Fund structures are gaining popularity among wealthy individuals in India as optimum structures to help with wealth planning, investments, and tax management. Family offices are viewing GIFT City, India’s first international financial services centre (“IFSC”), for the purpose of facilitating global investments in a structured manner. Continue Reading IFSCA Relaxes Rules for Family Investment Funds in GIFT City
Family Offices
Unlocking Offshore Opportunities for Indian HNIs and Family Offices under the new Overseas Investment Regime
“You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
–Christopher Columbus
Columbus’s expeditions in the late 14th century ushered in a period of exploration for the modern world. This has been aptly described as the ‘Age of Discovery’. Centuries later, the allure of offshore opportunities continues to enchant and has grown multi-fold. Today, these opportunities need not be sought out by deploying a flotilla, but require you to simply navigate certain regulatory and global banking channels.Continue Reading Unlocking Offshore Opportunities for Indian HNIs and Family Offices under the new Overseas Investment Regime
Why Family Offices need to think beyond money: The importance of Family Governance – Part 1
The Rockefellers are quite possibly the most well-known industrialist family in modern history, whose family name is synonymous with staggering wealth and power. Starting in 1882, the Rockefellers set up an office of trained professionals to handle their wealth. Although never formally called a “family office”, this idea was the seed that gave rise to the concept in modern times as several wealthy families began to follow suit.
Continue Reading Why Family Offices need to think beyond money: The importance of Family Governance – Part 1
Impact Investing by Family Offices
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
– Anonymous
Philanthropists the world over have been inspired by this simple but powerful statement, and have evolved from undertaking traditional notions of charity to philanthropy and now more recently, towards impact investing.
Impact investing bridges the gap between pure charity and donations for social, environmental and other causes, and pure investment aimed only at financial gain. As the world and, in particular, India, braces itself to battle increasing demand but diminishing resources, the deployment of monies in a manner that helps solve societal problems and conserve resources is not a luxury, but an urgent necessity.
Impact investing is an idea whose day has come. Mahatma Gandhi believed that the rich should be custodians of their wealth for the benefit of society, leading to a more egalitarian world. In this article, we explore why Indian family offices – being custodians of family wealth – should embrace impact investing that embodies this Gandhian philosophy. In doing so, they will not only contribute to society but also extend family legacies beyond the board room.
Impact Investing
The World Economic Forum describes impact investing as an approach that intentionally seeks to create both financial return as well as positive social and/or environmental impacts that are actively measured. The term is often used narrowly as an asset class, but, in fact, it represents an investment approach or philosophy by which investments are made across asset classes. Such asset classes include venture capital and private equity, social impact bonds, municipal bonds, real estate and contribution to social venture funds.Continue Reading Impact Investing by Family Offices