Abhishek Dubey, 34, has an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and is working as Senior Marketing Manager at Johnson and Johnson Consumer, Singapore. His wife is also an IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus and the couple have two young kids.

Dubey says he strongly believes in the India growth story. “Almost 80 per cent of my investments are in India with only enough liquidity to cover the cost of living and exigencies here in Singapore. The interest rates in developed markets are low. It doesn’t make sense to have your investments outside India in fixed deposits,” he reasons.

He invests in a mix of liquid assets such as mutual funds, FMPs and blue chip stocks in India. He has also invested in an under-construction property from a reputed builder in the Greater Mumbai area, purely from the asset appreciation perspective. He insists that one must keep track of the progress in construction and also visit the property whenever one travels to India.

Dubey has a financial advisor from the bank, but says he does his own due diligence. “Your investments are a function of your current financial situation and goals. So, don’t be swayed by the advice of friends and well wishers,” he cautions.

He says that technology has been a great enabler for him in handling long-distance investments. “I am able to track, manage and make changes to my investments when needed with just a click of the mouse,” he says with a smile.

Still, since repatriating investments from India is not always easy, it is important to think about where and when your investments would be needed before deciding on how much to invest in India, he advises.

Meera Siva
This article was published on August 2, 2015, in BusinessLine (The Hindu)