What exactly are the Foreign Institutional Investors, and how does it affect the economy?
What really is the meaning of Foreign Institutional Investors?
The foreign institutional investors is a term that is highly prominent in the financial markets of India and is also officially used in China. It brings great significance to the Indian market and leads to the development of all sorts in the economic sector.
The idea of FII allows institutional investors to focus on investing in the assets which belong to a country that is not the location of the original establishment or headquarters. The investment is aligned in a country that is predicted to give greater returns and profits in the near future. The positive impact of the Foreign Institutional Investors or the FII has seen considerable growth in the past few years.
It has now become a reason for significant growth in the Indian market. They are the large and prominent industries or companies that invest in the funds and securities in India, making it economically stronger. The market trends usually boost up considerably by the involvement of Foreign Institutional Investors who put in a lot of investments in our stocks and securities.
Various funds that the Foreign Institutional Investors invest in
There are several types of funds that exist in the present market, like hedge funds, mutual funds, insurance companies, pension forms, and investment banks. The hedge funds are a sort of an alternative investment by the utilization of the pooled funds that make use of several distinct ideas and strategies in order to pay back the positive returns or Alpha for their investors who invested.
They have a high potential of generating returns in a profitable manner and grasp over the markets that are both domestic and international. However, hedge funds are a bit more costly and expensive as compared to conventional investment schemes and funds. The Foreign Institutional Investors have the possibility to include all these funds and thus be a significant source of capital in the growth and development of economies.
Why does India have restrictions on the FIIs?
In spite of all these benefits and value points, a few countries like India have managed and decided to keep a few restrictions on the actual and total value of the assets that the FII can purchase or invest in. This is not something that India focuses on or intends to do in order to restrict growth and development by any sort.
It is a step taken in order to limit the power of the Foreign Institutional Investors on the Indian companies and the nation’s financial markets. This step and restriction on FII would also allow us to be sure that not much significant damage is incurred if they ever decide to pull back all their investments during downfalls and crises.
The Indian markets are one of the major attractions for Foreign Institutional Investors because of the fact that it is more of a developing country instead of being a part of the mature economies or developed countries.
A developing country has the benefit of possibly having the possession of a higher rate of growth in the near future and more influential and alluring individual corporations, which attracts the FIIs with the most tremendous pull to invest. There is a specific protocol and rule in order to allow Foreign Institutional Investors to be a part of the Indian economy and market. Each and every FII that is interested in investment have to register themselves with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
Existence of FIIs in other nations like China
There are several other parts of the world that allow unrestricted flow of Foreign Institutional Investors in their markets. Prominent sites for FIIs such as China have taken back all the restrictions that it implied on the net amount that investors can invest into the nation’s stocks, bonds, and other financial assets. The principal objective of this decision is to increase the economic growth and attract more foreign investments in its economy due to the fact that China’s own economy has, however, slowed down.
What does the Portfolio Investment Scheme signify?
All the Foreign Institutional Investors that wish to be a part of the Indian market could only invest in India’s primary or secondary capital markets by going through the entire procedure as declared and mentioned by the country’s Portfolio Investment Scheme.
Speaking of what exactly Portfolio Investment is, it is a type of ownership or possession over stocks, bonds, and other financial assets where the investor expects a more significant and higher return and growth in the near future. The portfolio investment is majorly constituted of two parts that are strategic and tactical.
Strategic investment is a long-term investment type, where the investors are allowed to buy monetary assets like bonds and stocks in order to gain returns in the longer run. On the other hand, tactical investment is a type where the investors are more focused on purchasing and selling such assets on a regular basis to be a part of short-term gains and profits that could easily be met.
Edited by Aishwarya Ingle
