While there’s an ongoing uproar against offshore investments in tax havens, the younger group of investors belonging to the millennial generation appears unfazed. After all, as a new breed of investors, they are the users of the advanced technologies developed by fintechs to break away from the traditional systems. During the pandemic, millennials used the time spent out of work and their stimulus money to invest with greater confidence using web-based platforms of offshore brokers.

Even before the COVID-19, most millennials were already earning on the side through investment platforms run by offshore brokers offering a host of different investment products. However, offshore brokers are different from offshore traders, as their platforms run on a different set of investing principles,

Distinction Between Online Offshore Brokers and Online Offshore Traders

The primary difference between the platforms of online investment brokers and online traders is the risk level of what they offer as investing tools and options. Offshore brokers offer traditional investments for the most part, but include options that are available only in tax havens like The Cayman islands. Offshore traders on the other hand offer trading options that include financial derivatives that in most part is speculative investing. Since the trading activities are similar to gambling, they are no available in all jurisdictions or are subject to strict regulations.

Through an offshore broker, many U.S. investors are able to invest their money on high-yield mutual funds not offered in the U.S. The offshore brokers to be trustworthy must be represented by an organization duly registered and regulated in the country in which they operate. This denotes that as licensed financial entities, they have to follow certain protocols and restrictions prescribed local and international laws including the Anti-Money and Anti-Terrorism Acts.

Advantages of Using Online Offshore Brokerage Platforms

Diversification is the key takeaway of offshore investment accounts, as the advantage was manifested at the height of the lockdown periods when the security markets in different countries were on the verge of crashing.

Another advantage is that offshore investments offer greater returns because they are placed in tax havens that collect low, and even zero tax on profits gained from investments.

Now the controversial yet important advantage of offshore investments is the level of security, especially if one’s investment money is tied up with a mutual fund. Aside from providing asset protection, offshore held accounts placed with online brokers platforms are protected by tons of encryptions. However, what makes offshore investments controversial are investors who deliberately hide their identity behind shell or dummy companies and use them in maintaining their offshore investments.