Go International With Your Stocks

International investing is increasingly gaining in popularity with an increasing number of Indians offered options to invest in internal equities, whether through direct equity exposure or via international mutual funds. Shreya Chaware explains why it is the right time to expose your long-term equity portfolio to international equities while highlighting the risks of doing so

- Shreya Chaware

Investing in equities is a game that one needs play intelligently. Sans proper management of the portfolio, there is always a chance of underperforming the markets and with consistent underperformance, there is always a possibility that the investors give up on the asset class itself. An intelligent way to manage one’s portfolio involves taking decisions which lead to maximising portfolio returns for a given level of portfolio risks or minimising risks for a given level of portfolio returns. International investing appeals to the same logic of maximising returns for a given level of risk and minimising risk for a given level of expected returns. This is the very reason why one should consider investing in international equities.

Says Rohit Mashelkar, an investor with experience of over five years in international investing: “I have had a fantastic experience of investing in international equities. I have invested in stocks such as Google and Facebook and am holding on to my investments. I find that the list of quality stocks available at reasonable prices is way bigger in the US markets than even in Asian markets. The valuations are much more affordable in several cases so that I scan for long-term investment opportunities. The real reason I looked at international stocks was the scope of opportunities available. It’s a huge opportunity in terms of size and scale.