Counting the cost

There are a few besetting sins in the offshore investment world. Lack of transparency (by which I mean, of course, products being transparent to customers, not customer’s dealings being transparent to revenue services – there’s an increasing amount of that nowadays) is one. Many offshore jurisdictions do not require the funds that set up within their pale to be as upfront about fees, past performance – that sort of thing – as their onshore counterparts. Another problem is the distressing propensity for offshore-based financial companies to go bust – rather messily – leaving investors high and dry with nowhere to go for redress. So-called ‘boiler-room’ firms are also depressingly familiar in parts of the offshore world.

A further, more subtle, sin is that offshore investment funds simply cost more than onshore ones. In this issue, Hugh Fasken works in tandem with fund analysis specialist Fitzrovia, to work out just how much more offshore funds cost. The results are notable.

Beginning in this issue, you’ll find a regular ‘international property’ feature. Expats and offshore investors as a group are big investors in property – either back home, in their country of residence, or as an investment somewhere. We can’t hope to cover the world’s property markets as a whole, but we can root out some interesting developments for you.

Expats, by definition, are outside their home country. For almost all of them, some sort of medical insurance cover is necessary. You don’t want to have to find $20,000 for having broken your leg while skiing. Some get a private medical insurance package sorted out through their company – they get given what they’re given, essentially. But many other expats have to buy their own PMI cover. This is something Investment International is going to be covering more frequently in future. In this issue, we start with an initial round-up of all the policies that are available , with the help of PMI broker Medibroker International.

Finally, our ‘Who Are You’ column has found out just how cushy the expatriate life can be – if, as it turns out, you live in Canada or Australia. If you don’t live in one of those two countries, check out whether you might qualify for hardship payments from your company. You never know.

James Featherstone
Editor