Indian families save diligently through fixed deposits, gold, and domestic equities, trusting that consistency will secure their future. However, Marcellus Investment Managers highlights a lessobvious but persistent risk: the long-term weakening of the Indian rupee against the US dollar.Historically, the rupee has lost nearly 40% of its value every decade, steadily reducing the realpurchasing power of savings. As a result, global expenses such as overseas education, healthcare,travel, and imported goods become costlier, even when savings rise in rupee terms.Marcellus notes that this is not only a currency concern but also a portfolio construction issue.Savings concentrated solely in India are exposed to a single economy and currency. Long-term datashows that an India-plus-global equity portfolio has delivered better risk-adjusted returns with lowervolatility than a purely domestic portfolio. Simply put, global diversification has helped investor’scompound wealth more efficiently without taking proportionately higher risk.What was once difficult is now far more accessible. Recent policy reforms have made globalinvesting practical for Indian households. These include the development of GIFT City as a tax-efficient hub, easier rules under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, lower long-term capital gainstax on global investments, and clearer regulations for overseas investing structures both for Indianindividuals and body corporates. Together, these changes have removed many earlier cost, tax, and operational barriers making Gift City the most preferred route for Indians to invest globally.
