Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own. Advertiser disclosure

How to buy Ant Group stock in the US

This record-breaking IPO has been suspended.

Chinese fintech giant Ant Group — formerly Ant Financial — operates Alipay, the world’s largest digital payments platform. As it attempts to go public in one of the world’s largest IPOs, here’s what US investors need to know about how they can buy in.

Latest updates

Tuesday, April 13: Ant Group plans to apply to become a financial holding company to fall in line with regulatory restrictions from China’s central bank, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Wednesday, March 3: Ant Group’s executive chairman, Eric Jing, announced that the company is looking for ways to carry out its originally planned $37 billion initial public offering while complying with Chinese regulators who put the kibosh on the deal. Jing reportedly said that Ant Group is looking for a liquidity solution for employees to monetize shares after the IPO’s cancellation.
Wednesday, January 20: Jack Ma, Ant Group’s co-founder, resurfaced in an online video praising China’s teachers. This is the first time Ma has been seen publicly since he criticized China’s regulatory system in October 2020. His physical whereabouts, however, have not been disclosed.
Wednesday, January 6: President Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting transactions with companies behind eight Chinese apps, including Ant Group’s Alipay.
Tuesday, January 5: Ant Group’s co-founder, Jack Ma, has reportedly not been seen in public since an October 2020 forum where he was a speaker. Some sources have speculated that Ma has been missing since Chinese regulators summoned him and two Ant Group executives for an interview in November. Other sources suggest Ma has simply been lying low in the wake of this interview.
Monday, November 30: Due to regulatory changes in China, the Ant Group IPO might be delayed into 2022, Bloomberg reported.
Thursday, November 12: The Wall Street Journal reports that China’s President Xi Jinping personally blocked Ant Group’s IPO.
Tuesday, November 3: The Shanghai Stock Exchange suspends Ant Group’s IPO just days ahead of its November 5 release. Ant Group elects to hold off on its Hong Kong release until it can resolve its regulatory issues.

What we know about the Ant Financial IPO

Hangzhou-headquartered Ant Group planned to go public through a parallel listing on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges. This Alibaba affiliate intended to raise as much as $34.5 billion through its dual-listing. If successful, the listing would break world records for the largest IPO to date. It was the first time a listing of its size was priced outside New York City.

Ant Group planned to evenly split its offerings between the two exchanges, with up to 1.67 billion shares up for grabs on each exchange, accounting for 11% of total outstanding shares. The New York Times suggests Ant Group could be worth as much as $310 billion. This valuation puts it on par with JPMorgan Chase — not only the biggest bank in the US but one of the largest financial institutions in the world.

The projected price for Ant Group’s Shanghai stock is 68.8 yuan, or $10.26, while its Hong Kong stock is expected to launch at 80 Hong Kong dollars, or $10.32. Shares were expected to go live on their respective exchanges on November 5, but the listing has since been canceled.

In the days leading up to its release, institutional investors vying for a slice of Ant Group were bidding as high as 120 Hong Kong dollars, or $15.50, per share in gray-market trading. This constitutes a 50% premium on the listing price and served as an indication of how high the demand was for Ant Group shares.

China suspends Ant Group’s listing

On November 2, Jack Ma, Ant Group’s billionaire co-founder, was asked to attend a meeting with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. While the exact details of the meeting remain under wraps, multiple reports suggest that the meeting was called to serve Ant Group a regulatory warning. Ma was informed that Ant Group would need to face greater scrutiny and restrictions on its capital — similar to those imposed on other financial institutions.

On November 3, the Shanghai Stock Exchange announced that it plans to suspend Ant Group’s IPO on its exchange, just days ahead of its November 5 release — a crippling blow for what was to be the world’s biggest IPO. Following its Shanghai suspension, Ant Group elected to hold off on its Hong Kong release until it could resolve its regulatory issues.

While it’s still not entirely clear why Ant Group’s Shanghai listing was suspended, The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov 12 that China’s President Xi Jinping was personally responsible for Ant Group’s IPO suspension — potentially in response to Jack Ma’s open criticism of the country’s slow and risk-averse banking industry just weeks prior. Analysts also suggest the regulatory move was a response to Ma’s push for Ant Group to be treated as a tech company instead of a financial institution.

To amend its listing, Ant Group needs to resolve its regulatory issues and meet listing conditions for information disclosure requirements.

Following the IPO’s suspension, Alibaba — which holds 33% of Ant Group — saw its Hong Kong and NYSE shares drop by 7% and 8%, respectively.

Ant Group has apologized to investors and pledges to refund the money it has collected. Analysts believe the delay may slash Ant Group’s value by up to $140 billion.

We’ll update this page as more information becomes available.

Is Ant Group still going public?

Will Ant Group take another shot at a public listing? The company hasn’t made any official statements — yet. But reports suggest a new IPO prospectus must be drawn and submitted — a process that could delay the company’s dual-listing by at least six months.

How to invest in Ant Group from the US

Although Ant Group’s stock will only be available on Chinese exchanges, US investors can still buy shares. In fact, there are four ways American investors can invest in Ant Group.

Watch our short video in which we break down what we know so far about Ant Group’s upcoming IPO and how you may be able to buy shares from the US.

4:50

1. Use an international brokerage account

Most US brokerages only offer access to US stock exchanges, like the NYSE and Nasdaq. If you plan to buy Ant Group shares, you’ll need an international brokerage account that allows you to buy and sell shares on overseas markets.

Charles Schwab, Fidelity and Interactive Brokers are all equipped to handle international trade. But before you open an account, make sure you review your broker’s commissions, exchange rates and potential taxes.

Interactive Brokers

Our pick: Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers offers an impressive range of tools and low fees for active or professional investors.

  • Active and robo investing
  • Global market access
  • Professional trading tools
Compare similar brands
to Interactive Brokers

Read review
More details
Available asset types Stocks, Bonds, Options, Mutual funds, ETFs, Cryptocurrency, Futures, Forex, Treasury Bills, Precious metals
Stock trade fee $0
Option trade fee $0 + $0.15/contract
or $0.65/contract
Annual fee 0%

2. Buy Alibaba shares

Another option for investors who want to purchase Ant Group stocks is to back its parent company, Alibaba. While this is a less direct investment than purchasing Ant Group stocks outright, you won’t need an international brokerage account to invest — Alibaba trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BABA.

Get more detailed information and learn how to buy BABA stock

3. Buy exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

You can also indirectly add Ant Group stocks to your portfolio by investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the stock. Once the stock hits the market, keep an eye out for ETFs that add Ant shares to their overall holdings. By purchasing these ETFs, you’ll gain some exposure to Ant Group’s stock.

The following ETFs already invest heavily in Chinese stocks, so they may be worth watching once Ant shares go live:

  • iShares MSCI China ETF
  • KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF
  • Renaissance Capital’s International IPO ETF
  • SPDR S&P China ETF

You can buy ETFs or ADRs from a domestic brokerage account.

Finder's picks for buying N/A stock when it goes public

Top pick for banking + investing in one app

$150 $150 REWARD
GO TO SITE
0588148b-2286-4b8f-9672-9c8cdafc0370-Plus, get up to $3,000 in stock
Plus, get up to $3,000 in stock
  • Trade stocks, options, ETFs and mutual funds
  • Access to a financial planner
  • All-in-one app for banking and investing
  • Automated investing available
Disclaimer
The probability of a member receiving $3,000 is 0.028%. If you don’t make a selection in 45 days, you’ll no longer qualify for the promo. Members must fund their account with a minimum of $50.00 to qualify. The probability percentage is subject to decrease. Members are only eligible for the Stock Award promotion upon opening their first brokerage account; subsequent cash brokerage accounts are ineligible for the promo, including for members with multiple accounts.

Terms and conditions apply*. For 401k rollovers, existing SoFi IRA members must complete 401k rollovers via this link For SoFi members without a SoFi IRA, a SoFi IRA must first be opened, and 401k rollover must be completed utilizing Capitalize via this link. SoFi and Capitalize will charge no additional fees to process a 401(k) rollover to a SoFi IRA. SoFi is not liable for any costs incurred from the existing 401k provider for rollover. Please check with your 401k provider for any fees or costs associated with the rollover. For IRA contributions, only deposits made via ACH and cash transfer from SoFi Bank accounts are eligible for the match. Click here for the 1% Match terms and conditions.

Must be a SoFi Plus member at the time a recurring deposit is received into your SoFi Active or Automated investing account to qualify. Bonus calculated on net monthly recurring deposits made via ACH and paid out as Rewards Points. See Rewards Terms of Service. SoFi reserves the right to change or terminate this promotion at any time without notice. See terms and limitations. https://www.sofi.com/sofiplus/invest/ #disclaimers

Get 12 free shares

$160 $160 REWARD
GO TO SITE
d19c0be9-29b6-4644-a071-32c476ff5e24-12 free shares & 1-month complimentary Webull premium
12 free shares & 1-month complimentary Webull premium
  • Trade stocks, ETFs, options, futures and bonds all in one place
  • $0 commissions on stocks, ETFs and equity options, with low contract fees
  • Deposit or transfer $100,000+ to earn a 4% Match Bonus. Plus: Get a $100 transfer fee reimbursement on your first brokerage transfer of $2,000 or more. T&C apply.

Top pick for integrated stock & crypto investing

c2128f6d-01ab-4a9f-90ee-a553f1fae920-Up to 2% bonus
Up to 2% bonus
  • Trade US stocks and ETFs with $0 commissions
  • Invest alongside crypto in one unified Kraken account
  • Fractional shares available for flexible portfolio building
  • Access advanced trading tools and real-time analytics with Kraken Pro
Disclaimer
Up to 2% bonus on stock transfers until January 31, 2026. See full terms and conditions here.

4. Wait for an ADR

A final option for investors looking to tuck a slice of this Chinese fintech into their portfolio is to wait for the company’s American Depositary Receipt (ADR) to reach US markets. ADRs are certificates that represent shares of foreign stock, and like ETFs, they can be purchased from a domestic brokerage account.

Should Ant Group’s ADR be released to US investors, it may arrive as a Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 ADR. Level 1 ADRs are the most risky, as they don’t require an SEC report and typically only trade on over-the-counter exchanges. Level 2 and 3 ADRs must file SEC reports, with only Level 3 ADRs being allowed to list on major US markets.

Ant Financial’s balance sheet

Ant Group is a subsidiary of Alibaba Group and was formed in 2014 to manage Alipay — a digital payments platform with over 711 million active users.

For the six months that ended in June 2020, Ant reported revenue of 72.5 billion yuan — or $10.5 billion. Profits over the same period were 21.9 billion yuan — or $3.2 billion. These figures put Ant Group’s revenue up 38% from the same period in 2019 — a promising trend for interested investors.

Ant reports that its payment app, Alipay, processed 118 trillion yuan — $17 trillion — in transactions for the 12 months ended in June 2020.

How are similar companies performing?

While there is no guarantee of performance, here’s how some of Ant Group’s competitors have fared:

See how the following stocks are performing, and view details like market capitalization, the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio and dividend yield.

Paid non-client promotion. Finder does not invest money with providers on this page. If a brand is a referral partner, we're paid when you click or tap through to, open an account with or provide your contact information to the provider. Partnerships are not a recommendation for you to invest with any one company. Learn more about how we make money.

Finder is not an advisor or brokerage service. Information on this page is for educational purposes only and not a recommendation to invest with any one company, trade specific stocks or fund specific investments. All editorial opinions are our own.

More resources on Finder

Ask a question

Finder.com provides guides and information on a range of products and services. Because our content is not financial advice, we suggest talking with a professional before you make any decision.

By submitting your comment or question, you agree to our Privacy and Cookies Policy and finder.com Terms of Use.

Questions and responses on finder.com are not provided, paid for or otherwise endorsed by any bank or brand. These banks and brands are not responsible for ensuring that comments are answered or accurate.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

More guides on Finder

Go to site