Asia’s Richest Man and BlackRock CEO Why Indians Should Choose Equity Over Gold

Blackrock CEO Larry Fink and Reliance Industries President Mukesh Ambani feels that Indians should invest in the country’s equity market instead of gold.

The advisory comes at a time when the yellow metal is witnessing increased volatility, while Indian stocks are underperforming. Nifty 50 Down about 2% so far this year.

A large chunk of domestic savings in gold and silver is “unproductive,” Ambani said during a fireside chat with Fink on Wednesday, adding that “money in the stock market is compounding.”

Reliance Industries – India’s largest conglomerate – and BlackRock – the world’s largest asset manager – partnered to launch mutual funds in India last year.

Jio BlackRock Asset Management brought out It launched its first equity fund in August last year and by the end of December, its equity funds had 31.98 billion rupees ($353 million) in assets under management.

This includes Indians Leading Gold buyers in the world, however, are seen increasing in the country Financialization Savings, along with the popularity of mutual funds.

Global consultancy firm Bain & Company has forecast the retail investor-driven assets of the Indian mutual fund industry to grow from 45 trillion rupees in fiscal 2025 to 300 trillion rupees ($3.3 trillion) by 2035.

Indians still hold most of their assets in gold and real estate – nearly 59% of the allocation in FY 2025, according to Bain’s report. In FY 2015, the share of physical assets was 66%.

At the event, Fink said the next 20-25 years will be the “era of India” and Indians need to invest in their country’s growth through capital markets.

According to the International Monetary Fund, India is expected to remain the fastest growing economy in the world, putting its growth rate at 6.4% in 2026. In contrast, the IMF projects the global economy to grow by 3.3% in 2026. Major economies such as Germany, UK and Japan are likely to see single digit growth.

Fink also shared that based on BlackRock’s experience in the US, the segment of the population invested in US growth is “much better than those who put all their money in a bank account”.

“The Indian equity market will double and triple and quadruple in the next 20 years,” Fink told India’s Economic Times in a separate interview, adding that “gold doesn’t seem to be moving that way.”

While foreign investors have been net sellers of Indian equities for over a year, the market has remained in positive territory due to rising domestic participation in Indian equities.

Investing through systematic investment schemes, which refers to investing bite-sized amounts at regular intervals, triple From 2021 to 2.89 trillion rupees ($31.9 billion) in fiscal 2025, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India shows.

Over the past one year, the MSCI India Index’s dollar return has been 2.61%, which pales in comparison to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index’s 43.67%. However, over the past 5 years, the India index has returned nearly double the broader emerging market index.