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The Importance Of Investment In Foreign Markets

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Investment in foreign markets represents an untapped resource for many Australian investors. This report will investigate the benefits and challenges in assigning part of a portfolio into overseas companies. The first section will look at the literature relating to international portfolio management and the second part will deal with the importance of corporate governance. Global investment Home bias is a phenomenon in which local investors show an overwhelming preference for home investment over foreign markets. Several explanations given for this bias including exchange rate risk, lack of information for foreign investors, limited financial education and poor corporate governance (Karolyi, 2012, p. 2050). According to the CAPM, this bias …show more content…

This risk can become less pronounced through investor education, the increased availability of information through the internet, and more consistent and rigorous accounting standards. Foreign regulations and taxes can be expensive and difficult to negotiate for even experience, professional portfolio managers. Currency risk is also a major factor in the decision to diversify overseas. Unhedged currency movements can easily destroy any profits from even the most successful investment. Though hedging may be an option for large investment banks and corporations, the individual investor does not have access to the same financial instruments or low transactions costs. The only option may be to remain unhedged or to find local instruments that are able to offer diversification benefits while removing some of these issues. Some large international companies will cross-list on two or more exchanges to tap different capital markets. This can open an avenue for locally investing in oversea companies and this is why US investors already have a diversification advantage over smaller developed and emerging markets (Banalieva and Robertson, 2010, p. 535). However, it has been shown that cross-listing in the US can lead to increased correlation with the local market and can greatly reduce the diversification benefits. There are also Exchange Traded Funds which can replicate the exchange of a particular country or region or mutual

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