Investment apps offer integrated platforms for global, local stocks

With the US stock markets outperforming Indian indices in 2020, online investing platforms are increasingly offering integrated platforms for both domestic and foreign stocks. The Nasdaq, for instance, has delivered a one-year return of 60% in rupee terms.

Kuvera, which offers mutual funds and services such as stock broking, announced a partnership with Vested, a US SEC registered financial adviser, to offer an integrated platform on its app. Similarly, Cube Wealth and Stockal, a global investing platform, formed a partnership in November 2019.

With 750,000 users investing ₹14,000 crore through its platform, the Kuvera tie-up can fast-track the trend of Indian investors taking to overseas markets. To be sure, niche players, such as US brokerage Interactive Brokers, offer a similar platform.

“Drive Wealth, a US brokerage, which has tied up with Vested, does the KYC for a US brokerage account, but it is all done within the Kuvera app. Vested offers advice on international stocks. Post KYC (know your customer), they can trade in US stocks on Kuvera. Users can also import their existing Vested portfolios into Kuvera and see Indian and foreign holdings on a single platform,” said Kuvera CEO Gaurav Rastogi.

Kuvera has witnessed major growth in assets under management from ₹6,500 crore at the start of 2020 to ₹14,000 crore in August. A majority of this was invested in international funds offered by Indian mutual fund houses. PPFAS Long Term Equity, which invests up to 35% of its assets in global stocks, is the most popular scheme on the Kuvera app.

Vested charges ₹399 for opening an account but does not levy any brokerage charges. Users opting for its advisory services have to pay a one-time fee of $3 and 0.5% of annual investments in pre-designed portfolios, called Vests. However, investors of global stocks also have to bear currency conversion charges levied by banks.

Last November, Stockal, another global investing platform, had tied up with Cube Wealth, an Indian fintech player offering MFs and alternative assets. Sitashwa Srivastava, chief executive of Stockal, said the firm was in discussions for similar partnerships. Stockal also has a tie-up with HDFC Securities and Motilal Oswal Financial Services for international stocks.