Why are UCITS ETFs better than just buying US ETFs?

US-domiciled ETFs are considered US assets, meaning they are subject to the same 40% US Estate Tax risk as your Adobe stock. UCITS ETFs are domiciled in places like Ireland, which gives you the same global exposure but legally shields you from US Estate Tax liability.

Does holding Adobe stock expose me to US Estate Tax?

Yes. Adobe is a US-domiciled asset. If you are an Indian resident and pass away while holding more than $60,000 worth of US assets (including Adobe stock), your estate could be subject to a US Estate Tax of up to 40% on the value above that limit. Moving to Ireland-domiciled UCITS ETFs eliminates this risk.

Should I hold my Adobe RSUs for more than 2 years to save tax?

While holding for 24 months qualifies you for the lower 12.5% Long Term Capital Gains tax rate, it exposes you to significant single-stock risk. If Ad stock drops during that period, your loss in capital could be much larger than the tax you saved.

Should Indian employees sell Adobe RSUs immediately after vesting?

If you are looking to diversify, it is advisable to sell RSUs immediately upon vesting. Since you have already paid income tax on the vesting value, holding the stock is effectively the same as using your own cash to buy Adobe shares at the current market price. Selling immediately allows you to move that capital into a diversified portfolio and eliminates the risk of the stock price dropping after you have already paid tax on the higher value.

Can I transfer Adobe RSUs from Morgan Stanley or Fidelity to another broker?

Yes. Once your RSUs have vested, they are just like any other share you own. You can transfer them to a platform like Paasa using the ACATS (Automated Customer Account Transfer Service) system. This allows you to consolidate your holdings or manage your liquidation strategy more effectively without triggering a taxable sale event during the transfer.

Should You Sell Your Adobe RSUs? | Protect Your Wealth

Q: How does Paasa help me reduce the tax impact of selling?

Paasa helps you identify and sell your most tax-efficient shares first. We prioritize selling shares with the highest cost basis (lowest profit) or those that qualify for the lower 12.5% long-term tax rate, helping you keep your immediate tax bill as low as possible.

If you are an Adobe employee with a tenure of 5 years or more, the majority of your net worth is likely held in Adobe stock.

While these RSUs have historically created significant wealth, they now present a growing risk.

Over the last five years, Adobe stock has declined by approximately 32%, and is currently trading near early-2020 levels.

This means your RSU portfolio has seen zero price appreciation (and practically decreased in value) in over half a decade, while the broader market has grown significantly during that same period.

This blog explores how you can protect your Adobe RSU wealth and grow it, and what other senior Adobe leaders are doing to safeguard their portfolios.

Risks with Adobe RSUs
Protect your Adobe RSU wealth
Tax implications
How to minimize tax burden?
How Paasa can help
FAQs

Risks of having a large part of your net worth tied to Adobe stocks

For many Adobe employees, their compensation structure creates a situation where a large part of their wealth ends up being locked in employer stocks.

Here are the risks of having a large part of your wealth in Adobe stocks:

1. Growth Risk

Markets are unpredictable in the short term and growth at the level of individual stocks remains uncertain over any given period.

Even a fundamentally strong stock like Adobe has gone through extended periods of negative growth.

Despite being the undisputed market leader, the stock price of Adobe has fallen significantly over the last 5 year period.

While the stock price of Adobe fell by around 32% over the past 5 years (as of Jan 2026), the S&P 500 provided returns of 84.87% over the same time period.

2. Concentration Risk

Having a large part of your wealth tied up in one stock means that the overall returns of your portfolio will be strongly correlated to that particular company’s performance.

This increases volatility as any growth slowdowns or sectoral changes affecting the company’s stock will also affect your net worth and other financial plans.

For example, if Adobe stocks have a high weightage in your portfolio, this fall in stock prices has likely eroded your wealth significantly.

For tech professionals with $100k+ in salary compensation, concentration in employer stocks also creates a situation where your income and wealth is tied to the performance of the same company.

3. Wealth erosion due to the 40% US Estate Tax

In the event of your death, all your US assets (like stocks, ETFs, any property in the US, etc) over the $60,000 exemption limit are subject to the US Estate Tax of up to 40%

Since Adobe stocks are US-situs assets, they are subject to the US estate tax.

The US estate tax is an up to 40% tax that needs to be paid on the total value of your US assets upon your death.
US domiciled persons have a $15 million exemption limit, and only assets above this exemption limit are subject to this tax.
However, if you are not US domiciled, the exemption limit for you is only $60,000, and any US-situs asset above this threshold is subject to the US estate tax.

Example

If you have Adobe stocks worth $2 million, your family will have to pay a 36.1% tax ($722,000) on this asset upon your death. The liability increases if you also have other US assets.

Use our Estate Tax Calculator to find out your exact tax liability.

To learn more about how you can protect your RSUs from the US estate tax, visit our guide on How Indian professionals can protect RSUs from estate tax.

How to protect your Adobe RSU wealth?

Many Adobe employees are mitigating this by selling their RSUs (while sometimes maintaining limited holdings in Adobe) and diversifying into other stocks and US estate-tax friendly instruments (like UCITS ETFs).

Here’s how diversification protects against the wealth erosion and other risks we discussed:

1. Spread out the growth risk

Diversification ensures that your portfolio tracks the performance of the broader market rather than relying on a single stock.

Depending on your risk appetite, you can choose funds like S&P 500, target specific sectors like AI or commodities, or go for a combination.

This ensures your wealth follows market-wide growth and isn't limited by the performance of just one company.

2. Eliminate concentration risk

Concentration risk exposes you to volatility, meaning that any movement in Adobe stock will also have a large effect on your overall portfolio.

Diversification reduces this volatility by spreading out the risk over several companies and sectors.

For example, a diversified portfolio with holding other stocks and ETFs will not be affected by the fall in Adobe stock to the same extent as your risk is spread across several assets.

3. Use UCITS ETFs to avoid the US Estate Tax

Many Indian tech professionals are now using UCITS ETFs to avoid the US Estate Tax while staying invested in the US market.

UCITS ETFs are funds that invest in US markets but are domiciled in Europe, most commonly in Ireland or Luxembourg.

As they are legally situated in the European Union, they are not subject to the US Estate Tax even when they hold US stocks such as Apple, Microsoft, or Google.

Rather than holding the S&P 500, you can hold an equivalent UCITS ETFs and avoid the risk of 40% US Estate Tax.

UCITS ETFs are functionally similar to US ETFs, and only the legal domicile is different.

Use our UCITS Screener to find UCITS compliant investment instruments.

Tax implications of diversifying your Adobe RSUs

When you sell your vested RSUs, you have to pay capital gains tax on the profit you are making.

The rate of capital gains tax is decided by your holding period:

Holding Period	Asset Classification	Tax Rate
≤ 24 Months	Short-Term Capital Gains (STCG)	Slab Rate (Added to your income)
> 24 Months	Long-Term Capital Gains (LTCG)	12.5% (Flat rate without indexation)

To learn more about the tax liabilities arising from the sale of foreign stocks and ETFs, visit our guide on Capital Gains Tax on Foreign Stocks and ETFs.

How to minimize your lifetime tax burden while diversifying your Adobe RSUs

If you have Adobe stock units that have increased in value since vesting, your total tax liability can be optimized by implementing a structured selling plan.

For the loss making Adobe stock units, you can harvest the tax loss and use it to offset capital gains elsewhere.

We suggest you sell your RSUs in the following order to minimize your overall tax liability:

Vested RSUs with the highest cost basis. These are units currently trading at a loss or closest to their original vesting price (where you have little to no taxable gain).
Vested RSUs that fall under LTCG (long term capital gains), starting with the units where you have made the minimum capital gains.
Vested RSUs that fall under STCG (short term capital gains), starting with the units where you have made the minimum capital gains.

How to diversify your vested Adobe RSUs with Paasa

At Paasa, we make the process of moving from concentrated RSUs to globally diversified portfolios seamless. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Transfer RSUs via ACATS

Your RSUs are transferred from your broker (like Morgan Stanley, E*TRADE, Charles Schwab, Fidelity) into your Paasa account through the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS). This is the standard industry process used by global brokerages.

Step 2: Strategic liquidation

Once your RSUs are in Paasa, you can liquidate them, either partially or fully, depending on your goals.

Step 3: Reinvestment into UCITS ETFs or direct stocks

You can then reinvest into direct global stocks, UCITS ETFs, commodities, or Paasa’s curated managed strategies. This gives you global diversification, estate tax protection, and better tax efficiency.

All your assets in Paasa are held directly with Interactive Brokers, offering unmatched security and peace of mind.

If you want to discuss this with our team and understand it in detail, you can schedule a call with us or write to us at support@paasa.com.

Why many Adobe employees are moving to Paasa

Adobe employees are moving to Paasa for unmatched access to global markets (like Switzerland, China, Japan, Singapore, and more), and for the safety and stability offered by Interactive Brokers.

Whether you want to buy BYD stocks or invest in UCITS ETFs to avoid the US Estate Tax, Paasa has it all.

Paasa works with Indian HNIs, family offices, and institutional investors, bringing the same global access and compliance depth to professionals managing RSU wealth. It offers one of the widest UCITS ETF portfolios available to Indian investors, enabling diversification across equities, bonds, and thematic exposures in multiple markets.

Disclaimer

This material is provided for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. Paasa does not guarantee any returns or outcomes from the strategies described. All investments and remittances should be made in accordance with applicable RBI, FEMA, and income-tax regulations. Investors are advised to seek independent professional advice before acting on any information contained herein.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does transferring my Adobe RSUs to Paasa work?

We use the ACATS (Automated Customer Account Transfer Service) system to transfer your vested Adobe shares from your current broker to your Paasa account. The process is digital and typically takes 3 to 5 business days.

Will I have to pay taxes immediately when I move my RSUs to Paasa?

No. Transferring your shares via ACATS is not a taxable event. You only pay capital gains tax when you decide to sell the shares to diversify your portfolio.

How much tax will I pay when I sell my Adobe shares?

It depends on how long you have held the shares. If you sell shares held for more than 24 months, you pay a flat 12.5% Long-Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax. If you sell shares held for less than 24 months, the profit is added to your income and taxed at your applicable slab rate.

How does Paasa help me reduce the tax impact of selling?

Should I sell my Adobe RSUs?