India is just 4% of world market: investors need global exposure

Viram Shah, co-founder and chief executive officer, Vested Finance, and Vaibhav Shah, head of products, business strategy, and international business, Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India), explained how investors can diversify abroad despite overseas investing limits in mutual funds, which have limited overseas investment options for investors at the Mint Money Festival 2026.

- Jash Kriplani

Viram Shah, co-founder and CEO, Vested Finance, and Vaibhav Shah, head of business strategy, Mirae Asset Investment.

Why invest overseas

“Weare all Indians, and we love India. But when it comes to investing, we need to be dispassionate. India accounts for roughly 4% of global market capitalization. That means 96% of investment opportunities lie outside India. Yet most portfolios here are overwhelmingly domestic,” said Shah of Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India).

Global diversification is not abet against India but arecognition of how markets rotate. “There will be phases when Japan outperforms, when Korea outperforms, when the US leads, and when India leads,” he said. “No single market dominates forever.”

Citing South Korea’s recent surge after years ofunderperformance as example of how quickly leadership can change, Shah said: “Very few people would have predicted that kind of turnaround.”

He added that as Indians increasingly spend on overseas education, travel, and healthcare, it makes sense to hold a portion of their investments in dollar-denominated assets. “Global investing also offers currency diversification. If you invest in global markets, not only do you get the upside of global equities, but you also get the upside of currency if it were to depreciate.”