Wm thematic report roots and routes a framework for global indian investors

Roots and routes – A framework for Global Indian investors September 2026

1 Two investor profiles, one shared opportunity India’s financial coming of age has created a generation of investors at a distinctive crossroads: deeply connected to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, yet increasingly aware that portfolios concentrated in a single market can accumulate risks over time.

This report discusses the challenges faced by two distinct ‘Global Indian’ investor profiles. The first is the onshore Indian investor: a resident Indian whose wealth is largely denominated in domestic equities and fixed income, but who may still treat global markets as an occasional satellite allocation rather than a core portfolio component. The second is the offshore Indian investor: a non-resident Indian (NRI) based outside India with full access to global capital markets, yet who may be under-allocated to the growth story unfolding in their country of origin. Because global benchmarks understate India’s economic importance, investors seeking more meaningful participation in its growth story may consider allocating above benchmark levels, with NRIs’ potential stronger affinity with India providing an additional reason to make this adjustment.

For both groups, the starting point is the same: a concentrated bias towards either Indian or global markets can create risks that diversification can help mitigate without requiring investors to abandon their core convictions. For onshore Indian investors, global assets can provide structural currency diversification and access to sectors that are under-represented in Indian indices. Our Capital Market Assumptions (CMAs) illustrate the potential portfolio benefits: increasing the allocation to global assets from 0% to 15% raises expected returns while reducing expected volatility meaningfully. As a result, the portfolio’s risk-adjusted returns improve.

For offshore Indian investors, India offers a real yield premium, a rising weight in global indices and long-term growth that remains meaningfully under-represented in global benchmarks. A historical perspective illustrates the opportunity: since 2001, Indian equities have delivered over 10% annualised returns in USD terms, outperforming Developed Market equities over the same period.

Onshore and offshore Indian investors may share the same connection to India, but they face very different portfolio challenges. There are key dividing lines that determine how each investor should think about diversification, risk management and the role of Indian assets within a broader investment portfolio.

Manpreet Gill Sylvain Huard Hannah Chew Chief Investment Officer, EMEA Head of Asset Allocation Portfolio Strategist

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