ICICIdirect To Offer Global Stock Portfolios Curated By Fund Managers: Here's How
ICICI Securities, which operates ICICIdirect - a virtual financial supermarket, has partnered with US investment advisor ‘Interactive Advisors', to offer curated portfolios of international stocks built upon models constructed by leading global fund managers for the domestic retail investors. This means that ICICIdirect customers will now be able to invest in portfolios made up of US stocks and exchange-traded funds or ETFs, according to a statement shared by the firm today.
ICICIdirect offers investment, protection, and loan products. The tie-up will enable customers to invest in portfolios made up of ETFs and US stocks - managed by Interactive Advisors, based on the models constructed by well-known global fund managers such as State Street Global Advisors, Global X- by Mirae Asset, Legg Mason (acquired by Franklin Templeton Investments), among other portfolio managers.
More than 70 theme-based portfolios are already available for investors to choose from at ICICIdirect.com, according to its statement. The actively managed portfolios offer a variety of US stocks as well as ETFs.
Based upon their risk tolerance, investors can choose portfolios. The portfolios which are across themes such as technology, smart beta, healthcare, etc are managed by the US investment manager based on extensive research and financial analysis. In August 2020, ICICIdirect launched a Global Investment facility for its retail clients in association with US-based Interactive Brokers.
“After the successful launch of our Global Investments offering which allowed our investors to invest in markets like the US, UK, Singapore, Japan, Germany, and Hong Kong in a completely digital manner, many customers have been asking us for a facility where they could have experts guiding them for better investment decisions,'' said Mr. Anupam Guha, Head – Private Wealth Management, ICICI Securities.
''These are actively managed portfolios and hence will come with features like rebalancing. We are confident that this facility will find resonance with even those investors with low-risk appetite,'' he added.
ICICI Securities Limited (I-Sec) is a subsidiary of ICICI Bank Limited - the country's second-largest private lender. On Wednesday, August 18, shares of ICICI Securities settled 0.67 per cent higher at Rs 717.50 apiece on the BSE.
Meanwhile, it was recently reported that NSE International Exchange - a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NSE, will soon allow Indian-based investors to trade in some US stocks, making the Wall Street-listed stocks more affordable to Indian retail investors.
