# How do you buy foreign debt?



## underemployedactor (Oct 22, 2011)

What's the best way of buying emerging market debt - specifically India? Do they have some kind of GIC equivalent that is available to foreign retail investors? Can they be hedged to the Canadian $? Any info on this would be much appreciated.


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

You would need a fixed income broker that offers international bonds, sadly I don't know of any 

The majority of Canadian brokers only handle Canadian or US issues

I've noticed its common to see a quota applied on the amount of units retail investors can hold, restrictions like that have probably made fixed income unpopular for retail so there aren't many brokers you can turn to

There are some Indian equities ETF out there

Available through the TSX (Canadian exchange)
BMO ZID http://www.google.com/finance?q=TSE:ZID (hedged to CAD)
iShares XID http://www.google.com/finance?q=TSE:XID

Available through AMEX (US exchange)
PowerShares PIN http://www.google.com/finance?q=AMEX:PIN

Sadly I think that's the best a retail investor can do from Canada, have you tried calling your local ICICI? They offer Government of India bonds with high yield, but there are probably eligibility restrictions http://www.icicibank.com/Personal-Banking/investments/goi-bonds/index.html

There is a big stigma over bonds in India, just see here for a brief example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICICI_Bank#Controversy_over_debt_recovery_methods

I don't think I could ever trust anything non-government


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## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

http://www.etfs.bmo.com/bmo-etfs/glance?fundId=80000


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/balance/archive/2009/balance0811.html



> Lately I've received several inquiries about buying individual foreign bonds. That's not entirely surprising because foreign government debt has done far better this year than U.S. Treasury bonds, which have performed terribly. Clearly, many investors think this may be a good time to replace Treasuries with bonds from such prosperous nations as Australia or Japan, or just about any nation in Western Europe.
> 
> That's a fine idea -- if you happen to be a millionaire or a professional fund manager. Here's the background:
> 
> ...


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## underemployedactor (Oct 22, 2011)

hmm thanks for the responses. Doesn't look at all promising. I guess the uneasiness over India bonds is why BMO's ZEF holds no India bonds at all which I guess is food for thought. Thanks for the ICIC idea, will post if they give me any good news.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Doesn't India have capital controls to prevent foreigners from owning Indian securities?


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