International mutual funds from the US to China have been giving decent returns to investors. However, not many of the schemes are open for investments.
Although investing in international markets through mutual funds has proven effective, regulatory norms often restrict this approach.
In February 2022, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) asked domestic mutual fund companies to stop further investments in foreign stocks.
It was to prevent a breach of the Reserve Bank of India’s industry-wide limit of $7 billion on investments in overseas securities and funds. The central bank also capped at $1 billion the limit for individual fund houses and $1 billion for investing in overseas exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
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Later, the capital market regulator allowed mutual funds to invest in foreign stocks as long as their fund deployment adhered to the RBI ceilings. Many fund houses have since then sporadically accepted subscriptions.
At a when Indian mutual fund industry has once again raised the issue of enhancement in overseas limit for investment, only 26 out of 70 international funds are accepting fresh investments.
All top-performing funds are closed
Data available with ACE MF, a mutual fund research platform, shows that Mirae Asset Hang Seng TECH ETF FoF is the top performing international fund on a one-year basis with a return of 57.8 percent till July 9, 2025.
It is followed by Mirae Asset NYSE FANG+ETF FoF (50.7 percent returns), Mirae Asset Hang Seng TECH ETF (49.0 percent), Nippon India ETF Hang Seng BeES (42.5 percent) and Mirae Asset S&P 500 Top 50 ETF FoF (35.2 percent).
Notably, all these funds are closed for fresh subscription. However, in the case of ETFs, while fund houses are not creating new fund units, investors can directly trade in them via exchanges.
Schemes accepting fresh investments
Do remember that the fund houses reserve the right to suspend subscriptions when they are close to the headroom limit.
Most funds that are open for subscription allow both subscriptions via systematic investment plan and lump sum without any minimum or maximum limit. However, some funds have imposed restrictions based on maximum investment per PAN per day level.
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For example, all overseas funds of Edelweiss Mutual Fund are open, however, there is a restriction of Rs 10 lakh per PAN per day.
In the case of Baroda BNP Paribas Aqua FoF, lump sum investment is allowed, while fresh SIPs are stopped. On top of that there is a limit of Rs 5 lakh per PAN per day.
International mutual funds have direct investments in overseas stocks worth Rs 58,000 crore as of June end. The mutual fund industry believes there is a strong case for relaxing the investment caps and has raised the issue with the regulator as well.
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