How to buy Rivian (RIVN) shares from Australia

Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) is an American EV maker and automotive technology company founded in 2009. Rivian’s consumer-facing offerings include an electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) and pickup truck based on a proprietary skateboard platform that can be used for designing future cars by both Rivian and other companies.

If you think Rivian could be the next Tesla and want in on the action, here's your guide to buying their shares from Australia.

Rivian Automotive, Inc. (Rivian) is an American electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer that became a public company through an IPO in November 2021. Rivian shares are trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker “RIVN”.

Committed to sustainability, Rivian aims to achieve carbon neutrality across its business by 2032, spanning the whole gamut of its operations from suppliers to the charging impact of its vehicles.

If you wish to invest in the EV sector and Rivian’s environment-friendly objectives interest you, here’s a step-by-step guide on purchasing Rivian shares from Australia.

Step 1: Choose a broker

To buy Rivian shares online from Australia, you’ll need to find a broker that offers access to US markets. There are several platforms available, but the right one for you will depend on your needs. Some of the features you may want to look out for include:

• Intuitive trading: Some trading platforms are designed for experienced investors and traders, and may be too complicated to use for a beginner. It’s usually a good idea to look for an easy-to-use platform with a competitive fee structure if you are new to share trading. A dedicated section with investing tips and tricks is a bonus.
• Brokerage fees: Brokerage fees is a type of fee collected by brokers to facilitate your trades. Some brokers charge a flat fee on every trade, irrespective of the size of the order, while others calculate brokerage fees as a percentage of the order value. One key advantage of purchasing US shares is the opportunity for commission-free trading. You’ll find several online brokers that don’t charge you fees for investing in US-listed equities, but you should watch out for currency conversion fees.
• Research and reporting: It’s important to understand how a company is performing, its future plans, stock price history, and general industry direction to make informed investment decisions. So, you should search for a platform that gives you access to solid market research and reporting tools to help you trade confidently with updated data. You can also find price forecasts and buy and sell recommendations on some trading platforms.
• Fractional share trading: Some trading platforms allow you to buy a part of a share instead of the full share. This is particularly useful when you are dealing in shares of leading US-listed companies.

Step 2: Funding your account

Once you have selected a broker, the next step is funding your trading account with money to make trades.

It can sometimes take up to three days for the funds to clear and appear in your trading account, so you may not be able to purchase shares immediately.

Step 3: Decide on the amount you wish to invest

It’s essential to consider how much money you are willing to invest in shares. It’s generally advisable to decide on an amount you can afford to lose, to avoid putting your nest egg at risk.

You can always start by investing a small amount of money. If you are purchasing US-listed stocks, you don’t have to worry about the cost of full shares, as you can buy fractional shares.

Step 4: Shares or ETFs?

An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is like a mutual fund, or a basket of stocks, that can be traded as easily as individual shares.

ETFs allow you to invest in a market as a whole, instead of buying shares in any single company. As ETFs track the performance of a market, they are generally less volatile, which reduces your risk to an extent. But you are unlikely to get the kind of big gains you may expect from shares when you invest in ETFs.

ETFs such as Invesco Global Clean Energy ETF (PBD), Amplify Lithium & Battery Technology ETF (BATT), Amplify Cleaner Living ETF (DTOX), and Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) all have exposure to Rivian Automotive.

Step 5: Configure your order type

You can configure your order type to protect your position when buying shares. Some popular order types available to execute your position include:

Market order

A market order is an order to buy or sell a stock at the current market price. Even though a market order is generally executed immediately, the price at which a market order gets executed is not guaranteed.

Limit order

A limit order is an order to buy or sell a stock at a specified price or better. Let’s say you want to buy Rivian shares at US$35 or lower. You could submit a limit order by setting the limit price at US$35, and the order will only execute when the stock reaches the nominated price or lower.

Stop loss

A stop order or stop loss is used to buy or sell a stock at the market price once it hits the nominated price or the stop price.

Stop limit

A stop limit order is a combination of two order types – stop and limit orders. A stop order is used to instruct the broker to buy or sell stock when the price hits the nominated level. Conversely, you tell the broker to buy or sell a specified number of shares at the nominated price or better with a limit order.

Step 6: Execute your order

Once you have decided your order type and the amount you plan to invest, it’s time to place your order.

Login to your trading platform, type in the Rivian share code (NASDAQ: RIVN) and execute the order you want by hitting a few buttons.

The performance of your stock depends on several factors, including the company’s performance, its future plans, and the overall performance of the industry.

If you want to buy Rivian shares, you may want to keep an eye out for its stock price history, overall valuation and any company announcements regarding new launches and the delivery of pre-booked vehicles. You may also want to monitor the performance of competitors like Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Nikola (NASDAQ: NKLA), and Lucid Motors (NASDAQ: LCID), which are well-established players in the EV industry.