India’s wealthy shift to real assets as Nifty lags S&P 500

Wealthy investors in India are moving money into real estate, logistics and infrastructure funds after two years of weak equity returns, with at least six new vehicles launched this year seeking to raise more than $1.25 billion, Mint reported. The shift contrasts with wealthy investors in much of the world who have kept piling into stocks tied to the AI boom.

The benchmark Nifty 50 index has delivered total returns of just 7% over the past two years, against 29% for the S&P 500, even after a rally in recent weeks, according to the same reporting. BusinessLine carried the story under the headline that India’s rich are pivoting to real estate after tepid stock returns.

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Key facts

• At least six new vehicles launched in 2026 are seeking more than $1.25 billion for real estate and infrastructure assets.
• PAG-backed Nuvama Wealth Management, which oversees $39 billion in client assets, raised about $420 million for a commercial real estate fund with property consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Management.
• Alternative Investment Funds in India raised $64.5 billion from local investors as of June 2026, nearly double the level in March 2024.
• Money market conditions aside, local real asset funds may target annual returns of 12% to 15%, versus yields below 8% on three- to five-year AAA-rated corporate bonds.
• EAAA India Alternatives Ltd., the country’s largest listed alternative asset manager, oversees nearly $5.2 billion of fee-paying assets as of June.

What Nuvama and Neo Wealth are doing

Ashish Kehair, Nuvama’s chief executive officer, described a move toward private credit and assets that produce cash flow, including real estate investment trusts and logistics and warehousing. The Mumbai firm plans further funds holding income-generating property or infrastructure, typically with an eventual sale or listing.

Neo Wealth, a Mumbai firm with $15.4 billion in assets under advice and management, raised around 10.4 billion rupees ($110 million) in July for its Real Asset Yield Fund, which will hold listed and private infrastructure investment trusts and REITs. It has also raised more than $500 million across two tranches of its Neo Infra Income Opportunities Fund. Karan Shah, who heads fixed income and real assets at Neo, said such funds were once the preserve of pension managers and global private equity and property vehicles because of large ticket sizes, long cycles and high risk, but family offices now take part through large specialised vehicles.

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Why it matters

The shift changes who can access Indian infrastructure and property deals. Rohit Sarin, co-founder of Gurugram-based Client Associates, which advises more than 1,400 wealthy clients on over $6 billion of assets, said earlier investors had few REITs and infrastructure products from which to build a meaningful portfolio, and that new funds now offer such exposure pre-listing.

Allocation habits have moved with it. Many Indian family offices now put 40% to 45% of their portfolios into alternatives including private credit, venture capital, REITs and Infrastructure Investment Trusts, according to an August report from Julius Baer and EY India cited by both outlets, versus a traditional base of listed equities, fixed deposits, property and gold. That runs against Citi’s global family office report, which found family offices worldwide directing more capital to public equities while keeping significant private-markets exposure. BusinessLine’s version of the story also carried the fund targets and the EAAA listing details reported by Mint.

Returns are not guaranteed: the 12% to 15% targets depend on the underlying assets, leverage and exit valuations.

What to watch

Whether the six new vehicles hit their $1.25 billion-plus fundraising goals, and whether Nuvama follows through on launching additional income-generating property and infrastructure funds, will show if the allocation shift holds. EAAA’s performance as a newly listed alternative manager is the other marker to track.

This is not financial advice, and the markets discussed here are volatile and uncertain.

Written by

StockPil Editorial

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Sources: Mint, BusinessLine