Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Consider Diversification Into Asian Markets

By Cleveland Jernigan


With a third of the world's population, Asia makes up a significant portion of the global economy. For several years now, many of these Asian nations have been experiencing economic expansion. This includes expansion in technology, industry, mining, banking and other key areas. Not only is this good news for them, it provides some excellent investment opportunities for people in the United States.

With all of the economic upheaval of the last few years, investors often look for the safest possible way to obtain a return on an investment. Mutual funds and also ETFs (exchange traded funds) are both diversified types of investments, which mean that rather than placing all money buying stock in one company, many companies are included in the fund. Another advantage is that these funds are set up and managed by professionals, which makes it easy on investors.

When you invest in Asia, you have the option of choosing to invest in a specific country or in a specific region of Asia. Many people choose to invest in a China fund, which includes investments from both mainland China and Hong Kong. Typically, you will find that the largest sections of the fund are weighted toward industry sectors such as technology and energy, but industrial sectors, banking and other sectors are included.

Another option is to invest in the renminbi, which is China's currency. A currency mutual fund is one that includes a number of financial institutions within its holdings. There are some advantages to investing in currency. For one thing, currency funds are not tied to the up and down movement of stocks and bonds, so if stocks are not doing well, currency still can remain stable. Another advantage is that currency funds are not highly leveraged, which lowers the risk.

Of course, if you prefer not to hedge your bets solely with China, you can opt for an Asia fund that includes investments in many countries. China typically is still a part of this multi-Asian fund, but other countries that might be included will be nations such as Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and India. Again, these Asia funds are diversified much like a China fund with investments in energy, technology, telecommunications, banking and other areas.

In addition to Asia, there are many more global investment opportunities such as a BRIC fund which includes the Asian nations of India and China, as well as Russia and Brazil. You also can look at Africa-based funds or those based on countries in South or Central America.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment