Validus Wealth

When it comes to global investments, we believe passively managed exchange traded funds (ETFs) are a more efficient way to invest in equities. This avenue is extremely popular especially when it comes to developed markets. The assets under management for some of these ETFs are a testimony to that.

Why more Indians are now going abroad with investments

ET Markets, 21st March, 2022 Atul Singh

When it comes to global investments, we believe passively managed exchange traded funds (ETFs) are a more efficient way to invest in equities. This avenue is extremely popular especially when it comes to developed markets. The assets under management for some of these ETFs are a testimony to that.

With growing income and wealth, India has indeed seen a steady rise in remittances under the Liberated Remittance Scheme (LRS) that was introduced by the Reserve Bank of India in 2004. There has been a sudden burst in amounts being remitted, at an astounding growth rate of close to 80% year-on-year.

While travel, education and maintenance of close relatives are the categories that dominate the composition of funds remitted, capital account transactions — like remittance for investments and deposits — have been consistent throughout. In these abnormal times, remittances have indeed reduced but remittances for investments have continued the upward trend.

The fact that global markets took a hit during this period has in fact encouraged resident Indians to take advantage of such a correction and start investing in other markets, if not build on their existing investments offshore.

The affluent clients are consumers of some of the most well-known technology and consumer durable companies. The rise in stock prices of some of the world’s largest companies over the last couple of years, their reach across the globe and the in-person experience of having used their services, has fuelled investor’s aspiration to be a part of their growth.

In today’s age and time, with the free flow of information about global markets, investors have witnessed the growth opportunities other markets can have. Geographical diversification in one’s portfolio is also being understood as an important aspect of building a robust portfolio.

While investing in global markets might be a new investment avenue for most, one should not deviate from the basic principles. A portfolio must be envisaged keeping in mind the usual parameters such as the individual’s investment goals, investment time horizon, risk appetite and liquidity requirements.

Asset allocation according to the market scenario is also the key to start well. For instance, given the extremely low interest rates globally, there are very few options to consider for debt allocation. Over and above, any increase in global interest rates will probably result in capital erosion. So, looking for suitable alternatives for the debt allocation within a portfolio is crucial.

Equities tend to be the preferred asset class for most Indian investors when it comes to global investing. We have seen the domestic mutual fund industry evolve over the last two decades, as it became the preferred route for equity investors, especially for retail and affluent investors.

When it comes to global investments, we believe passively managed exchange traded funds (ETFs) are a more efficient way to invest in equities. This avenue is extremely popular especially when it comes to developed markets. The assets under management for some of these ETFs are a testimony to that.

What makes them attractive is the ease at which investments can be executed, just like stocks. The expense ratios of these ETF can range from 0.03% to 1.00% depending on the sectoral or geographical exposure and the execution charges or brokerage to invest into these ETFs tend to be very low, like stocks.

What has contributed to the popularity of passively managed ETFs is the fact that active managers have consistently failed to outperform the markets over long time horizons, especially in developed economies where the market tends to be a lot more efficient.

For more evolved investors, there are long-short funds available that do tend to give the investors the desired equity exposure, in a risk-adjusted manner. Such funds are supposedly better equipped to deal with market volatilities as they have the flexibility to take short positions if they have a negative view on the market or specific stocks.

Such funds do take exposure to the market through simple or sometimes complex derivative market instruments and, hence, tend to fall in a higher risk category. Investors should understand the various risks associated with such funds before allocating money to them.

Global financial markets are a lot wider and deeper for each asset class. This can be witnessed even more so when it comes to alternative investment avenues. Alternative investments can range from art, insurance, royalty discounting to even legal litigation financing. Some of these alternative investments have near-zero correlation to traditional equity or debt markets and are termed as market neutral.

As exotic as they might sound, some of these have done exceedingly well and the value addition of these investments to a portfolio can be witnessed over a period and especially during periods of turmoil. As one may presume, alternative investments are considered a lot riskier compared with traditional asset classes like equity and debt because they do tend to have comparatively limited liquidity.

The increased interest in global investing among resident Indians has seen the emergence of a number of investment platforms facilitating global investing over the last couple of years. Most, if not all, of these platforms tend to be interfaces enabled by an international broker at the backend.

These platforms tend to be extremely efficient in terms of pricing and execution, thus making the whole experience seamless. One thing peculiar about most of these investment platforms is that they tend to provide access predominantly to the listed US market and only a few provide access to markets across the globe.

Traditional investment avenues have also taken note of the increasing interest in global markets and there has been a surge in the number for mutual funds that invest in global markets in the form of feeder funds. Effectively these funds invest in funds domiciled in regions outside India, which in turn invest in global markets.

Such offshore funds tend to have a substantial track record in terms of performance and assets under management, which makes the whole proposition attractive, especially to retail investors who are keen on taking global exposure with smaller investment amounts.

Once again, funds investing into US markets tend to dominate the space, though this seems to be changing. The added structural layering in this does add some additional pricing to investors.

An important point investors should take note of while investing into global markets is the differentiated tax treatment of offshore investments, depending on the investment product, structure and investment route. The taxability in terms of time and rate tends to be different from what is applicable to domestic investments into the same asset class.

It will be prudent for investors to consult their tax advisors to understand the finer details before arriving at a conclusion.

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