Why Asia’s richest man and BlackRock CEO want Indians to pick equities over gold
BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink speaks during an interview with CNBC at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on January 15, 2026 in New York City, USA.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Black Rock CEO Larry Fink and Trust Industries President Mukesh Ambani wants Indians to invest in the country’s equity markets instead of gold.
This advice comes at a time when the yellow metal is witnessing high volatility and Indian stocks are underperforming. Stylish 50 It’s down almost 2% so far this year.
During his fireside chat with Fink on Wednesday, Ambani said the bulk of domestic gold and silver savings were “unproductive”, adding that “money is consolidating in the stock market”.
India’s largest conglomerate Reliance Industries and the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock partnered to launch investment funds in India last year.
Jio BlackRock Asset Management rolled It set up its first equity fund in August last year and had assets under management of 31.98 billion rupees ($353 million) across its equity funds as of the end of December.
Indians are among the world’s leading buyers of gold, but savings appear to be increasingly financialised, with mutual funds growing in popularity in the country.
Nifty 50 returns so far this year
Global consultancy firm Bain & Company estimates that retail investor-focused assets of the Indian mutual fund industry will grow to 300 trillion rupees ($3.3 trillion) by 2035, from 45 trillion rupees in fiscal 2025.
According to a report by Bain, Indians still allocate most of their assets to gold and real estate; In fiscal year 2025, this accounts for approximately 59%. The share of physical assets was 66% in fiscal year 2015.
Speaking at the event, Fink said that the next 20-25 years will be the “India era” and that Indians should invest in the growth of their country through capital markets.
According to the International Monetary Fund, India is expected to remain the world’s fastest growing economy. India pegged its growth at 6.4% in 2026. In contrast, the IMF predicts that the world economy will grow by 3.3% in 2026. Major economies such as Germany, the UK and Japan are expected to show low single-digit growth rates.
Fink also shared that, based on BlackRock’s experience in the US, the segment of the population that is invested in America’s growth is “much better off than the segment that keeps all their money in a bank account.”
“The Indian equity market is going to double, triple, quadruple in the next 20 years,” Fink told India’s The Economic Times in a separate interview, adding that he didn’t see “gold moving that way.”
While foreign investors have been net sellers of Indian equities for over a year, increased domestic participation in Indian equities has kept markets in positive territory.
Investing through systematic investment plans that involve investing small amounts at regular intervals, tripled From 2021, it will reach 2.89 trillion rupees ($31.9 billion) in fiscal 2025, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India.
The 2.61% dollar return of the MSCI India Index in the last year paled in comparison to the 43.67% of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. However, in the last 5-year period, the Indian index has provided almost twice the return of the emerging market index.
