The rich in India do not reveal much. About 3.2 lakh people proudly disclose incomes above Rs 1 crore, according to data from IT returns filed each year. However, if you listen to interviews with top executives at luxury car companies, they would say there are more than 8.3 lakh households with a net worth exceeding Rs 9 crore. Their excitement about their booming sales in India is not hidden. Yet, in a country of 150 crore people, that is still a small number.
This influence extends beyond consumption; the financial behaviour of the rich serves as an inspiration for ordinary people. Many look up to their lifestyle and work towards their own dreams and aspirations. The desire to succeed prompts everyone to seek opportunities to increase income.
You can learn a lot from the way the rich manage their wealth: they focus on protecting, rather than rapidly growing, their assets. Many with generational or new wealth make preservation their main priority.
One clear example is the mutual fund industry, which today manages a significant amount. Nearly two-thirds of those assets are in equity, mainly sourced from salaried workers and those with regular incomes. So, a natural way to understand how smart managers handle money is to examine the mutual fund industry’s asset allocation. However, this allocation depends on the mutual fund scheme's mandate. Mutual fund managers cannot allocate money meant for equity investing to debt funds unless the fund is a multi-asset or hybrid fund.
Going beyond mutual funds, a good indicator of asset allocation is the money under management of those offering portfolio management services. These are financial intermediaries managing money on behalf of the rich. The minimum ticket size is usually Rs 50 lakh, although Sebi has now allowed smaller contributions. Stockbrokers, mutual funds, banks, and other professional wealth managers have set up separate companies to collectively manage Rs 42.2 lakh crore through portfolio management services, according to data from an industry association of portfolio managers. More than Rs 35 lakh rupees is a discretionary investment where the portfolio manager determines the asset allocation. As of April 2026, nearly 84% of that money is in debt instruments, and about 11% is in equity assets, according to the data.
