OUR FAQS

InvestAsian manages private portfolios. We specifically focus on niche Asian countries that are undergoing rapid growth.

Frontier markets have unrivaled economic potential, and are less correlated with the overall global economy. Yet they often lack infrastructure and are difficult to access. Especially as a foreigner.

We’re able to effectively break down entry barriers across developing Asian markets while giving clients allocation to property, stocks, and other uncorrelated assets.

Additionally, we offer consulting services on a limited basis. Our products are meant for high-net worth investors and institutional clients with at least $2 million worth of investible assets.

Since 2013, InvestAsian has published hundreds of free articles covering a diverse array of topics. See our articles page for a small sampling of our content.

We offer a variety of free articles on our blog that might help if you’re a smaller investor or wish to buy stocks and real estate in Asia without any direct assistance.

Because of the sheer volume of messages InvestAsian receives, we can’t offer advice to non-existing clients. You probably don’t want free advice when it comes to topics like investing, offshore real estate, or taxes anyway though!

To protect the quality of InvestAsian’s content along with our ability to offer independent advice, we are 100% ad-free and do not accept any sponsored posts.

We arguably have more direct, on-the-ground experience investing in Asia’s frontier markets than any other company. Few others, including (and especially!) large financial institutions, are in the business of generating returns off of frontier market assets.

Our success depends on investor returns and our fees are based off performance. InvestAsian didn’t thrive since 2013 by shoving people into mass-market mutual funds or overpriced condo projects, and then taking a referral fee.

We built our reputation by doing what investors care about most: achieving results and making the best possible deals for our clients.

Buying into an index fund works great if you’re looking at predictable assets in developed economies.

However, working with a professional is better in emerging and frontier markets. These countries require a unique skillset that only comes with years of direct experience in some rather obscure places.

InvestAsian has local contacts, speaks the languages, and knows how to optimize returns. We’re professional investors who understand the nuances of the unique markets we focus on.

On top of that, since we operate on a larger scale and have spent years building relationships all across Asia, we get preferential discounts – whether from a realtor in Cambodia or a stock brokerage in Singapore.

Simply put, InvestAsian operates on scale. We can spend far less money, make informed decisions, enjoy greater efficiency, and achieve better results than individual buyers.

Frontier markets are rapidly growing countries which are largely uncorrelated with the international economy. This can provide notable diversification benefits for certain types of investors.

However, frontier market investments have inherent risks as well. Rule of law is sometimes weak while “standard practices” take priority over written rules. Neither the public or private sectors are fully mature. Developing nations are, for better or worse, going through drastic change.

Combine that with a much higher entry level needed to purchase assets in places don’t even have a stock market. You can hopefully understand the need for an application to determine a client’s investment profile and suitability.

Our services aren’t for everyone. We often recommend putting between 5%-10% of a portfolio into frontier markets as a diversification strategy. Nonetheless, we can’t in good faith suggest investments to those without a suitable risk tolerance profile, net worth, or genuine need for our products.

Many people buy into an ETF and falsely believe they’ve diversified into frontier markets. We have a whole article about why an ETF is not suitable for those purposes.

To summarize though: not only do most frontier market ETFs have a poor history of performance, but they often don’t even invest in their namesake. The largest “frontier market fund” primarily owns emerging market stocks instead.

Making an investment in foreign countries is complicated and is not handled effectively by a single service. InvestAsian brings everything together.

For example, a lawyer will help you with the procedure of incorporating a business or setting up an offshore brokerage account… but they won’t offer you investment advice.

Likewise, a real estate agent is focused on the process of buying, selling, and transferring property. Yet they aren’t professional investors. Their goal is simply to close and facilitate a deal.

(Did you know that realtors in frontier markets like Cambodia and Vietnam make commission of up to 20% on the condo units they sell to foreign investors?)

Making an optimal investment in a foreign country requires a financial skillset, and ideally, many years of direct experience in a situation where returns are the primary motivation.

Even large, multinational advisory firms don’t make profit from actual investment returns like InvestAsian does. They’re general consultants, not professional investors, and don’t have any stake in the performance results.

Yes, InvestAsian can absolutely implement, your global investment strategy, and in fact, that’s primarily what we do.

Our approach is simple: “Ready, aim, fire!”. Many people investing in emerging economies skip the “aim” part, wasting their time and money because they failed to plan.

After we’ve created your plan, we can help you fully implement it by acting as a coordinator between numerous brokerage firms, lawyers, and accountants. We’ll in the meantime advise you on investment-related matters ourselves.

We believe strongly in the need for a diversified portfolio that addresses your own specific investment goals.

Many clients who originally thought “I only need this one thing” later come to us when they realize they missed a key piece of the puzzle and wasted time and money.

As a result, we don’t offer brokerage account openings in Asia or other services on a one-off basis. We can assist in detail once you’ve either become an investor in one of our managed portfolios, or are an existing consulting client.

He greatly appreciates the offer. However, Reid doesn’t meet with people he isn’t currently working with. This is due to his schedule and out of respect to investors and clients who have retained him. 

While Reid and the entire InvestAsian team are thankful for the interest in meeting up, we’re primarily a for-profit business serving people who engage our services. Therefore, we aren’t able to meet non-clients in person.

Please send an email to our media department if you’re a member of the press requesting an interview or comment.