Rewards of investing in foreign funds are not worth the risk

HSBC Brazil Equity Fund, a fund of funds (FoF) is coming to the market. According to the prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Fund will primarily invest in HGIF Brazil Equity Fund, managed by HSBC Global Investment Funds (HGIF), as well as in other overseas mutual fund (MF) schemes benchmarked against the MSCI Brazil 10/40 Index. It may also undertake currency hedging as a shield against volatility in the currency markets. Avoid it. Here are five reasons why it would be better to avoid it.

1.    It's a fund of funds: FoF is a lousy idea. It takes your money and puts it into other funds. It adds another layer of cost without adding any benefit.
 
2.    Monitoring: The Fund would be invested in a Brazilian fund investing in Brazilian securities. How much do you know about that fund? It would be a blind bet.

3.    Track record: We have no idea about the long-term performance record of the Brazilian equity fund.

4.    Diversification: Funds that put your money in other countries presumably offer another round of diversification. Well, in this case, it's not so. Brazilian and Indian markets are correlated. We don't see how you can derive additional returns without adding risk. In fact, the Brazilian market is as volatile as the Indian market. Mistakes by fund managers (that are lurking around the corner) can be very costly.

5.    Benchmarks are not available: Most shockingly, you cannot even compare how these funds have performed vis-à-vis a benchmark. Of the 16 funds in which HSBC Brazil Equity Fund says it would invest, benchmarks of eight schemes are not available in the public domain to facilitate a comparison of their performance with respect to the benchmarks.

Those who read Moneylife regularly will know, as we have pointed this out long ago, that funds which take your money and invest in foreign stocks are pure fads. In the very fifth issue of the magazine, way back in 2006 (Moneylife, 7 May 2006), when fund companies launched foreign funds, we wrote: "Fund companies are offering a chance for geographical diversification. There are several reasons why this is not a great idea." In our 40th issue (Moneylife, 13 September 2007), again we wrote: "Offering you funds that invest abroad is the flavour of the season. Stay away from these for now." But, of course, bull markets can keep dubious ideas in circulation for years together. By the time it was the 43rd issue (Moneylife, 25 October 2007), we were forced to write that "International funds are a rage now, but early entrants have a patchy record." Finally, in our 73rd issue (Moneylife, 18 December 2008), we had a report card. An article titled "Global Funds, Local Results" laid bare the truth. We said, "Fund companies may not know much about the value and price of Indian stocks, but they surely don't lack confidence in exhorting you to invest in a fund that invests in foreign stocks. How have these funds done over the past one year? They have all lost tonnes of money."

The faddish nature of the funds comes through clearly. When the commodity markets are shooting up, fund companies will launch commodity-focused equity funds. When the Chinese market is hot, they will launch a China fund. No wonder that in 2007, at the height of the bull market, as many as eight funds were launched that planned to invest overseas. All of them have performed very badly since inception. On an average, they have given returns as low as 0.1%. When they were launched, we had pointed out that these funds were mere gimmicks.