On this page
- 01Sample and method
- 02Where the sample lives
- 03The goals the sample plans for
- 04How long clients stay invested
- 05Monthly SIP values in the sample
- 06Age distribution
- 07Where service effort actually goes
- 08How often the relationship is reviewed
- 09What the data does and does not show
- 10In clients’ own words
- 11Where to go next
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Sample and method
- Sample: 898 long-term FinEdge NRI clients.
- Source period: FinEdge NRI client study, published 11 August 2025. Figures on this page are from that study and have not been restated to a later date.
- Scope: goals recorded in the FinEdge planning system, investment tenure, monthly SIP values, age distribution, recorded service requests and client-engagement records for the sample.
- Boundary: this is a dated first-party research sample. It is distinct from FinEdge’s current company-wide client and country totals.
Geography
Where the sample lives
Within the sample, the United States accounted for the largest share of clients at 21%, followed by the UAE at 12%, the United Kingdom at 11% and Canada at 8%. Qatar accounted for 3%; Germany, Singapore and Australia together accounted for about 16%. The remaining 29% sat in a long tail of other countries. FinEdge serves clients across 90+ countries.
Goals
The goals the sample plans for
The sample recorded 1,932 goals. Percentages below are calculated on that total.
| Goal type | Number of goals | Share of goals | Target amount (₹ crore) | Average goal size — NRI sample (₹ crore) | Average goal size — resident comparison (₹ crore) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children’s education | 565 | 29% | 461 | 0.82 | 0.52 |
| Retirement | 517 | 27% | 3,228 | 6.24 | 3.64 |
| Wealth creation | 206 | 11% | 302 | 1.47 | 0.72 |
| Home purchase | 178 | 9% | 136 | 0.76 | 0.51 |
| Children’s marriage | 161 | 8% | 101 | 0.63 | 0.58 |
| Emergency fund | 129 | 7% | 18 | 0.14 | 0.10 |
| Loan prepayment | 92 | 5% | 18 | 0.19 | 0.13 |
| Holiday planning | 58 | 3% | 3 | 0.05 | 0.06 |
| Car purchase | 26 | 1% | 2 | 0.07 | 0.08 |
| Total | 1,932 | 100% | 4,269 | — | — |
Correction note: an earlier version of this article displayed a goal total of 1,941. The goal counts shown above sum to 1,932, and the percentage shares have been recalculated on that figure. Goal target amounts sum to ₹4,269 crore for the sample.
Children’s education and retirement together account for about 56% of goals in the sample. Average goal sizes in the sample are larger than in the resident-Indian comparison set, most visibly for retirement at ₹6.24 crore against ₹3.64 crore. Larger goal values reflect the cost of the future lifestyle being planned for; they are not evidence of better outcomes.
Tenure
How long clients stay invested
Within the sample, over 75% of NRI clients had remained invested for five years or more, and 65% for seven years or more. In the resident-Indian comparison set, 68% had remained invested for five years or more and 57% for seven years or more. These periods span significant market volatility, including the COVID drawdown and subsequent global events.
This is a tenure observation within FinEdge’s client base. It reflects how these particular relationships were structured and reviewed; it is not proof that NRIs generally are more disciplined investors.
Monthly SIP values in the sample
The average monthly SIP for NRI clients in the sample was ₹6,486. For resident-Indian clients in the comparison set it was ₹4,093. The difference is consistent with a larger investible surplus among the sampled NRI clients; the study does not measure why individual contribution levels differ, and a higher SIP value by itself does not demonstrate better investing behaviour.
Age distribution
| Age group | NRI sample | Resident comparison |
|---|---|---|
| 21–30 | 7% | 11% |
| 31–45 | 74% | 62% |
| 46–55 | 15% | 17% |
| 56 and above | 4% | 10% |
Almost three-quarters of the sampled NRI clients were aged 31–45: mid-career investors planning for goals still a decade or more away. Participation at both ends of the range was lower than in the resident comparison set.
Servicing
Where service effort actually goes
Cross-border investing carries an administrative load: KYC validation, PAN and Aadhaar linking, nomination updates, FATCA declarations, tax-status changes, two-factor authentication on redemptions and periodic account updates. The study classified the recorded service requests from the sampled clients as follows.
| Category | Recorded requests | Share of recorded requests |
|---|---|---|
| Service essentials / KYC assistance (KYC updates, bank changes in folios, account statements, ARN transfers) | 2,072 | 72% |
| Transaction support (ECS bounces, goal mapping, rejected transactions, redemption issues) | 491 | 17% |
| Personal detail updates (mobile, email, address) | 143 | 5% |
| Tax status change and updation (FATCA, RI to NRI, AMC tax-status updates) | 116 | 4% |
| Nominee updates | 57 | 2% |
Denominator note: 72% refers to the share of recorded NRI service requests in the study dataset that were classified as service essentials or KYC assistance. It is not a share of clients, and it does not measure the proportion of the relationship spent on investment review.
The practical reading is that operational continuity is a substantial part of an NRI investing relationship — alongside investment review, not instead of it. A portfolio that cannot be transacted or serviced from abroad is a planning problem, not merely an administrative one.
Engagement
How often the relationship is reviewed
- Average virtual meetings per year with NRI clients in the sample: 5.4
- Average duration of those meetings: 32 minutes
- Average portfolio reviews per year per NRI client: 1.9
These are dated first-party operating figures from the 2025 study for the sampled clients, on the definitions used in that study. They should not be extrapolated to all current FinEdge NRI clients.
Boundaries
What the data does and does not show
- NRI investment relationships are operational as well as investment-related; maintaining records and transaction readiness is part of continuity.
- Long client tenure makes review quality and investor behaviour more important than repeated product activity.
- Retirement and education were the dominant goals in this sample; that is sample evidence, not a universal diaspora profile.
- The data supports FinEdge’s bionic model: digital access matters, but named human engagement and recurring review remain visible in the relationship.
- The study does not measure investment returns, and nothing here should be read as an indication of typical or expected outcomes.
In clients’ own words
These are verbatim excerpts from public reviews written by FinEdge clients investing from outside India. They describe those clients’ own experience and are not a promise of any particular outcome.
“While for the first 6 yrs I had been in India and experienced prompt responses all the time but last one year that I have been working from Bangkok has been even better. Long distance never seemed any barrier at all. Infact I was more than happy with speed of the responses and quality of the conversations.”
Vaibhav Pandey — Bangkok, Thailand
“The company FinEdge is a very-very reliable and trustworthy company, its platform and services are well explained by its team, I joined them totally new, and after 7 to 8 years with them, no regrets.”
Danny Raymond Bonwaity — Paris, France
“Great experience so far. FinEdge created a good portfolio for me and it has given very good returns. Off course I had to stay invested. They also keep reviewing the portfolio on a regular basis and advise.”
Hemant Shrivastav — Zurich, Switzerland
FinEdge has 2,000+ client reviews on Google with a 4.7 rating.
Where to go next
- For the complete India-investing framework — NRI Investing in India
- For the recurring problems this data reflects — NRI investing problems and a better process
- For an existing scattered portfolio — NRI Portfolio Review
- For retirement in India — NRI retirement planning
Copyright: this study is the intellectual property of FinEdge. It may be cited for non-commercial purposes or media coverage provided full and clear credit is given and the source is cited as the FinEdge NRI Investors Study.