Entities who propose to invest their proprietary funds or on behalf of “broad based” funds (fund having more than twenty investors with no single investor holding more than 10 per cent of the shares or units of the fund) or of foreign corporate and individuals and belong to any of the under given categories can be registered for Foreign Institutional Investors (FII’s).
- Pension Funds
- Mutual Funds
- Investment Trust
- Insurance or reinsurance companies
- Endowment Funds
- University Funds
- Foundations or Charitable Trusts or Charitable Societies who propose to invest on their own behalf
- Asset Management Companies
- Nominee Companies
- Institutional Portfolio Managers
- Trustees
- Power of Attorney Holders
- Banks
- Foreign Government Agency
- Foreign Central Bank
- International or Multilateral Organization
- or an Agency thereof
Some of the above mentioned types are described below:
Pension funds: A pension fund is a pool of assets that form an independent legal entity that are bought with the contributions to a pension plan for the exclusive purpose of financing pension plan benefits. It manages pension and health benefits for employees, retirees, and their families. FII activity in India gathered momentum mainly after the entry of CalPERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System), a large US-based pension fund in 2004.
Mutual funds: A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors and invests it in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, or other such securities. The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. The net proceeds or losses are then distributed to the investors.
Investment trust: An Investment trust is a form of collective investment .Investment trusts are closed-end funds and are constituted as public limited companies. A collective investment scheme is a way of investing money with others to participate in a wider range of investments than feasible for most individual investors, and to share the costs and benefits of doing so
Investment banks: An investment bank is a financial institution that raises capital, trades in securities and manages corporate mergers and acquisitions. Investment banks profit from companies and governments by raising money through issuing and selling securities in capital markets (both equity, debt) and insuring bonds (e.g. selling credit default swaps), as well as providing advice on transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.
Hedge funds: A hedge fund is an investment fund open to a limited range of investors that is permitted by regulators to undertake a wider range of investment and trading activities than other investment funds, and that, in general, pays a performance fee to its investment manager. Every hedge fund has its own investment strategy that determines the type of investments and the methods of investment it undertakes. Hedge funds, as a class, invest in a broad range of investments including shares, debt and commodities. Many hedge funds investments in India were facilitated by global investors borrowing at near zero interest rates in Japan and investing the proceeds in High interest markets like India.
University Fund: The purpose of investments of these funds is to establish an asset mix for each of the University funds according to the individual fund’s spending obligations, objectives, and liquidity requirements. It consists of the University’s endowed trust funds or other funds of a permanent or long-term nature. In addition, external funds may be invested including funds of affiliated organizations and funds where the University is a beneficiary.
Endowment fund: It is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution, usually with the stipulation that it be invested, and the principal remain intact in perpetuity or for a defined time period. This allows for the donation to have an impact over a longer period of time than if it were spent all at once.
Insurance Funds: An insurance company’s contract may offer a choice of unit-linked funds to invest in. All types of life assurance and insurers pension plans, both single premium and regular premium policies offer these funds. They facilitate access to wide range and types of assets for different types of investors.
Asset Management Company: An asset management company is an investment management firm that invests the pooled funds of retail investors in securities in line with the stated investment objectives. For a fee, the investment company provides more diversification, liquidity, and professional management consulting service than is normally available to individual investors. The diversification of portfolio is done by investing in such securities which are inversely correlated to each other. They collect money from investors by way of floating various mutual fund schemes.
Nominee Company: Company formed by a bank or other fiduciary organization to hold and administer securities or other assets as a custodian (registered owner) on behalf of an actual owner (beneficial owner) under a custodial agreement.
Charitable Trusts or Charitable Societies: A trust created for advancement of education, promotion of public health and comfort, relief of poverty, furtherance of religion, or any other purpose regarded as charitable in law. Benevolent and philanthropic purposes are not necessarily charitable unless they are solely and exclusively for the benefit of public or a class or section of it. Charitable trusts (unlike private or non-charitable trust) can have perpetual existence and are not subject to laws against perpetuity. They are wholly or partially exempt from almost all taxes.