India's wealth landscape is undergoing a structural transformation with the next wave of millionaires emerging from Tier II and Tier III cities, according to Sandeep Das, MD & CEO of Centrum Wealth. As reported by ETMarkets, the pace at which clients are getting wealthier has doubled over the last two to three years, extending beyond the six metros into smaller cities. This trend represents a significant shift from traditional wealth concentration, with clients moving from affluent to high-net-worth status and high-net-worth to ultra-high-net-worth categories both doubling. The wealth creation is driven by highly educated professionals in smaller towns who travel frequently to metros and maintain businesses in their hometowns.
The wealth management industry is witnessing a significant rise in family offices, growing from around 300 to a much larger number over the past two years. As reported by ETMarkets, these include both single-family and multi-family offices bringing stronger corporate governance, investment policies, and structured wealth management approaches. Additionally, cross-border wealth is increasing significantly with NRIs returning to India due to growth in Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and resident Indian clients diversifying wealth through the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). The trend shows NRIs leading cross-border lives, moving between NRI and resident Indian status depending on projects, while managing finances of NRIs requires complex tax filing across multiple jurisdictions.
Technology and AI are rapidly transforming wealth management operations, with Centrum Wealth migrating to Wealth Spectrum as their core technology platform and implementing AI initiatives within regulatory frameworks. According to ETMarkets, AI is used extensively to reduce administrative workload, complete portfolio construction tasks in less than a day that previously took 14 days, and improve efficiency across operations. The firm has trained Relationship Managers through AI-powered insights and uses Salesforce as a comprehensive client information repository to enhance personalized client engagement. However, AI should always be used as a co-pilot rather than the decision-maker, with portfolio decisions remaining with the team supporting Relationship Managers.
Wealth managers now deal with three distinct client cohorts: traditional first-generation clients, new wealth segments of IIT graduates and startup entrepreneurs, and cross-border clients including NRIs. As reported by ETMarkets, the firm addresses behavioral biases through structured training programs covering recency, confirmation, and concentration biases over three-month cycles. Personalization extends beyond portfolios to client engagement, with AI providing comprehensive information about clients' interests, affiliations, and broader circles of influence. The firm maintains 12-plus years of longevity, steady growth, and profitability to build trust-based relationships that prioritize IQ and EQ over product-led approaches.
Alternative investments have evolved from niche products to core strategic allocations, with private credit and private equity becoming important portfolio components due to their inverse correlation with listed equities. According to ETMarkets, clients should maintain 5-7% portfolio allocation to gold and silver rather than waiting for price corrections. Global diversification is essential with clients maintaining exposure to both emerging markets like Korea and developed markets such as the US. The firm helps clients explore GIFT City structures and offshore mutual funds while emphasizing regular investment discipline within regulatory limits rather than waiting until March end to utilize annual limits.
