Where is my LCA? 6 alternatives for “orphaned” fixed income investors exempt from IR

The days of “fat cows” are over for investors looking for fixed income exempt from Income Tax. If before it was possible to find an abundance of safe investments on the market, with high profitability and tax benefits, everything changed after the government tightened, in February, the rules for issuing various exempt assets, including real estate credit notes (LCI). and agribusiness (LCA). After the measure, the offer became smaller and the deadlines were longer.

Given the new reality, what are the alternatives available to investors? The answer, experts say, will depend on the choice between more return or less liquidity. Check out, below, five investments for the money of the “orphans” of LCIs and LCAs.

Debentures

According to experts, the window is narrower for investing in exempt assets, a segment in which companies are now standing out. encouraged debentures. Rates are not as attractive as before, but new issues can bring opportunities, especially in assets indexed to inflation.

The choice of assets, however, requires much greater care than in the case of LCIs and LCAs, which carry the risk of large banks. Therefore, the option is aimed at the more experienced investor, who can leave money idle for longer, and with high capital to enter into several offers and, thus, spread the investment.

In terms of performance, the IDA-Geral, Anbima’s index that tracks the performance of debentures, accumulates a return of 16.55% in the last 12 months. In March, short-term debentures were the return champions.

Credit funds

With the biggest challenge in selecting assets, investors interested in debentures have the easiest path to investing via more structured credit funds and incentivized debenture funds, according to Clara Sodré, fund analyst at XP. For Gustavo Cruz, chief strategist at RB Investimentos, it is necessary, however, to give up the immediate liquidity offered by LCIs and LCAs. Although they allow withdrawals at any time, it is common for the money to only reach the account for at least one month (D+30).

Simple DI funds

A less risky fund option is DI funds, which invest mainly in public bonds linked to the CDI. In exchange for lower risk, however, the investor is forced to leave a return behind. A calculation recently carried out by Michael Viriato, chief strategist at Casa do Investidor, shows that an investment in a DI fund would yield just over 8% in 12 months.

“Turbocharged” DI funds

To increase profitability, another option is to invest in DI funds Plus or DI Crédito Privado, which are DI funds with a portion of private credit, as long as it is low risk (still more than what is offered by public bonds).

“Eventually, it could be a replacement for shorter terms of 90 days”, says Fabrício Voigt, senior analyst at Aware Investments. The expert recalls that the credit portion of these products’ portfolios can be made up of assets such as financial bills (LFs) and Bank Deposit Certificates (CDBs), but that the risks of securities tend to be lower because the portfolio structure is diluted. in heritage.

Selic Treasury

The safest option on the list, the Treasury Selic can also serve as an alternative to the exempt ones because it also does not suffer from IR for investments of up to R$10,000. As a result, it ends up functioning as a type of “savings with greater profitability” – especially amid revisions in expectations for the level of the Selic rate.

For Marília Fontes, founding partner of Nord Investimentos, credit spreads are no longer so attractive, which is why she recommends the Selic Treasury to the “orphans” of LCIs and LCAs, with a focus on the short term.

CBD

Left aside amid the race for exemptions last year, CDBs have regained their appeal in recent months, despite suffering an incidence of IR. The assets, which are simpler to value as they carry banking risk, are also covered by the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC) for investments of up to R$250,000 per investor (CPF) and per financial institution.

CDBs started to pay more due to the rise in future interest rates. Prefixed CDBs, for example, once again approached rates equivalent to 1% per month.