Offshore Investment Funds

Offshore investment funds offer you the chance to swim in other waters with your investment funds staying afloat if your local currency sinks. Casting your net offshore gives you two major advantages:

1: Diversifying your investments by getting exposure to markets which are different from your country, this reduces your risk.

2: Protecting yourself against a fall in the value of your home currency.

Investing in offshore stock or bond markets gives you a chance to participate in the growth of other countries and to profit from companies which are not listed on your local stock exchange. Estimates of how much money you should invest overseas vary, but many fund managers suggest that you try to keep one-fifth of your assets out of your own country.

Investing abroad can be anything from Spanish villa to a few hundred unit trusts bought from the bank on the corner. What you buy and how much you spend depends on your circumstances. Unit trusts with investments offshore work like domestic unit trusts, pooling your money with that of other investors and buying up securities – bonds and shares – in other countries.

Worldwide Funds:
Worldwide funds invest in foreign markets. Normally a minimum of 15 percent of assets must be held in your home country and a minimum of 15 percent must be held abroad. Usually between 15 and 80 percent of assets are invested in the domestic market.

Regional Funds:
Regional funds invest at least 85 percent of their assets in a single country or region ( Europe, the United States, Asia etc ). Within these categories, funds can be broken up into equity funds, fixed interest funds ( investing in the bond and money market ) and asset allocation funds, which switch money around from shares to cash to bonds depending on movements in the markets where the money is invested.

There are many investment options available and doing research online is the ideal way to source offshore investment funds opportunities.