On Jul 30, 4:27 pm, "Todd" <tod...[at]mnbamz.se> wrote:
- quote -

You may want to consider going to a major brokerage firm and
purchasing short-term foreign government bonds denominated in whatever
currency/currencies you want to invest in. They will be able to
handle the FX side of the transaction as well. You should consider
bonds with maturites of 3 months to 1 year. By doing so, you take on
the currency risk (which you want) and minimize all other risks
(interst rate, liquidity, etc.) to the greatest extent possible. The
advantage of bonds over a bank CD is liquidity. When it is time to
get out, you can without penalty. While there are transaction costs
and there is a tendancy for some unscrupulous brokers to build in
substantial fees for themselves, as government bonds, the prices of
these securities are readily available on the Web (as is the FX
rate). Don't be afraid to negotiate, or ask to be charged a
commission (like a stock trade). The good thing about foreign
currency investing is there is usually some positive story out there
as compared to the US dollar. Shifting from one currency to another
to take advantage of this is relatively simple once you get started.

Finally, you can always just open an online FX account (DB comes to
mind). But, this usually involves leverage which can wipe out your
investment very quickly if you aren't monitoring it actively.

On Jul 31, 4:45 pm, "Mark Freeland" <BnetOne...[at]sbcglobal.net> wrote:
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Are there any overseas bond ETFs, or Closed End Funds that specialise
in foreign bonds?

"Todd" <toddkl[at]mnbamz.se> wrote in message
news:5h6vovF3jcndrU1[at]mid.individual.net...
- quote -

No. According to Lipper, there are only 9 international noload bond funds.
(International as opposed to "world" or "global", because the latter would
invest in US [dollar] as well as foreign bonds.) Fewer once you rule out
institutional funds.
http://funds.reuters.com/lipper/reta...ner.asp?type=f

Even fewer if you want funds that don't hedge the currency (funds that hedge
currency won't rise as much when the dollar falls, and won't fall as much
when the dollar rises).

That leaves you with: Am Cent (BEGBX), Merk Hard Currency (MERKX), PIMCO
(PFBDX), Prudent Global (PSAFX), T. Rowe Price (RPIBX), Target (TIBPX). I
believe that all of them invest primarily in sovereigns (gov debt), but
you'll have to check.

You might consider currency shares an alternative, but these invest in
single currencies, not a basket of various ones. If you want a basket of
currencies, you could check out Everbank - it has a wide variety of
offerings including baskets of currencies. But IMHO you are trading some
yield for the greater variety of offerings.
http://www.currencyshares.com
http://www.everbank.com/002Rates.aspx#WorldCurrency


Mark Freeland
BnetOnewsX[at]sbcglobal.net

does vanguard have any non-dollar gov or short-term gov funds?

I visited their site and read through all the funds but could not locate any
non-dollar short term funds