Future-ready stocks: These businesses don't trade on Indian exchanges—here's what investors are missing

From Instagram to Amazon Fresh and Google Maps, Indian consumers interact with several global businesses every day. Yet these companies cannot be bought on Indian stock exchanges.

A latest DSP Gift City report titled ‘The Other 97%’ mentioned that this is an important blind spot for Indian investors who limit their portfolios entirely to domestic equities.

“Using the world's best businesses every day, while owning none of them, is the most common missed opportunity in Indian portfolios,” the report noted.

How is India only a small part of the global market?

According to the report, India accounts for roughly 3% of global stock markets, while the US makes up nearly 64% of the MSCI All Country World Index. The remaining markets account for about 33% of the world's total market capitalisation.

That means an investor who invests only in Indian equities is accessing just a fraction of the global opportunity set.

“When your portfolio is entirely Indian, you are not holding the market. You are holding the thin orange sliver and ignoring everything else,” the report mentioned.

What are Indian investors missing?

According to the report, some of the defining businesses of the next few decades don't trade on Indian exchanges.

One major gap is in semiconductors and AI hardware. Companies such as Nvidia, AMD, TSMC and Samsung give investors direct exposure to businesses at the centre of the global chip ecosystem, while India's listed market does not currently offer direct equivalents at that scale.

The same applies to global technology platforms. Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon operate businesses for which there are no direct listed Indian equivalents.

Other examples include BYD, Novo Nordisk, Hermes, Visa and Mastercard.

Should investors simply chase the best-performing country?

Not necessarily. “The biggest market and the best-performing one are rarely the same,” the report mentioned.

In 2025, Korean equities delivered about 100% returns in US-dollar terms, compared with roughly 3% for Indian equities.

“A year or two earlier, the order of returns looked nothing like that. The United States, despite holding nearly 64% of the world's market value, often sits well below the top of this table,” the report mentioned.

This highlights the risk of chasing recent winners. “No country stays on top forever, and no one can tell you in advance which one will lead next,” the report noted.

Why should you invest beyond India?

As the report puts it, you earn and save in rupees, but some of your biggest future expenses may be in dollars, pounds or euros—whether it is your child’s overseas education, buying a home abroad or spending your retirement years overseas.

A four-year US degree costs about ₹1.76 crore today. For a child currently in Class 8, that could rise significantly by the time college begins, due to both rising education costs and currency depreciation.

The rupee has historically depreciated against the dollar by around 3–4% a year. Owning overseas assets can provide both global business exposure and a natural currency hedge. When the rupee weakens, foreign assets can rise in rupee terms.

As the report puts it: “If the future you are saving for is global, part of your portfolio should be too.”

How can Indian investors access global markets?

Indian residents can use the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) to remit up to $250,000 per financial year for permitted current or capital account transactions, including overseas investments.

The report highlights GIFT City as a route through which investors can access global markets from within a regulated Indian financial centre. “LRS is the highway while GIFT City is the vehicle,” the report noted.

Disclaimer: This is purely for educational/informational purposes and should not be taken as any sort of investment advice. Always consult a SEBI-registered advisor before making any investment decisions.