Indians are embracing international investing in a big way. From $400 million a few years ago, $1.6 billion was invested globally by Indians in the financial year 2025.
The recently released report, ‘How India Invests Globally 2025’, by Vested Finance, the global investing specialist, has interesting insights on the investing behaviour of Indians diversifying their portfolio with exposure to international assets.
The drive to diversify globally is not limited to investors living in metros. According to the report, investors come from over 145 cities across the country, with tier-1 cities accounting for 53% of investors, while Tier-2 and Tier-3 together make up 47%.
The report offers a data-backed view into how Indian investors are accessing and allocating capital across global markets and how this behaviour is evolving beyond early-stage experimentation.
Cost of Global Investing
According to the report, an average deposit of $1,634 keeps costs manageable and builds the portfolio at a pace that feels practical. The concept of monthly SIPs in stocks is still low at 2%.
HNIs represent 18% of global investors, while retail accounts for 82%, making this trend broad, not top-heavy. Also, 68% transfer money more than once, showing that global allocation is becoming a recurring action, not a one-time event.
Indian Investors Global Exposure
The report shows that Indian investors are increasingly broadening their exposure beyond single-stock investments to include US equities, Index and thematic ETFs, private market opportunities, and Global Funds, including GIFT City–domiciled funds. The average Indian investor holds 11 global securities, including ETFs.
Where Indians Invest
When you look at how Indians put their first $100 into global markets, the pattern is clear. According to the report, most of the money goes into stocks, and a good proportion goes into ETFs because they make the portfolio steadier without much effort. A small part stays as cash so investors can handle timing or currency movements. Global funds are still tiny today, but this will likely evolve as more people get comfortable and are given access to UCITS and GIFT City options. For every $100 invested overseas, 66% invest in both stocks and ETFs, while 1.5% start their first investment with an ETF.
Key Data Points
46% of investors are below 35
$10,465 Median portfolio size of Indian investors
For HNIs, the average deposit is $23,807
The average investor holds 8 stocks
61% is concentrated in the top 10 stocks and top 10 ETFs
Over 80% of the investors have an ETF allocation in the portfolio
27% of ETF allocation goes to Index ETFs
7% of ETF allocation goes to Emerging market ETFs