Indian Mutual Fund offers investment opportunities for NRIs

In 2005, FIIs have invested over $7.5 billion in the Indian Capital Markets. Mutual fund industry have also benefitted receiving about $5billion, according to a report.

The financial services sector is one of the growing components of the Indian economy today. Mutual funds, insurance, housing finance and other services are growing between 25 to 35 per cent annually and at present offering various investment opportunities to Non Resident Indians (NRIs) in the Gulf, especially in the UAE.

The main advantages of Indian Mutual Funds are Liquidity, low cost as mutual fund expenses are often no more than 1.5 per cent of investment. The best mutual funds design their portfolios so that individual investments will react differently to the same economic conditions. Apart from these benefits, Mutual funds also offer transparency — as funds must make full disclosure of investments on a periodic basis and are subject to many government regulation that protect investors from fraud.

One representative officer of LIC Mutual fund told Khaleej Times, “Mutual Funds now play a crucial role in channeling savings of millions of NRIs from different parts of the world into investment in both equity and debt instruments. It is more effective for an investor as professional and experienced fund managers handle the investors money. ’’

Mutual Funds provide an excellent investment opportunity for NRIs in Dubai as they enjoy high disposable income with more savings potential.

At the sixth Khaleej Times NRI Money and Property Show, representatives from SBI Mutual Fund, Kotak Mahindra Securities, Barjeel Geojit Securities, UTI Mutual Fund and Canbank Mutual Fund offered many investment opportunities in the Indian mutual fund industry and received a great response from the Indian community.

An official of Barjeel Geojit Securities told Khaleej Times, “ We received great response from the Indian community regarding the Tata Contra Mutual Fund, CanBank Mutual Fund and ING Vysya LION Fund. NRIs are investing in Mutual funds as the banks are giving low interest rates while mutual funds offer more flexibility in terms of need based choices and are well regulated."