Home / The CSPX guide
Malaysia edition. Not in Malaysia? Read the general edition
What is CSPX?
Without the jargon.
What it owns, how to buy it, and what to think about before making it your whole portfolio.
Evidence snapshot:
One fund. A basket of US companies.
CSPX is an S&P 500 index fund. It is the London-listed, US-dollar trading line of the iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF.
It aims to track the S&P 500, an index of large US companies. You buy units of the fund through a broker, much as you would buy a share.
Is CSPX accumulating?
Yes. Dividends the fund receives, after costs and taxes, are reinvested inside it.
Does CSPX pay dividends?
Not in cash. You do not normally receive a dividend from this share class. The reinvested dividends show up in the price of your units instead.
- London ticker
- CSPX
- Index
- S&P 500
- Fund domicile
- Ireland
- Income treatment
- Accumulating
- London trading currency
- USD
- ISIN
- IE00B5BMR087
- Annual fund charge (TER)
- 0.07%
Fund details: official iShares CSPX page. Confirm the current factsheet and listing before buying; a ticker alone is not enough.
Why the Irish domicile matters
Domicile is the fund’s legal home. It is different from the stock exchange where you buy it or the countries where its investments operate.
US dividend withholding
US dividends received by an Irish-domiciled ETF generally face 15% US withholding at fund level under the US-Ireland treaty.
Malaysia has no income tax treaty with the US. So direct US dividends paid to a Malaysian resident who is not a US person generally face the standard 30% rate.
This concerns dividends, not a tax on your entire investment return. Accumulation does not make the withholding disappear. The fund reinvests what remains.
US estate-tax treatment
For investors who are neither US citizens nor US-domiciled for estate-tax purposes, shares in an Irish fund are generally not US-situs assets.
These ETF holdings therefore generally avoid the US estate-tax exposure associated with directly held US corporate shares.
Your citizenship, domicile and tax residence matter. Other taxes or reporting obligations may still apply, especially for US persons. This is general information, not individual tax advice.
Sources: iShares tax FAQ, IRS nonresident withholding rules and IRS guidance on US-situs estate assets. The Irish-fund estate treatment follows from the fund’s Irish incorporation and the general situs rules.
How buying CSPX works
This explains the process. It is not a suggestion to buy. Broker screens differ. These are the checks that matter, whichever broker you use. There are no affiliate links here.
Choose a broker with London access
Check its regulatory status, whether the CSPX listing is available to you, and its custody and withdrawal terms. Compare the costs below before opening an account.
Fund the account and check currency costs
The London CSPX listing trades in USD. Check how your broker converts your deposit currency, including any automatic conversion and minimum charge.
Find the exact fund
Search for CSPX or ISIN IE00B5BMR087. Verify the full name, accumulating share class, London listing and USD trading currency.
Select the ETF itself, not a CFD or another leveraged product.
Review the order
Decide the number of units using the current price and your available cash. A limit order sets the most you will pay per unit, but may not fill.
Check market hours, the bid-ask spread and order expiry.
Check the total before confirming
If you go ahead, read the order preview for commission, currency conversion and total cost.
After execution, check the trade confirmation and holdings. Keep your records and review your plan periodically.
Buying CSPX from Malaysia
Few Malaysian brokers offer the London Stock Exchange. Most offer Bursa Malaysia, the US and Hong Kong.
FSMOne, run by iFAST Capital and licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia, lists CSPX on the London exchange. Its monthly ETF plan, which includes CSPX, starts from RM100.
Some Malaysians use Interactive Brokers instead. It is a foreign broker, regulated outside Malaysia.
These are examples, not a shortlist. We have no ties to any broker.
Check the broker is real
For a Malaysian broker, check the exact company is on the Securities Commission licensed list. Fake copies of real brokers do exist.
For a foreign broker, check which company your account is with and which regulator oversees it.
Tax in Malaysia
Malaysia’s capital gains tax, from 2024, applies to companies and some other bodies, not individuals.
Foreign income received by resident individuals may be exempt until 31 December 2036, if it meets the conditions. Check with LHDN or a tax adviser how this applies to you.
Sources: LHDN capital gains tax guidelines and PwC’s Malaysia tax summary, read 20 October 2026.
Money leaving Malaysia
Bank Negara Malaysia lets a resident individual with no ringgit borrowing invest abroad in any amount.
A loan for one home and one vehicle does not count as ringgit borrowing here. Nor does a credit card used for shopping.
With other ringgit borrowing, ringgit you convert to invest abroad is limited to RM1 million each calendar year. Read Bank Negara’s rules.
The fund fee is not the whole cost.
CSPX’s stated total expense ratio is 0.07% a year. That is roughly US$7 a year per US$10,000 at a constant holding value, calculated as 10,000 × 0.0007.
It is reflected in the fund’s value rather than sent as a separate bill.
| Cost | What to check |
|---|---|
| Broker commission | Percentage charge and minimum fee per order. Small frequent orders may cost more. |
| Currency conversion | Exchange-rate markup, fixed charges and automatic conversion rules. |
| Bid-ask spread | The gap between buying and selling prices at the time you trade. |
| Account charges | Custody, platform, inactivity, transfer and withdrawal fees. |
| Taxes and tracking | Dividend withholding and the gap between fund and index returns. TER alone does not describe these. |
Broker charges depend on your account and country. Read the current fee schedule instead of assuming a “free trade” means no cost.
Is CSPX enough on its own?
CSPX gives you broad exposure within large US shares. It does not cover the whole world, smaller companies comprehensively, bonds or the cash you may need soon.
Whether it is enough depends on what the rest of your money needs to do. Money for near-term spending has a different job from long-term retirement savings.
An all-share portfolio can fall substantially, even when it holds hundreds of companies.
A US-dollar price does not remove currency risk.
If you spend in ringgit, exchange-rate changes can affect your return in that currency.
Buying a different currency listing of the same unhedged fund does not itself hedge the underlying exposure.
Before adding more funds, identify what is missing. Global shares can broaden country exposure.
Bonds or cash can serve different risk and spending needs. Adding another US growth-heavy fund does not do those jobs.
The 70/30 option: more Nasdaq, more risk.
Here, 70/30 means 70% Nasdaq 100 and 30% S&P 500, rebalanced yearly. Funds that copy these two indexes include CNDX and CSPX. It is not 70% shares and 30% bonds.
CNDX is the Irish-domiciled, accumulating iShares Nasdaq 100 UCITS ETF (ISIN IE00B53SZB19). Its stated annual fund charge is 0.30%.
It concentrates exposure in large Nasdaq-listed non-financial companies and overlaps substantially with CSPX. It is a tilt towards those companies, not a separate defensive asset.
| Allocation | Annualised return |
|---|---|
| 70% Nasdaq 100 / 30% S&P 500 | 8.88% |
| S&P 500 alone | 8.37% |
| Nasdaq 100 alone | 8.76% |
A 75% fall. About 14 years to recover.
That was the mix’s worst historical fall, from March 2000 to October 2002, and the approximate time to regain its previous high.
A higher backtested return came with a very difficult period of loss.
Across 201 rolling 10-year windows, the mix beat the S&P 500 in 185. Median annualised returns were 13.7% for the mix and 9.9% for the S&P 500.
But the worst 10-year annualised returns were -5.7% and -1.9%, respectively. These overlapping windows are not independent trials or a forecast.
Source: our research snapshot, 9 Oct 2026. This backtest uses SPY and QQQ, two US funds that track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100. It is not realised CSPX/CNDX performance since 2000.
Treatment of fees, tax and index dividends needs documentation. See the limitations. Fund details: official iShares CNDX page.
Common questions about CSPX
Does CSPX pay me dividends?
Not as regular cash distributions from this accumulating share class. The fund reinvests dividend income after applicable withholding and costs. This is reflected in the value of your units.
Can I buy CSPX from Malaysia?
Yes, through a broker that offers the London Stock Exchange, such as FSMOne. See the Malaysia notes. Verify the ISIN before ordering.
What is the minimum investment?
That depends on the current unit price and whether your broker supports fractional units for this listing. Allow for commission and currency conversion. There is no universal minimum dollar amount.
Is CSPX the same as the S&P 500?
No. The S&P 500 is an index. CSPX is a fund designed to track it. Fund costs, taxes and tracking differences mean its return will not match every published index return exactly.
Can CSPX lose money?
Yes. Its shares can fall with the market, and currency changes can affect returns in your spending currency. There is no guaranteed return or recovery deadline.
Should I wait for a market dip?
There is no reliable date for the next dip. Our timing tests compare investing at once, spreading purchases and waiting. Read the timing results before deciding on a schedule you can follow.
See what buying every month did.
Pick the S&P 500 or Nasdaq 100, an amount and a start month. Real prices back to 1988.