Beyond India: A Simple Approach to Global Investing

India at the Core. The World in Your Portfolio.

For an Indian investor, investing globally is no longer just about buying US stocks. It is about building a portfolio that participates in global growth while reducing dependence on a single country, currency and economy.

India can remain the core of your portfolio. But adding international global index investments can give you access to companies, sectors and economies that are not available in the Indian market.

A simple way to start is to build around a, and then add selective allocations to US technology, US non-technology, emerging markets and gold.

Start with a World Index – ACWI

The simplest starting point is a global index such as iShares MSCI ACWI ETF – ACWI. MSCI ACWI covers large- and mid-cap companies across developed and emerging markets and represents approximately most part of the global investable equity opportunity set.

ACWI is an excellent one-fund global equity option, but investors should understand that “global” does not mean “equal across countries.” It has a high U.S. allocation, so it is still substantially driven by U.S. stocks and especially large U.S. tech and hyperscaler companies which are top of valuations.

Think of ACWI as: “I don’t know which country will win over the next 10–20 years, so I want to own the world.” This can form the core of your global portfolio.

Add Emerging Markets – IEMG

If you want a separate allocation to emerging markets, IEMG (iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF) is one option. It invests across large-, mid- and small-cap companies in countries such as China, Taiwan, India, South Korea, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, providing exposure to the growth potential of emerging economies. However, emerging markets can be more volatile and are exposed to currency, political, regulatory and economic risks.

Countries such as China can also carry additional geopolitical and policy risks. Most importantly, emerging markets can underperform developed markets for many years but at current time, its valuations are in comfort zone and can be bought, so IEMG should be viewed as a diversification tool rather than a guaranteed source of higher returns.

IEMG gives excellent emerging-market diversification, but today it is not a pure “India + China + emerging economies” bet. A significant portion is effectively a Taiwan/Korea semiconductor and AI exposure, so investors should be comfortable with the higher valuation and volatility risk.

Invest Outside the US – ACWX

Many Indian investors already have a natural bias towards the US, so ACWX – iShares MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. ETF can help diversify that exposure by investing across developed and emerging markets outside the United States. It provides exposure to markets such as Japan, Europe, Canada, Australia and emerging economies without requiring investors to pick individual countries.

This can reduce dependence on the US market and add broader geographic diversification. US + ACWX can therefore provide a simple way to build a more globally diversified equity portfolio. However, ACWX can also be affected by currency movements, geopolitical risks and periods of underperformance in international markets.

US Exposure – Technology + Non-Technology

After building a global portfolio, investors may still want additional US exposure, but it is important to balance technology with the rest of the US market.

QQQ (Invesco QQQ Trust) can provide a deliberate bet on US technology, AI and innovation, but valuations in parts of the technology sector are high, so concentrating too much in QQQ can increase downside risk. At the same time, completely avoiding US technology may not be practical because many of the world’s leading and most profitable companies are in this sector.

RSP (Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF) can complement QQQ by giving more balanced exposure across the S&P 500, rather than allowing the largest companies to dominate the portfolio. This also provides greater exposure to US non-tech sectors such as financials, healthcare, industrials, consumer companies and energy, where valuations can be more reasonable.

The objective is therefore not to avoid technology, but to combine QQQ + RSP to balance high-growth technology exposure with broader, more diversified US exposure.

Add Gold – GLD

Global diversification does not have to mean investing only in equities. GLD (SPDR Gold Shares) provides exposure to the price of gold rather than gold-mining companies, making it a useful diversifier for an equity-heavy portfolio.

For Indian investors, gold can provide a return source that behaves differently from stocks and may be helpful during periods of inflation, geopolitical tensions, currency weakness or market uncertainty. Gold can also provide some protection when equity markets are under pressure. However, gold does not generate earnings, dividends or interest, so it should generally be viewed as a portfolio diversifier and risk-balancing asset, rather than the main engine of long-term growth.

A Simple Global Portfolio

For an investor who wants to start global investing without making the portfolio unnecessarily complicated, the following framework can be a useful starting point. It combines a global core, broad US exposure, a technology tilt, international markets, emerging markets and gold.

Important: This is not a universal or personalized recommended allocation. The appropriate mix will depend on factors such as your existing Indian equity exposure, risk tolerance, age, investment goals, time horizon and currency needs. The objective is to create a diversified global portfolio without taking excessive exposure to any one country, sector or asset class.

Robins Joseph, CFP®
Founder – MyGuide2Wealth
SEBI RIA