Skip to main content

What are International Funds

Ask any finance professional 'should investors diversify their investments?' The answer will be a resounding yes. Diversification is a key risk mitigation strategy. Generally, we view diversification as investing in unrelated asset classes. However, diversification also means spreading your risk across geographies.

Usually individuals invest all their savings in their home country. This exposes investors to country risk. That is any negative economic or political event in the country affects their investment returns. A way to shield your clients against country risk is to invest internationally. 

Investing directly in foreign markets   requires expertise and is subject to investment limits. However, investors planning to diversify internationally can do so via the mutual fund route.

Let us understand the pros and cons of investing in foreign funds.

Advantages:

  • Risk mitigation - Helps in providing portfolio diversification
  • Broader investment basket - Your clients can gain exposure to strong international businesses which are not listed in India
  • No limit – RBI has imposed certain restrictions on direct foreign investments. However, there are no such restrictions on investments made through foreign funds. As per RBI guidelines, the annual overseas investment ceiling for individuals is US $250,000 (approx. 1.7 crore).
  • Planning for foreign education – Children of many clients dream of studying in a foreign university. Being well aware of the foreign education costs many parents save for their children's education. However, these savings do not adequately reflect the impact of currency on investments. To elaborate assume the year is 2008, your clients calculate that they need to save 50 thousand dollars that is 21 lakhs for their son's education over a period of 10 years. USD/INR was around 42 in 2008. Come 2018 Rupee has depreciated to 68 that is a change of 61%. Now the same amount 50 thousand USD translates to 34 lakh Rupees. This huge increase will turn the client's financial calculations on its head. Instead if the client would have invested in a foreign fund investing in US markets then the currency movement would have no impact on the client's financial plan.    

Disadvantages:

  • Increased global risk - The client portfolio is exposed to country specific risks of all economies in which the international fund invests
  • Currency risk – This is the main risk while investing internationally. Any movement in Rupee compared to the currency of underlying investment influences scheme performance.  An appreciating Rupee negatively affects the returns while a depreciating Rupee boosts returns.
  • Tax inefficiency - For tax purposes, they are treated as debt funds. Earlier when long term capital gains tax (LTCG) for equities was nil foreign funds were at a significant disadvantage. However, this disparity has reduced post budget as the Government has reintroduced long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on equity investments.

Now, profits (above one lakh) from equity investments where the holding period is more than a year are taxed at 10%. While, long-term investments in foreign funds (holding period greater than three years) are taxed at 20% with indexation benefit.





SIPs are Best Investments as Stock Market s are move up and down. Volatile is your best friend in making Money and creating enormous Wealth, If you have patience and long term Investing orientation. Invest in Best SIP Mutual Funds and get good returns over a period of time. Know which are the Top SIP Funds to Invest Save Tax Get Rich - Best ELSS Funds

For more information on Top SIP Mutual Funds contact Save Tax Get Rich on 94 8300 8300

OR

You can write to us at

Invest [at] SaveTaxGetRich [dot] Com

Popular posts from this blog

ULIP Review: ProGrowth Super II

  If you are interested in a death cover that's just big enough, HDFC SL ProGrowth Super II is something worth a try. The beauty is it has something for everybody — you name the risk profile, the category is right up there. But do a SWOT analysis of the basket, and the gloss fades     HDFC SL ProGrowth Super II is a type-II unit-linked insurance plan ( ULIP ). Launched in September 2010, this is a small ticket-size scheme with multiple rider options and adequate death cover. It offers five investment options (funds) — one in each category of large-cap equity, mid-cap equity, balanced, debt and money market fund. COST STRUCTURE: ProGrowth Super II is reasonably priced, with the premium allocation charge lower than most others in the category. However, the scheme's mortality charge is almost 60% that of LIC mortality table for those investing early in life. This charge reduces with age. BENEFITS: Investors can choose a sum assured between 10-40 times the annualised premium...
Read more

Section 80CCD

Top SIP Funds Online   Income tax deduction under section 80CCD Under Income Tax, TaxPayers have the benefit of claiming several deductions. Out of the deduction avenues, Section 80CCD provides t axpayer deductions against investments made in specific sector s. Under Section 80CCD, an assessee is eligible to claim deductions against the contributions made to the National Pension Scheme or Atal Pension Yojana. Contributions made by an employer to National Pension Scheme are also eligible for deductions under the provisions of Section 80 CCD. In this article, we will take a look at the primary features of this section, the terms and conditions for claiming deductions, the eligibility to claim such deductions, and some of the commonly asked questions in this regard. There are two parts of Section 80CCD. Subsection 1 of this section refers to tax deductions for all assesses who are central government or state government employees, or self-employed or employed by any other employers. In...
Read more

Am you Required to E-file Tax Return?

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300   Am I Required to 'E-file' My Return? Yes, under the law you are required to e-file your return if your income for the year is Rs. 500,000 or more. Even if you are not required to e-file your return, it is advisable to do so for the following benefits: i) E-filing is environment friendly. ii) E-filing ensures certain validations before the return is filed. Therefore, e-returns are more accurate than the paper returns. iii) E-returns are processed faster than the paper returns. iv) E-filing can be done from the comfort of home/office and you do not have to stand in queue to e-file. v) E-returns can be accessed anytime from the tax department's e-filing portal. For further information contact Prajna Capit...
Read more

Bharat Bond ETF

Top SIP Funds Online   The government of India has paved the way for the launch of India's first corporate bond ETF called as Bharat Bond ETF. Edelweiss Mutual Fund will be managing it. The fund is mandated to invest in AAA-rated bonds of select public sector companies (see the table 'List of constituents and their proportions in the portfolio'). The government has a threefold objective behind launching this product. One, to deepen the liquidity of the Indian debt markets and provide a gateway for easy retail participation. Two, to solve investors' dilemma of picking premium bonds. Lastly, to help the underlying government-owned companies raise funding for their operations. But does it make sense for you, the investor, to invest in it? Lets find out. What is the product? As the name suggests, it is an exchange-traded fund which will be listed on a stock exchange from where its units can be bought and sold post launch. It will have two variants - one maturing in 3 ye...
Read more

What is Electronic Clearing Service (ECS)?

  As the name suggests, it's an electronic process through which money can be transferred from one bank account to another. According to RBI, this mode is usually used for regular payments and receipts, like distribution of dividend, interest, salary, pension etc. This mode is also used for collection of bills for telephone, electricity, water, various types of taxes, payment of EMIs , investments in mutual funds , payment of insurance premium etc. There are two types of ECS , like most other banking transactions, ECS credit and ECS debit. An ECS credit is used by a bank account holder , usually a large company or an institution for services like payment of dividend, in terest, salary, pension etc. If your mutual fund pays you dividend to your bank account, of all probability it is being paid through ECS credit.ECS debit, on the other hand, is used when a company or an institution is getting money from a large number of people. For example if you are investing in a mutual fund sc...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now