
Dutch shares on the New York stock exchange through ADRs
Dutch shares only available on the Dutch market? Certainly not! The shares of a number of large Dutch companies are also listed on the American stock exchange and can be traded with the American dollar. Dutch shares in New York are possible because of American Depository Receipts (ADRs).
Shares from the AEX that are tradable in New York via the NYSE:
- Aegon (AGN)
- ArcelorMittal (MT)
- ASML Holding (ASML)
- ING Group (ING)
- Philips (PHI)
- RELX (REN)
- Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA)
- Unilever (UN)
What is an ADR?
ADR Stands for American Depository Receipt. This can be seen as a certificate of a share. An American party, such as a broker or a bank, can issue this. You can see 1 ADR as 1 share. In some cases this ratio will differ.
ADRs are used because it can be interesting for foreign companies to also be tradable via (for example) the NYSE or the NASDAQ. The American stock exchange is at the top worldwide when it comes to financial markets.
ADRs from a historical perspective
JP Morgan, an American asset manager, came up with the first ADR in 1927. It was created for Selfridges; a department store chain from the United Kingdom. Selfridges was listed on the New York Curb Exchange (now: NYSE). The intention of this ADR was to facilitate the trading of international shares. At the same time, Selfridges used a smooth route to Wall Street, without having to obtain a stock exchange listing in the traditional way.
Trading Dutch shares in New York: keep this in mind
In essence, an ADR behaves exactly the same as a regular share. As a holder of ADRs in a certain company, you have the same rights as a shareholder. For example, you can participate in meetings and you are entitled to a proportional share of the profits. The price of an ADR will move in the same way as the price of the actual share. However, the price will be shown in dollars.
It is important to realize that the daily trading volume in ADRs is relatively low. When you look at a chart of an ADR, you will see many interruptions. There is low liquidity and therefore fairly poor tradability. The result is a wider spread: a difference between the bid and ask price.
The position that ADRs are mainly interesting for shares from emerging markets is often taken. There is a certain grain of truth in this, now that shares from some countries are quite difficult to obtain. For example, you can think of the Chinese market. It offers a lot of convenience when you can profit from price increases via the American market.

Benefit from Dutch ADRs
As a Dutch investor, there are at first sight few advantages to trading ADRs that originate from Dutch companies. After all, you will be ‘confronted’ with low trading volumes. This can make for an unpleasant trading experience. Nevertheless, you can profit somewhat from Dutch ADRs. This has to do with currency fluctuations between the euro and the US dollar. If you think that the dollar will increase in value, an ADR can be a good choice. This way you achieve double return: both on the ADR and on the currency.
ADRs can therefore offer interesting opportunities, because there is a difference in currency. If you are looking for more diversity in your portfolio, you can explicitly choose to include a number of ADRs. You increase your currency exposure. This can be a way of spreading risk. In addition, Dutch shares in New York can have the advantage that the American trading hours are more favorable for you. If you have both traditional Dutch shares and ADRs, you can trade for longer because of the difference in trading hours of the exchanges.
Start investing through a broker
Do you want to start investing? You can do this independently (without advice) via a broker. A broker is a provider of a platform on which you can place and execute orders. Are you already investing? It can also be beneficial (depending on your wishes) to have an account with multiple brokers or to switch. Compare brokers to find out which broker(s) suit your wishes and trading strategy.






