Mumbai: The wealthy are diversifying beyond traditional assets with alternatives like Portfolio Management Services (PMS), Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) gaining popularity, according to the latest Wealth Index report.
This report, published by 360 ONE Wealth in collaboration with CRISIL, highlighted detailed research and analysis on the investment behaviours, preferences, and wealth management trends of India’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNIs) and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs).
Karan Bhagat, Founder, MD&CEO, 360 ONE, said here recently that India is rapidly emerging as a global wealth hub with 334 billionaires in 2024, while Mumbai has solidified its status as Asia’s billionaire capital and ranks third globally. This economic momentum is expected to further fuel wealth creation across sectors like fintech, e-commerce, space and defence.
“With India’s wealth landscape evolving through new investment avenues and rising market participation, the wealthy must stay ahead by leveraging expert knowledge and seizing opportunities,” he said, adding that besides a strong home-country bias, India’s elite are more open to modern assets instead of just traditional ones, and 70% of the report survey participants described ESG (Environmental, Social and corporate Governance) as “critical.”
“ESG is becoming central to investment strategies and investors are increasingly prioritizing sustainability in their portfolios – reflecting a conscious shift toward responsible investing,” he said.
Replying to questions, he said that Gold remained the first choice for wealth investment as it is a natural “hedge,” though other investments’ clients expectations were growing faster than wealth managers’ being able to keep up with it.
Yatin Shah, Co-Founder, 360ONE Wealth, said “The greatest transfer of wealth in history is underway, and through accelerated wealth creation via core businesses and professional ventures, the focus has shifted to optimization and preservation, ensuring that wealth is sustained and managed effectively for generations”
Jiju Vidyadharan, Senior Director, CRISIL Limited – which partnered with 360ONE Wealth for this report – noted that the report’s findings underscored the increasing complexity of wealth management needs in the backdrop of the country’s remarkable economic ascent.
The report highlighted the growing number of women in the wealthy elite class with over 40% of them being between ages 51-60, and many of them favouring lower risk, stable investment products.
About 82% of the survey respondents are engaged in philanthropy or plan to be in the next two years, particularly among older UHNIs who have already secured their families’ futures, the report stated.
