With all this political chaos in Kenya and a generally slow economic growth,Offshore investments seems like an idea that we kenyan investors should ponder over.There are two Fund Managers...Franklin Templeton and Friends Provident international that seems to be gaining ground in Kenya due to the good returns.They are both based in tax free havens.
Holla if interested on bwaguma@checkmate.co.ke/investmentadvisor@dryassociates.com

Friends Provident International www.fpinternational.com is a vehicle through which you can access offshore stock markets. You can start up your investment with a single premium of USD 3000 or a monthly savings plan with a minimum contribution of USD 150/month.

Hey Sparkly,the stocks you have mentioned are prime picks i also have invested in them but as an investor,i think you should try and diversify your portfolio.Why should you put all ur investments in one currency and in one country if you have the option of doing a 50 local n 50 offshore?Besides the returns are very good so you cant really say that the markets are stagnated.

True the more developed markets are picking up slower than the emerging markets. The emerging markets have risen tremendously especially the BRIC ( Brasil ,Russia, India , China)countries. These markets are also considered offshore and investors should take advantage of this.

@anasazi,yes offshore just like some local investment vehicles works best for a longer duration.However,there is a mutual fund that has a class of funds in which one can get in and invest for a year or less and the minimum investment is $15,000.the best thing about these funds is that you get to choose which countries to invest in,the industries and what percentage to put in every fund.You can also switch funds if the ones you had selected initially are not doing well at no cost!

@IFA i agree that it is prudent to diversify. The offshore funds available now are however structured with the developed countries in mind. Many originate in US but are resident in the tax havens. They invest in the emerging economies to diversify the risks faced by investors in the developed economies. The offshore investments are rated as riskier even than small and mid caps of home economies. A huge factor is transaction costs passed on to investor eg tax structuring, admin, compliance with foreign country investment regulations and the costs of international due diligence on investments. As i noted those same funds will come and buy stocks at the nse! Factoring above, if you pick your basket at the nse well you will outperform even the best run offshore fund especially if your corpus is small.

@IFA, what's your take on the whole dollar vs euro thing?

Marko - is this return in Kshs, USD, Euro, GBP and is this return annualised or since inception return. When I looked at Provident website, the annualised rates were below 15% but some had since inception rates of even 87%. Again your currency of investment matters especially with regard to how the exchange rates will move in the future based on your holding period (i.e. when you intend to redeem your units, timing of distributions if any etc).

@mturi,as per our valuations,the portfolios are valued in the currency u invested in.offshore is the way to go!

@mdosi,its good to know that you are an offshore investor and have got good returns.Franklin Templeton which is my major fund manager has never disappointed me and am yet to hear of an unhappy investor.just check out this link and see how well some funds have performed.http://www.franklintempleton.lu/lux/jsp/funds/performance.jsp