Where The Rich Are Investing 2017

Where The Rich Are Investing

Here’s how India’s ultra rich are redeploying their wealth amid falling return from two prominent asset classes — real estate and fixed income

In a clear indication that the Street is awash with liquidity, the first half of FY18 saw IPOs raking in over Rs.26,000 crore, beating the previous record collection of Rs.21,000 crore seen in the first half of FY08. Not just that, even equity mutual funds are seeing monthly inflow of over Rs.20,000 crore, with a chunk (over Rs.12,000 crore) coming from HNIs and corporates. “We have seen a clear shift from physical assets to financial assets. Real estate, which traditionally occupied 30% of a HNI’s allocation, is today out of the reckoning. Demonetisation has only fuelled the shift which was already underway for the past couple of years,” mentions Anshu Kapoor, head of private wealth management, Edelweiss Financial Services. Considering that real estate rental yield has stagnated at a little over 2%, much lower than 6.75% yield fetched by a 10-year gilt, the switchover comes as no surprise.