By : Subho Moulik, Founder & CEO, Appreciate
The next decade will witness Indian investors evolving from spectators of global wealth
creation to active participants in it, armed with nothing more than a smartphone and the
strategic insight to leverage structural currency advantages.
What once required institutional backing, complex paperwork, and substantial capital
minimums can now be executed with a few smartphone taps. This shift is already
pronounced. Equity investments under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme surged 12.45%
year-over-year to $1.69 billion in FY25, signaling a fundamental move toward borderless
investing that’s reshaping how Indians approach wealth creation.
The Indian Digital Investment Revolution
Technology has dismantled traditional barriers that kept Indian retail investors confined to
domestic markets. Indigenous fintech platforms have democratized access to global
markets, offering commission-free trading in thousands of US stocks and ETFs with
minimum investments as low as ₹1.
The behavioral change is striking. Where Indian investors once allocated the bulk of their
LRS limit to consumption – travel and education – they,re now pivoting toward strategic
investments. Travel remittances declined 0.25% to $16.96 billion while education-related
outflows fell 16.09% in FY25. Simultaneously, real estate purchases surged 33.11% to $320
million, and equity investments continued their upward trajectory, demonstrating a
maturation in how Indians approach global opportunities.
Changing Indian Investment DNA
This technological revolution is fundamentally altering Indian investor behavior and
preferences. Indian overseas portfolios can now have allocations to AI and cloud computing
firms like NVIDIA, Amazon, Meta etc. – sectors barely represented in domestic indices.
Indian investors are increasingly gravitating toward US tech giants like Apple and Microsoft,
alongside broad-market ETFs such as SPDR 500 (SPY) for diversified growth
exposure.
However, adoption barriers persist. Indian investors still avoid global markets due to fear of
losses and volatility concerns. This represents both a challenge and an opportunity — as
financial literacy initiatives by SEBI and leading platforms address these gaps, the potential
for further adoption remains substantial.
Technology as the Great Equalizer for Indians
Modern Indian fintech platforms are incorporating sophisticated features that address the
unique complexities Indian investors face in global markets. Seamless LRS compliance,
automated currency conversion, and real-time regulatory updates ensure that geographic
diversification doesn’t come at the cost of regulatory complexity. Leading platforms now
partner with US-regulated brokers like Drive Wealth and leverage India’s International
Financial Services Centre (IFSC) to ensure regulatory adherence.
The integration of artificial intelligence in these platforms enables personalized global
portfolio recommendations based on individual risk profiles — a capability that provides
Indian retail investors with institutional-grade market analysis. AI-driven systems can
process vast amounts of data from multiple global markets simultaneously, offering insights
that help Indian investors make informed decisions across currencies and time zones.
The Rupee Depreciation Advantage
For Indian investors, this borderless approach creates a unique wealth creation opportunity
through structural currency advantages. The rupee's historical depreciation of 3-4% annually
against the dollar provides an additional layer of returns on US dollar-denominated
investments. A ₹7.45 lakh investment in US stocks in January 2022 (equivalent to $10,000
at ₹74.5 per dollar) would have generated not just market returns of 15%, but an additional
boost from currency depreciation to ₹86 per dollar, resulting in a total annualized return of
20.6% when measured in rupee terms.
This currency tailwind explains why Indian investors are increasingly viewing global markets
not as speculative ventures, but as essential portfolio components. Even in zero-growth
scenarios for US stocks, currency depreciation alone would have delivered positive returns
for Indian investors — a structural advantage that traditional domestic-only portfolios cannot
replicate.
Looking Ahead: India’s Borderless Decade
The implications for Indian investors over the coming decade are profound. With the RBI’s
$250,000 annual LRS limit providing substantial room for diversification, and technology
platforms continuously reducing friction, Indians are positioned to capitalize on global growth
opportunities previously accessible only to institutional investors.
As the rupee’s structural depreciation trend continues and Indian fintech platforms become
increasingly sophisticated, the most successful Indian investors will be those who
understand that in an interconnected world, the most valuable portfolio diversification isn’t
across domestic sectors — it’s across continents. The future belongs to Indian investors who
think globally while remaining rooted in sound financial planning principles.
