What overseas investment avenues does Globalise offer MFDs ?
Globalise is India’s first platform for guided global investing. The platform is built for MFDs to offer customers a US investment account, where clients keep their funds in USD and invest in international stocks and funds. MFDs can digitally signup on Globalise and onboard customers onto the platform for international investing. They can thus help clients not only to diversify their portfolios with international investments but also enable their clients to hold their funds in USD. In the process MFDs expand their AuM and revenues to international assets.
How is the platform different from other options available in India?
Investing in overseas markets and holding assets in USD has been an aspiration for many. Globalise is a simple fully digital platform designed for investors in India to buy Stocks and ETFs on the US stock exchanges. Not only that, for those who are new to international investing or would like to benefit from data analytics and machine learning augmented research and guidance, Globalise features Select Funds and Managed Portfolios to simplify the investment processes.
Few key offerings of Globalise are:
- Simplified digital onboarding can be done by the investors as well as their MFD.
- Catered towards small and large investors: No minimum investment / account balance requirements
- No minimum trading fees
- Low per share fee of $0.025
- Goal based and thematic investing products: Managed Portfolios (Globes), ~4000 ETFs, Stocks and ADRs
- Fractional investing which enables investors to own bite-sized investments of lucrative stocks
- Personalised news feeds to help investors tailor information flows
Why should Indian investors look at investing globally?
India accounts for less than 3% of global stock market valuation and US markets have outperformed India over the last decade. Companies like Alphabet, Amazon, Netflix, Tesla, and other global leaders that are growing at a tremendous pace are not listed in India.
For instance, Rs. 5,00,000 invested in S&P 500 in Jan 2011 would have yielded Rs. 24,70,000 by March 2021 as opposed to Rs. 13,90,000 via BSE 500.
Reasons which highlight the benefits of investing globally -
Portfolio diversification and possibility to earn good returns from best brands - Wealth managers can help their clients diversify their portfolios. This diversification helps in risk minimization because the economies of different countries do not move in tandem. Global investing provides new opportunities to investors to diversify their portfolios for higher returns and/or lower risk.
Possibility to earn good returns from high growth companies - The most valuable international brands also provide attractive returns. Thus, when an investor invests in international brands, they get a chance to earn high returns on investments.
A hedge against currency risks - Currency rates fluctuate daily. Investing globally allows investors to hedge against the volatility of exchange rate fluctuations, thereby giving a positive edge to the portfolio. This in turn increases AuM and revenues for MFDs.
A good alternative for future expenses in foreign currencies - If investors plan on relocating to another country, want to buy real estate overseas or plan to send their child overseas for higher education, international investments make all the more sense. Investors are able to remit only upto USD 250,000 per annum under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme. MFD’s can assist their clients to use this annual allowance to invest overseas, thus enabling the investors to accumulate a corpus in USD for their need for funds overseas.
How does the platform make things easier for the investor?
Globalise platform (www.globalise.co) enables Indians to open a US trading account in their own name with, all the US regulatory protections. Globalise and its partners are regulated and comply with SEC and FINRA regulations as well as regulations in India. The trading account gives access to ~ 4000 US stocks and ETFs. The platform is built by finance professionals with a deep understanding of international markets.
Globalise offers a simple, modern, and intuitive user experience with an international brokerage account in the client’s name. The per share fee is only 2.5 cents, there are no minimum balance requirements and no minimum trade size or minimum fees. So, both in terms of functionality, costs and efficiency, it offers excellent value. There is also a simple Rs 4999 subscription option on offer which makes all trades for the year free. The key feature is that customers can work with their current MFD to include international investments in their portfolios. .
What does Globalise have in store for MFDs?
Globalise is making global investing easy and accessible to Indian investors across the breadth of the country by partnering with MFDs to expand the product offering for their customers. MFDs signing up on the platform get digital access to research and execution capabilities to build diversified global portfolios for their clients. With the help of select funds by sector and asset class, along with model portfolios providing asset allocation and thematic options, MFDs can offer a variety of global investment choices to their clients.
A key feature of the Globalise platform is that it is built for MFDs and enables:
- Cloud based real time interaction between MFD and their clients
- MFDs can assist clients on the platform with onboarding and investing
- MFDs can monitor client portfolios and receive real time notifications of client activity
- Online availability of stock specific data, performance charts and curated news
- Research support with select funds and managed portfolios
- Revenues for the MFDs from trading activity and invested AuM
This may be a very opportune time for MFDs to incorporate global equities in their clients’ portfolios as global investing is growing rapidly. By using the Globalise platform, MFDs not only get execution and research guidance but also get an ability to grow their AuM and revenue from international assets, thereby staying ahead of the curve. Funds flow under RBI’s LRS scheme grew 61% to $19 billion between 2013-14 to 2019-20 and it is best for MFDs to take advantage of this burgeoning segment.
