Viram Shah, co-founder and chief executive officer, Vested Finance, and Vaibhav Shah, head of products, business strategy, and international business, Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India), explained how investors can diversify abroad despite overseas investing limits in mutual funds, which have limited overseas investment options for investors at the Mint Money Festival 2026.
Why invest overseas
“We are all Indians, and we love India. But when it comes to investing, we need to be dispassionate. India accounts for roughly 4% of global market capitalization. That means 96% of investment opportunities lie outside India. Yet most portfolios here are overwhelmingly domestic,” said Shah of Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India).
Global diversification is not a bet against India but a recognition of how markets rotate. “There will be phases when Japan outperforms, when Korea outperforms, when the US leads, and when India leads,” he said. “No single market dominates forever.”
He cited South Korea’s recent surge after years of underperformance as an example of how quickly leadership can change. “Very few people would have predicted that kind of turnaround,” he said.
He added that as Indians increasingly spend on overseas education, travel, and healthcare, it makes sense to hold a portion of their investments in dollar-denominated assets. “Global investing also offers currency diversification. If you invest in global markets, not only do you get the upside of global equities, but you also get the upside of currency if it were to depreciate.”
He observed that many transformative themes shaping the global economy—artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors, rare-earth supply chains—are not yet widely represented in India’s listed universe. “If certain sectors are not available domestically, you need to look outside to participate in them,” he said.
Shah of Vested noted that currency depreciation has also become an important part of the conversation. “Over the last decade, the rupee has depreciated roughly 3-4% annually against the dollar,” he said. “For someone investing internationally, that has acted as a tailwind.” In the short to medium term, he added, currency exposure can enhance returns while also serving as a hedge against domestic currency depreciation.
He added that investors today are increasingly approaching global investing from a risk-management lens. “People are thinking about diversification rather than just returns,” he said. “That shows maturity.” While higher returns often drive cross-border interest, he argued that the bigger reason to look overseas is portfolio balance.
Via GIFT City
Through GIFT City outbound funds, domestic investors can invest abroad. “GIFT City has reopened access through AIFs, PMS structures and mutual funds,” said Shah of Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India). “It gives resident investors a regulated pathway to global markets,” he added.
“In GIFT City, the minimum ticket size for such products is $150,000, so we attracted a lot of HNI (high-net-worth individual) money. There is also the concept of accredited investors—those meeting certain income or net-worth criteria—for whom the minimum at just $10,000. There are also some retail funds available through the GIFT City platform offering lower ticket sizes,” he explained.
Investors can use the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) LRS limit to invest abroad. LRS or Liberalised Remittance Scheme allows investors to remit up to $250,000 ( ₹2.26 crore) per financial year per PAN.
Shah (Vested) said investors looking to invest in GIFT City funds can do so directly on the fund house’s platform or come to the Vested platform to make their investments.
Direct investments
Apart from GIFT City, investors can also invest overseas through broker-dealer platforms like Vested.
“Our goal is to make global investing easy within the regulatory framework,” said Shah of Vested. Investors can now access US equities through fractional shares, participate in exchange-traded funds, or invest through GIFT City-based structures. “The idea is to give Indians access to the world while keeping compliance straightforward,” he added.
Shat of Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) said that as the ecosystem develops, the onboarding of GIFT City structures will become more streamlined and easier.
When asked about allocation to global markets, Shah of Vested suggested a balanced approach. “For most investors, allocating somewhere between 10% and 30% internationally is reasonable,” he said. “It won’t replace domestic exposure, but it should be meaningful.”
On whether to invest via funds or directly in global stocks and ETFs, both emphasized self-awareness. “If you don’t have the time or expertise to track global markets, leave it to professionals,” Shah of Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) said. Markets move in cycles, he noted, and tracking country-level or thematic shifts can be demanding.
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