IndiaPost.com - NRIs' wealth totals over $1 trillion

'More than India's GDP'

MUMBAI: The combined wealth of the 20-million strong non-resident Indians (NRIs) community is estimated to be over one trillion dollars -- more than the country's entire economy of about 850 billion dollars. Overseas Indians are estimated to hold financial wealth, apart from real estate, gold and art, of over 500 billion dollar.

The total wealth would be over one trillion dollars, according to the report by High-Powered Expert Committee (HPEC) appointed by the Center to suggest ways to make Mumbai an international financial centre. These NRIs were a natural beachhead as a customer base where an Indian Personal Wealth Management (PWM) industry can get started. Their wealth management services were presently being sourced almost exclusively from abroad, the report said. The report listed 11 activities typically provided by an international financial centre (IFC) and referred to PWM as one of the most important activities undertaken at an IFC.

According to the report, PWM for high-net worth individuals is estimated to involve management of personal assets of 8-10 trillion dollars globally. The report said although products and services for PWM were provided in established IFCs, it was more skewed toward specialized PWM-IFCs located in the Channel Islands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco and Lichtenstein. These specialized PWM-IFCs cater to clients from European Union and Africa, the Caribbean offshore centers for the clients of US and Latin America, Bahrain and Dubai for the Middle East and Singapore, Hong Kong and some pacific island offshore centers for East and North Asia