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HNIs Diversify Portfolios Beyond Traditional Assets: What's Driving the Shift?
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CNBC TV18•05-10-2026, 13:19
HNIs Diversify Portfolios Beyond Traditional Assets: What's Driving the Shift?
- •High-net-worth individuals (HNIs) are expanding their portfolios beyond traditional assets like equities, debt, gold, and real estate, increasingly incorporating private credit, AIFs, PMS, private equity, and global investments.
- •Equities remain the primary growth engine, with HNIs showing greater interest in mid- and small-cap strategies, PMS, and differentiated active strategies, alongside global exposure for diversification.
- •Debt, gold, and real estate continue to play crucial roles for stability, hedging, and strategic diversification, with HNIs exploring financial and digital forms of gold and structured real estate vehicles like REITs.
- •Alternative investments, including private credit, AIFs, private equity, and venture capital, are seeing significant growth, with some family offices allocating 25-45% to these strategies.
- •Investors considering alternatives must prioritize liquidity, understand lock-in periods, assess manager experience, scrutinize valuation methodologies, and evaluate underlying risks beyond just headline returns.
Key Questions Answered
According to the Julius Baer–EY India family-office study cited by Shrikant Goyal, alternatives such as PE, VC, private credit, AIFs, REITs, and InvITs account for around 40–45% of allocations in many family offices.
EY data cited by Chirag Mehta shows that private credit deals in India reached $12.4 billion in 2025, marking a 35% increase with real estate leading the activity.
Investors should examine collateral, cash-flow coverage, legal documentation, borrower quality, covenants, recovery mechanisms, and the manager's underwriting discipline rather than looking at headline returns alone.
