Why would you want to invest offshore? Well, there are two main reasons - firstly, the number of options available to you; secondly, the fact that you may be able to control when, if and who pays any tax. If you own a limited company, there are also considerable tax planning opportunities and increased investment efficiency.

The offshore investor

If you fall into one of the following groups, you ought to consider the benefits of investing offshore?

- Expatriates
- Foreign nationals
- Retiring outside your home country
- Home Country Resident becoming a Non-Home Country Resident
- Company directors
- Limited companies
- Trustees

Offshore incentives:

There are several reasons for turning your investment attention offshore.

- Offshore products might offer better historical performance than their Onshore alternatives, particularly in specialised asset classes - for example, the European smaller companies arena.

- Offshore products might be more competitively taxed - for example, onshore South East Asian equity funds are subject to 20% tax on their dividend income, while most offshore South East Asian funds are exempt. Consequently, you could expect the income yield of an offshore fund to be higher than that of an onshore fund - and an offshore fund might be denominated in a currency to which you would like exposure.

Diversification: Having all one's eggs in a single basket or economy is always risky. All markets move in cycles and diversification will reduce both risk and volatility. Offshore investment gives you, the investor, the opportunity to spread your risk across different countries, currencies, economic sectors, industries and companies, with investments in both established and emerging markets.

Long-term growth: No single country will be home to all the best investments in the world and hence a portfolio with an international flavour will have greater potential to grow over the long-term.

Steady returns: Having your assets exposed to several economies is a way of smoothing out your returns - combining investments from economies experiencing rapid growth with those that are growing more slowly.

Security: The world occasionally experiences political or environmental shocks that impact different economies or industries to a greater or lesser extent. A diversified portfolio is better able to weather such events.

Peace of mind: Investing offshore increases investment opportunities and is likely to improve the risk/ return ratio in any portfolio.

With the substantial increase in the amount that onshore investors are allowed to invest offshore and the opportunities for those that have no restriction, an ideal window of opportunity to diversify ones investments is now open.

Feel free to consult for more details.