How do I invest in an Indian mutual fund? 29 September 2007 at 9:48PM in Savings & investments 18 replies 4.8K views

londonman81

I am interested in investing in a particular Indian mutual fund but am not sure if:

a. I am eligible to invest in it as a UK citizen

b. If i am eligible to invest, how I go about doing so from the UK


Would I have to speak to a special broker? Do I need any special forms etc?

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks!

L

gt94sss2

Can you say which fund and where it is listed as there are various restrictions on 'non-Indians' buying shares in India?

It is possible to buy Indian funds/shares which are listed outside India though.

Regards
Sunil

londonman81

I'm looking into investing in the Prudential ICICI Infrastructure Fund. I don't know where it is listed apart from BSE I guess...

Cook_County

From a UK perspective an Indian domestic fund would fall under the offshore income gain rules so no annual CGT exemption or taper relief...

vishpatel

You can put JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust PLC (JII) in an ISA

dunstonh

Why that fund? Why not something like Fidelity india focus (SICAV) or an investment trust as mentioned above?

frogman_2

Londonman81, you could contact ICICI here in the UK and ask if you can invest through ICICI UK.

You can drop me a PM if you need an ICICI contact or phone number.

capstain411

I am UK based Indian. I invest every month in Indian Mutual funds. Now the easiest way to invest in mutual fund is to go through Indian banks operating in UK.

You have got quite a few options like ICICI, HDFC, State bank of India, Bank of INDIA, Bank of Baroda.

Now you need a NRE savings account. This is the only channel with which u can legally invest in Indian mutual funds. You should only open a NRE savings account and not a NRO, because invested money is fully repatriable only with NRE account. Opening NRE account is not at all difficult. I have mine with SBI and I am quite satisfied. You can use any of the indian banks.

Now from last decemeber, SEBI, financial regulatory authority in India. Made it mandatory for all investors to have a PAN number, very similar to NI number which we have in UK.

Now you will have to manage that, last time when I called ICICI, their marketing agent told me they can manage it for me.

Now the most important bit, Indian markets are very volatile, it gained 1000 points in phenomenal three days. More unbelievable is the estimate that it would gain another 8-10 k points in next 5 years. But fluctuation of 600-1000 points would not be a surprise to me. So be prepared for the bumpy ride.

To sum up all u would need considerable help to set ur investments. But once it is done, u should be ok. I am very happy with some of my investments which have seen 12% growth in last 53 days.

Browntrout_2

I like the Allianz RCM BRIC Stars OIEC Fund.

It is currently 21% invested in India and has risen some 35% in 6 months since Feb07.

Cook_County

capstain411 wrote: »

I am UK based Indian. I invest every month in Indian Mutual funds. Now the easiest way to invest in mutual fund is to go through Indian banks operating in UK.

You have got quite a few options like ICICI, HDFC, State bank of India, Bank of INDIA, Bank of Baroda.

Now you need a NRE savings account. This is the only channel with which u can legally invest in Indian mutual funds. You should only open a NRE savings account and not a NRO, because invested money is fully repatriable only with NRE account. Opening NRE account is not at all difficult. I have mine with SBI and I am quite satisfied. You can use any of the indian banks.

Now from last decemeber, SEBI, financial regulatory authority in India. Made it mandatory for all investors to have a PAN number, very similar to NI number which we have in UK.

Now you will have to manage that, last time when I called ICICI, their marketing agent told me they can manage it for me.

Now the most important bit, Indian markets are very volatile, it gained 1000 points in phenomenal three days. More unbelievable is the estimate that it would gain another 8-10 k points in next 5 years. But fluctuation of 600-1000 points would not be a surprise to me. So be prepared for the bumpy ride.

To sum up all u would need considerable help to set ur investments. But once it is done, u should be ok. I am very happy with some of my investments which have seen 12% growth in last 53 days.

However if you do what is suggested here and you are domiciled within the UK you will pay UK tax at up to 40% on every pound of gain whereas a UK listed unit trust, OEIC, or investment trust would give you that nice annual CGT exemption.

capstain411

Cook_County wrote: »

However if you do what is suggested here and you are domiciled within the UK you will pay UK tax at up to 40% on every pound of gain whereas a UK listed unit trust, OEIC, or investment trust would give you that nice annual CGT exemption.

thanks for your suggestion, this is news to me. I thought income earned overseas is tax free.

By the way, I have channeled my gains from Indian mutual funds towards mortgage of my Indian property, so never had to get the money transfered back to UK.