows your own investment decisions. It is not investment advice or portfolio management.

Transferring the investments to your child at 18

Trading 212 does not offer a custodial account. You would hold the investments in your own account and transfer the value once your child reaches majority:

1. Opening their account: at 18, your child opens their own Trading 212 account;
2. Transferring value: since holdings cannot be moved directly between accounts, you would sell the positions, gift the proceeds, and let them repurchase.

Two consequences worth planning for. Selling to transfer realises any capital gain, which is taxable in your name – potentially a significant bill after eighteen years of growth. And the gift itself may fall under gift tax rules depending on your jurisdiction, though many countries have generous parent-to-child allowances.

This is the main drawback of the workaround approach compared with a genuine custodial account, where assets belong to the child from the outset and no disposal is required. If you are in a country where a proper custodial or tax-wrapped option exists, that will almost always be the better route.

Alternative 3: Trade Republic Child Savings Account (Germany, France, Spain)

Trade Republic launched its Child Savings Account (Kinderdepot) in May 2025. It is currently the closest equivalent to a US custodial account available to non-US residents, though only in Germany, France, and Spain. Key features:

• Free ETF savings plans;
• Interest paid on cash balances, linked to ECB policy and variable;
• Trade Republic Kindergeld: the ongoing fund costs (TER) of selected Vanguard ETFs are reimbursed into the account monthly until the child turns 18;
• Savings Patrons: lets grandparents and other family members contribute directly;
• The account is opened in the child’s name by a parent or legal guardian;
• Fully digital onboarding, with a birth certificate upload required.

The TER reimbursement is the standout feature. Over eighteen years, having fund costs refunded rather than deducted compounds into a meaningful difference, particularly on a portfolio built through regular monthly contributions.

Alternative 4: Scalable Capital Kids’ accounts (Germany)

Scalable Capital launched Kids’ accounts in October 2025, available in two variants:

• Scalable Broker for Kids: self-directed, with a “Pocket Money” feature reimbursing the TER on 200+ ETFs until age 18;
• Scalable Wealth for Kids: the robo-advisory service, with the management fee waived entirely until age 18.

Both allow German tax allowances to be stacked – the Sparer-Pauschbetrag, Grundfreibetrag, and Sonderausgaben-Pauschbetrag – which in combination can shelter roughly €13,000 per year from tax. Since the account is in the child’s name and children typically have no other income, those allowances go largely unused otherwise, which makes this structurally efficient rather than just cheap.

Conclusion

Options for non-US residents have expanded notably since 2025, though geography still determines a great deal.

Where you live largely dictates the best route:

• UK: the Junior ISA remains the strongest option anywhere in Europe – up to £9,000 a year entirely free of tax, converting automatically to an adult ISA at 18;
• Germany: Trade Republic’s Kinderdepot and Scalable Capital’s Kids’ accounts both offer genuine child accounts with TER reimbursement and efficient use of tax allowances;
• France and Spain: Trade Republic’s Kinderdepot is available, alongside local structures such as the Livret A;
• Elsewhere in Europe and internationally: the secondary-account approach at Interactive Brokers or a dedicated Trading 212 Pie remain the practical workarounds, with the caveat that assets stay legally yours and the eventual transfer may trigger tax.

Whichever route you take, the time horizon is doing most of the work. An eighteen-year holding period is long enough that keeping costs low and contributing consistently matters far more than the specific broker or portfolio you choose. Where a tax-efficient national structure exists, use it first – the tax saved will typically exceed any difference in platform fees.

If you have questions, feedback, or know of a broker offering custodial accounts to international investors, please contact us.

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