Dedicated NRI model
LGT
Liechtenstein's princely bank built a fast-growing India onshore franchise, then wired it offshore via GIFT City.
Dedicated NRI team
—
Strategy tenure
India onshore since Sep 2022 (Validus stake 2019)
India onshore arc
Onshore active
Hubs
India onshore, GIFT City, Singapore, Dubai
LGT, the private bank owned by Liechtenstein's Princely House, runs a hybrid India model rather than a pure offshore NRI desk: an onshore private-wealth franchise (LGT Wealth India, built on the 2019 majority acquisition of Atul Singh's Validus Wealth and relaunched onshore in September 2022) wired to LGT's offshore booking centres through a GIFT City IFSC branch. The onshore book scaled rapidly — AUM jumped 65% to $2.4bn in calendar 2023 (Asian Private Banker separately reported 'over 75%'), driven partly by an ex-Credit Suisse investment team's discretionary-portfolio push — and in August 2025 LGT Wealth India lifted out seven Barclays Private Bank managing directors targeting 'Global Indian families' and the India-UK / India-Singapore corridors. Cross-border is run by MD International Business Nikhil Advani (himself ex-Bank of Singapore), and the GIFT City branch serves NRIs and international investors (a USD-denominated India equity fund) while routing resident Indians into global markets via the LRS. Group AUM was CHF 386.1 billion at year-end 2025.
Why it matters
LGT is the quiet structural winner among foreign banks chasing Indian wealth: it bought its way onshore (Validus, 2019), scaled rapidly ($2.4bn / +65% in 2023), and — distinctively — wired that onshore franchise to offshore booking centres through a GIFT City IFSC branch, so a resident Indian and an NRI can be served on the same rails. Its August 2025 seven-MD raid on Barclays, aimed squarely at Global Indian families and the India-UK/India-Singapore corridors, made it both disruptor and talent magnet a full year before Barclays' louder 'wealthiest 1%' declaration. The model's ceiling is that LGT's NRI reach is embedded in a GIFT-City cross-border unit and product set, not a multi-hub offshore NRI desk of the kind Julius Baer and UBS run.
By the numbers
CHF 386.1bn
LGT Group assets under management at year-end 2025, up 5%
LGT full-year 2025 results (lgtindia.in) · Dec 2025
$2.4bn (+65%, CY2023)
LGT Wealth India AUM after a 65% jump in calendar 2023 (Asian Private Banker separately reported 'over 75%' — see dropped_claims); onshore, resident + NRI
Citywire Asia (preview/standfirst text; body paywalled) · Dec 2023
200+ staff / 14 cities
LGT Wealth India onshore footprint (per Citywire)
Citywire Asia (preview text; body paywalled) · Mar 2024 · self-reported
USD 250,000/yr
LRS cap that LGT Wealth India's GIFT City (IFSCA-regulated) branch uses to route resident Indians into global investing, alongside NRI/international access to India via the USD-denominated LGT India Equity Opportunity (IFSC) Fund
LGT Wealth India — International Business page · Aug 2026 · self-reported
The journey
LGT Wealth India appoints Harsh Agarwal as CIO, Equities
LGT Wealth India named Harsh Agarwal Chief Investment Officer, Equities — continued investment in the onshore investment engine that drove the franchise's growth.
LGT reports record FY2025: group AUM CHF 386.1bn, 'strongest operating result in LGT's history'
LGT Group's full-year 2025 results showed assets under management of CHF 386.1 billion (up 5%), organic net new assets of CHF 11.4 billion (3.1% growth), and group profit up 25% to CHF 445.6 million — 'the strongest operating result in LGT's history' — on a stable base of 5,891 FTEs.
LGT Wealth India lifts out seven managing directors from Barclays Private Bank
In one move (announced 29 Aug 2025; reported by WealthBriefing 9 Sep 2025), LGT Wealth India appointed seven senior professionals from Barclays Private Bank. Delhi: Sunit Jain (co-head, client coverage), Anirudh Chowdhry ('an expert on global Indian families'), Harpreet Sawhney (corporate and private banking solutions to large UHNW families), Manisha Saxena ('boost links between India and Singapore'). Mumbai: Rakesh Kripalani (co-head, client coverage), Farzana Irani (private markets and credit), Vishal Khetan ('cross-border client relationships, especially along the India–UK and global corridors'). The raid came days after Barclays abolished its Asia regional-head role and a year before Barclays' public 'wealthiest 1%' India push.
LGT Wealth India company news, 29 Aug 2025 · WealthBriefing, 9 Sep 2025
LGT Wealth India hires Poonam Mirchandani to build wealth planning & family solutions
LGT Wealth India appointed Poonam Mirchandani Managing Director for its wealth planning and family solutions division, based in Mumbai. Her brief was to 'expand its offerings in succession and estate planning' and to help with 'wealth management, global mobility, and philanthropy' — the family-office and cross-border-mobility capability that serves Global Indian families as LGT built out its onshore-to-offshore model.
LGT Wealth India registers a GIFT City IFSC branch — wiring the onshore franchise to offshore rails
LGT Wealth India's IFSC Branch at GIFT City, Gandhinagar was registered with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) as a Fund Management Entity (Non-Retail) on 18 August 2023 (registration no. IFSCA/FME/II/2023-24/074), and later took a Portfolio Management Services registration (INP000008376) dated 23 November 2023. Linked to LGT (Singapore) Ltd for its IFSC-branch platform access, this is the offshore-onshore bridge in LGT's India model — the structural feature (a resident Indian served via the LRS and an NRI/international investor via a USD-denominated India fund, on the same rails) that distinguishes it from a pure offshore NRI desk.
LGT Wealth India launches onshore operations (Validus rebrand)
Three years after the Validus stake, LGT rebranded and launched LGT Wealth India as its onshore private-client platform in September 2022, the base from which the resident + NRI cross-border model would be built.
LGT takes a controlling majority stake in Mumbai wealth manager Validus Wealth
LGT acquired a controlling majority stake in Validus Wealth (financial terms undisclosed), gaining a foothold in India's HNW market. Validus — led by founder-CEO Atul Singh, 'who has decades of experience in India's private banking and financial market' — had more than 150 staff and a presence in nine cities including Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. LGT committed to develop it into 'a full service, next generation private client platform in India'.
Connections
9 sources · all linked
LGT full-year 2025 results, 24 Mar 2026 · Citywire Asia (preview text; body paywalled) · LGT Wealth India — International Business page · LGT Wealth India media page · LGT Wealth India company news, 29 Aug 2025 · WealthBriefing, 9 Sep 2025 · WealthBriefing · LGT Wealth India (IFSC Branch) Disclosure Document · LGT media release, 27 Jun 2019