Olivestone Global · Valencia, Spain
Cross-border planning and US-compliant investment management for US citizens and green card holders in Spain, Portugal, France and across Europe.
The approach
Moving abroad should not cost you your brokerage account. Many US custodians restrict or close accounts once a foreign address goes on file, and clients usually find out at the worst possible moment. The right setup keeps your 401(k) rollover, IRA or taxable account invested in US-domiciled holdings and working while you live in Europe.
You file in the United States no matter where you live. Every recommendation accounts for both sides: FATCA reporting, PFIC exposure, treaty positioning, the foreign earned income exclusion, and how your country of residence actually treats US retirement accounts. Nothing goes into a portfolio that creates a reporting problem three years from now.
You see what you pay and what it buys before you commit. Fee schedules in writing, conflicts disclosed before you engage, and advice built around your best interests. If a solution is not right for your situation, I will tell you that instead of selling it.
Your stage
Every client arrives with a different mix of US accounts, European residency and timing. Pick the stage that sounds like you.
The twelve months before you leave the United States are the most valuable in the whole plan. Account consolidation, Roth conversions while you are still a US-only taxpayer, custodian and address planning, and a clear look at what your destination country's tax regime will really cost you.
New residency, new filing obligations, and a US portfolio that may no longer suit either system. This is where treaty positioning, withdrawal sequencing and PFIC-free investment design do the most work.
If your US broker has restricted your account, gone quiet, or told you to find another home for it, that is a solvable problem. So is the old 401(k) you have not looked at since you left.
Two tax systems
US citizens and green card holders are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live. Your country of residence taxes you too. Select each side to see what it covers.
You file a US return every year, wherever you live.
This is where most of the planning happens, and where most cross-border plans fail when nobody owns both sides.
New residency brings its own taxes and reporting.
Services
Every client arrives with a different mix of US accounts, European residency and timing. These are the areas where I do most of my work.
US-domiciled portfolios built around your residency, your income needs and your filing position. Holdings are selected to avoid PFIC treatment and to be recognizable on both your US return and your local one. Individual bonds, fixed interest, annuities and selected alternative assets where they solve a real problem in the plan.
Old employer plans consolidated into an IRA that can actually be managed from Europe, then a withdrawal plan that works across both tax systems. Roth conversion timing around a change in residency, 72(t) and SEPP structures, Social Security timing, and treaty analysis of how your retirement income is taxed where you live.
Moving is a planning event, not an administrative one. Account consolidation, Roth conversions while you are still a US-only taxpayer, custodian and address planning, currency, and the timing of your residency start date. We do this work before you land rather than after.
The foreign address problem
This is the single most common reason people contact me. Here is what happens, and what actually solves it.
You update your address with a US brokerage, and a few weeks later the letter arrives. The account is restricted to liquidation only, the funds you have held for fifteen years can no longer be added to, or the account is closed outright and a cheque is on its way.
Following the change of address on file, your account will be limited to closing transactions only. New purchases and contributions will no longer be accepted.
Your custodian is not doing this to be difficult. Most US retail brokerages are set up to deal with US residents, and holding an account for someone with a foreign address creates licensing, distribution and anti-money-laundering obligations they would rather not take on.
Some firms restrict only mutual fund purchases. Others block trading entirely. A few close the account and mail a cheque, which is the worst outcome, because a forced liquidation in a taxable account is a taxable event you did not choose, and a distribution from an IRA can be far worse.
It is a misrepresentation, it tends to be caught eventually, and it puts your access to the account at risk at the exact moment you need it.
Check your options before a liquidation deadline. Most of the time there is a transfer route that avoids selling anything.
That usually converts an administrative headache into a PFIC problem that follows you every year for as long as you hold it.
The account moves to a US custodian set up for clients with a foreign address. Established US custodians offer platforms set up for exactly this situation.
The positions move across as they are, so nothing is sold and no gain is realised. Where holdings are genuinely unsuitable, the portfolio is redesigned deliberately rather than under someone else's deadline.
The account stays US-domiciled and US-reportable, which keeps PFIC treatment out of your tax return and keeps your filing straightforward.
If you have had a letter like this, or you are about to change your address and want to get ahead of it, that is a short conversation and a much better one to have before the deadline than after.
Olivestone Global
"The advice, the planning and the relationship stay in one place."
Olivestone Global is the trade name of my cross-border practice, where I serve as Senior Wealth Manager and Founder.
For an American in Europe, the structure matters. Investments that stay US-domiciled and US-reportable keep PFIC treatment out of your portfolio and keep your 1040 straightforward.
Meet Jacob
About
I am an American based in Valencia, Spain, and the Senior Wealth Manager and Founder of Olivestone Global. My work focuses on US citizens and green card holders living in or moving to Europe.
Before moving abroad I worked in US financial services, including two years at Morgan Stanley and more than six at J.P. Morgan, as a Financial Advisor, Private Client Banker and Senior Home Lending Advisor. That background is the reason my practice looks the way it does. I know how American custodians, accounts and paperwork actually behave, and that is most of the battle when you are running a US financial life from a European address.
In 2023 I completed a Master of Science in Finance at the University of Arizona, building on a BSBA in International Business, cum laude, from the University of Denver.
My clients tend to arrive with a familiar set of problems. A 401(k) still sitting with a former employer. A brokerage account that has been restricted since they updated their address. A tax position that two advisors, one on each continent, each describe as somebody else's department. I do that work in one place.
I live in Valencia with my wife and our son, Luke. Before he arrived I spent most of my free time diving, spearfishing, skiing and cooking. These days the cooking is winning.
Credentials
Most of my clients have already been told by a US custodian that a foreign address is a problem, or by a European adviser that their US filing is somebody else's department. The practice exists because neither answer is good enough.
Morgan Stanley, then more than six years at J.P. Morgan, before moving to Europe.
Series 7, Series 66 and the Securities Industry Essentials exam.
A practice focused on US citizens and green card holders living in or moving to Europe.
Our values
They are the foundation of how I work. The goal is straightforward: advice you can act on, given by someone who understands both sides of your financial life.
Compliance with US and European regulation is the floor, not the achievement. Recommendations are made because they fit your situation, and I will tell you plainly when a product or a strategy does not.
Clients receive regular updates on markets and strategy, and know exactly what they pay and why.
I work alongside your US accountant, your local tax advisor and your immigration counsel so the pieces of your plan actually meet. Cross-border planning fails in the gaps between professionals, and closing those gaps is a large part of the job.
Watch
What happens to a 401(k) or IRA after you move, why a foreign address can freeze a US brokerage account, how FATCA and PFIC rules shape what you should hold, and the planning that is easiest to do before you leave the United States.
Insights
Plain-English explainers on the questions that come up most.
Spain's programme has closed and Portugal's passport now takes ten years. Why the most popular remaining route can be a PFIC trap for US citizens.
Read the articleWhat makes a non-US fund a Passive Foreign Investment Company, why the default tax treatment is so punitive, and why US-domiciled funds avoid it.
Read the articleSpain, Portugal, France and Italy side by side: wealth taxes, special regimes for new residents, and the planning that has to happen before residency begins.
Read the articleArticles are general information, not personalized investment, tax or legal advice. Tax rules change and depend on your circumstances; confirm non-US rules with a qualified local adviser. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.
Coming soon
Expatlas is a planning app for US citizens living in or moving to Europe. Answer a short questionnaire and get a personal cross-border plan and checklist, with country guides, side-by-side comparisons and a budget for life abroad.
We will only use your email to tell you when Expatlas launches. See the Privacy Policy.
Expatlas is a separate service operated by Hermes Assets LLC. It is an educational planning tool, not tax, legal or investment advice.
FAQ
401(k)s, IRAs, US brokerage accounts and two tax systems.
Usually yes, though often not with your current firm. Many US retail brokerages restrict or close accounts once a foreign address goes on file. The fix is moving the account to a custodian set up for US-connected clients abroad, in kind, so nothing is sold and no gain is realised.
Nothing, until you do something about it, and that is usually the problem. Old employer plans can normally be rolled into an IRA that is properly managed from Europe, with an investment design and an address setup that will not trigger a freeze later.
Almost never, if you are a US taxpayer. Non-US funds are usually PFICs, which means punitive tax treatment and a Form 8621 filing every year for as long as you hold them. Keeping the portfolio US-domiciled avoids the problem entirely.
Yes. US citizens and green card holders file on worldwide income wherever they live. The planning question is not whether you file, but how the two systems interact, which is where the foreign earned income exclusion, foreign tax credits and the relevant treaty come in.
The twelve months before you leave. Roth conversions, account consolidation, custodian and address planning are all easier while you are still a US-only taxpayer.
Most of my clients are exactly that. It is rarely too late to fix an account structure, and the reason people call is often a letter from their broker. If that is you, book a call and we will go through it.
No questions match that search. Ask it directly instead.
Contact
Most first conversations happen by video, wherever you are. If you would prefer to meet in person in Valencia, please arrange it in advance.
| Mon – Fri | 09:00 – 18:00 |
| Sat – Sun | Closed |
Hours are Central European Time and are subject to change around client meetings. US clients: calls outside these hours can be arranged on the US number. Some weekend availability by prior appointment only.
Based in Valencia, Spain. Serving US citizens and green card holders across Europe.
The information on this website is general in nature and does not constitute investment, tax or legal advice. It is not an offer or a solicitation to buy or sell any security.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is not a guide to future returns.
Cross-border outcomes depend on individual circumstances and on the treaty position between the United States and your country of residence. I work alongside qualified tax and legal counsel and do not provide tax or legal advice myself.