The coronavirus pandemic has rocked the global as well as domestic stock markets. The Sensex and Nifty have fallen over 30 percent from their record highs hit in January, entering into a bear market territory.

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Many global markets, too, have also lost nearly one-third of their market capitalisation due to this pandemic.

Having said that, diversifying your stock portfolio beyond one's own country has distinct advantages -- even as making such investments may be a tad difficult.

So why should one invest in global stocks?

For one, investing globally opens up opportunities that are otherwise not open to one's own country.

Case in point: in India, investors in India who want to invest in technology can only take exposure to IT services providers such as Infosys or TCS. If they invested globally, they could invest in the likes of Apple, Google or Microsoft.

Just as in India, all markets are filled with outperformers. For instance, as a note by wealth management startup Minance points out, Salesforce, the American CRM software giant, has tripled over the last five years, Dutch airplane manufacturer Airbus doubled and Chinese software giant Tencent returned 350 percent in the last half-decade.

There is also another angle to global investing: currency movements.

if you purchase a stock for $100 and the stock rises $120 but if the dollar weakens by 15 percent versus the rupee, the net gain is just 5 percent. But on the flip side, if the dollar strengthens by 15 percent, the net returns increase to 35 percent.

So, how can Indian investors invest in global equities?

Investors can use the government's remittance scheme (LRS) in which domestic investors are allowed to remit $250,000 in a year to other countries. These funds amount can be used for specific current account or capital account transactions, which include making equity and debt investment abroad.

However, such investments can be made only if your broker has a tie-up with a broker in the other country and the process can be fairly tedious.

A few startups, such as Minance, also facilitate investments into global stocks.

Besides, fund houses like Edelweiss, Invesco Mutual Fund, DSP, Franklin Templeton, among others offer products that help Indian investors get exposure to global equities.