The two funds—the Waterfield Global Opportunity Fund and the Waterfield Global Fixed Income Fund—will offer Indian investors access to international markets through a diversified, multi-asset approach rather than single-country or single-theme investments.
The Waterfield Global Opportunity Fund will invest across international equities, commodities and global themes, while the Waterfield Global Fixed Income Fund will focus on global fixed-income opportunities.
The firm said the launch addresses a significant concentration issue in Indian family portfolios. India accounts for close to 3% of global equity market capitalisation, but many Indian families continue to have nearly their entire financial exposure concentrated in the domestic market.
Waterfield argues that a wholly domestic portfolio represents an overweight exposure of more than 30 times to a single country. In addition, several major global profit pools—including semiconductors, large-scale AI infrastructure, pharmaceutical innovation and aerospace—have limited or no meaningful listed investment opportunities in India.
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The firm has recommended that family offices maintain a minimum strategic allocation of 10% to global assets on a permanent basis and rebalance it systematically.
According to Waterfield, such diversification is becoming increasingly important as Indian families continue to have significant exposure to the same domestic economic cycle through their operating businesses, real estate and listed equity portfolios. At the same time, expenses related to overseas education, travel, migration and succession planning are increasingly creating hard-currency liabilities.Soumya Rajan, Founder and CEO of Waterfield Advisors, said, “Our clients have often asked how to meaningfully participate in global market allocations without losing governance and transparency. Our GIFT City platform answers that question with institutional-grade global investing capabilities for resident Indian investors.”
GIFT City provides an additional route for Indian investors looking to build overseas exposure. While resident Indians are permitted to invest abroad under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, subject to the prescribed limits, direct investing often requires investors to independently manage overseas brokerage accounts, research, risk management and portfolio rebalancing.
Waterfield said the GIFT City fund structure allows investors to access global portfolios through a single India-based vehicle operating in foreign currency, supported by independent custody, third-party administration and a unified documentation process.
Riddhiman Jain, Managing Director and Head of Investment Strategy & Solutions, added: “The world is becoming increasingly interconnected, and Indian investors should have the opportunity to participate in that growth. Our objective is simple — to make global diversification thoughtful, disciplined and accessible.”
The launch comes at a time when global diversification is gaining increasing attention among wealthy Indian families and family offices, with investors looking beyond domestic equities and real estate to access international markets, alternative assets and hard-currency investment opportunities.
Waterfield said both funds will follow an active, research-driven investment approach and will extend the firm’s fee-only and conflict-free advisory model to its international investment offerings.
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