OUR FAQS

We help our clients and readers invest in the world’s fastest growing economies.

HAVE QUESTIONS?

InvestAsian receives over a thousand messages and emails every month from readers who seek our help. You might be curious about exactly what InvestAsian is and how our business works.

Below are the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions we receive. Feel free to send us a message if you don’t see your question listed.

About InvestAsian

What Does InvestAsian Do?

InvestAsian is a boutique investment firm. We help family offices and high-net worth individuals from around the world diversify their portfolio into frontier markets.

Primarily, InvestAsian advises and execute on matters related to buying real estate in frontier markets, asset allocation, trading stocks, and opening offshore brokerage accounts in Asia.

Frontier markets have unrivaled economic potential, and are less correlated with the overall global economy. Yet they often lack infrastructure and accessibility, which makes it hard to access them. Especially if you’re a foreigner.

We also produce free content every week to help inform the public about property, stocks, and general economic trends in Asia. You can learn more about InvestAsian’s history and goals on our About Page.

What Products and Services Do You Sell?

We manage private portfolios focused on high-growth Asian frontier markets. Such countries have unique potential but are often hard to access. InvestAsian’s main goal is breaking down entry barriers while giving our clients allocation to property, stocks, and other uncorrelated assets in emerging economies like Cambodia and Vietnam.

In addition, we offer consulting and other services on a limited basis. You can learn more about InvestAsian Consulting here. Our products are intended for high-net worth investors and institutional clients with at least US$1 million worth of investible assets.

How Can I Learn More About Investing in Asia?

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.

Can I Ask a Specific Question?

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 yourself.

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!

Can I Advertise With You?

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.

Working With InvestAsian

Who Are Your Clients?

InvestAsian works with institutional and high net-worth investors. You should generally have investible assets worth at least US$1 million or annual earnings above US$250,000. Likewise, you should have a practical need to diversify part of your portfolio into frontier markets.

You should ideally possess some knowledge of what a frontier market is, understand their benefits/risks, and be willing to make such an investment within an already well-diversified portfolio.

Why Do I Need to Complete an Application to Invest With You?

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.

Why Should I Work With InvestAsian?

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 upon our reputation through doing what investors care about most: achieving results.

Why Should I Buy Managed Investments?

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

Since we operate on a larger scale and have spent years building relationships all across Asia, we get preferential discounts too – whether from a contractor in Cambodia or a brokerage in Hong Kong. We can spend far less money, make informed decisions, enjoy greater efficiency, and achieve better results than individual buyers.

Why Shouldn't I Just Buy ETF Shares for My Frontier Market Allocation?

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.

Why Should I Hire an Investment Consultant?

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.

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 (and their employees) 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 results.

Are You Just a Consultant, Or Can You Help Me Implement?

We offer private portfolios and managed assets. Additionally, we help our clients create a diversified portfolio through a hollistic plan.

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. Meawhile, we’ll advise you on investment-related matters ourselves.

Can You Help Me With Just [Insert Service Here]?

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 one-off corporate formations, offshore brokerage account opening, or other services until you have either become an investor in our fund or retained a basic consulting package.

About Reid Kirchenbauer

Who is Reid Kirchenbauer?

Reid Kirchenbauer is the founder of InvestAsian. He has lived in Asia for over a decade, has personally invested in over a dozen properties in Asia, and speaks three languages fluently. Reid now manages the world’s first frontier market real estate fund.

You can read more about Reid on his About page.

Can I Buy Reid a Coffee and Ask Questions?

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. 

Can I Meet With Reid in Thailand, Cambodia, or Elsewhere?

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 fans in person.

Can I Interview Reid?

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

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