Investors 'should not step outside comfort zone'

People planning to invest their assets offshore have been advised to consider the various risks and not to go outside of their comfort zone.
Shelter Offshore, a magazine aimed at expats and offshore investors, stated that people needed to be aware of the various costs and benefits and weigh them up accordingly.

Rhiannon Williamson, a director at the publication, recommended that in order to negate these risks, investors should seek the opinion of a professional adviser.

However, she stated that investors would ultimately be required to make the final decision, regardless of the advice they had received.
Williamson commented: "The onus is always on the investor to make the decisions for themselves.

"Never get pushed one way or the other and don't force yourself to make decisions that go against your risk comfort zone."
She added that expatriates usually had certain criteria in mind when they were looking for the best way of banking abroad.

For example, investors were said to want low charges and flexibility, in order to allow them to respond to changing circumstances at a relatively low cost.

In addition, she noted that people often tended to feel more secure if they relied on well-known financial institutions, such as international divisions of high street banks.

Williamson stated that many of the people who used them were people who lived, travelled or worked in more than one country.
As a result, they would benefit from being able to bank and transact in various currencies, although she said it was not important to have savings accounts in each one.

Shelter Offshore went on to highlight the various advantages of different offshore investments, such as having access to a broader fund manager base.

Rhiannon Williamson added that people would also benefit from being able to use more interesting - and possibly more risk - investments.
Although such investments were said to carry higher jeopardy, she said that this would translate into potentially higher returns.

"You have access to investments in different currencies and you can access alternative marketplaces," she continued.

"This can be of interest to those who seek maximum diversification."
Williamson added that investors would also be able to arrange their money in such a way that they would be able to defer taxation - which could possibly be of interest to those who were able to plan and structure their affairs accordingly.

They would then be able to pay tax at a point when they are in a lower tax bracket, she stated.

She went on to dismiss several misconceptions regarding offshore investments - specifically those concerning the level of regulation in the sector.

Investors were told that there was a whole range of "superior" offshore jurisdictions that were highly regarded within the financial industry.
For example, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands were cited as examples of tightly regulated areas with high levels of investor protection.

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