Launch HN: Inri (YC W23) – Wealthfront for Investing in India

But US Canada investors are not entertained by Indian mutual fund houses right?

Yes, not every fund house serves US / Canada residents and there are nuances in terms of which funds allow digital onboarding. But even after accounting for those rules, there are enough good performing funds available, which we have curated for the offering

A few comments and advice on investing in India.

The target audience for this would know this, but it's useful to be reminded. INR (Indian Rupee) depreciates on average about 4% each year against USD (US Dollar). When you look at the gains from investments in India in USD terms, it would be lower due to the continuously weakening currency. As an emerging market and one with a still-developing stock market, the returns could be comparatively a lot higher along with volatility.

People in India who "invest" ("gamble" may be a better term) in the stock market are used to larger double digit returns and chase "multi baggers" (check some financial publications in India and you'll find many headlines about multi baggers). This makes the same bunch beat a retreat at the first sign of a downturn.

Tax laws in India are getting more complex and onerous (because the government believes everyone to be a tax evader unless proven otherwise), and it seems like the government wants to slow down the outflow of money from the country while getting a larger slice in advance. Though the government wants to attract non-resident Indians to invest (they've historically sent a lot of money into the country), it's also reluctant to provide an attractive taxation and tax compliance experience. If you choose to invest through this or any other platform, keep an eye on the changing tax laws so that you can exit before things suddenly become painful with very little notice. As an example, though the union budget with tax changes was presented in the beginning of February in the parliament, the government made a slew of changes that impact whole classes of mutual funds just a few days ago with no discussion in parliament and passed all of those (because the ruling party has a majority).

A few comments on this

1. Yes it's true that INR has depreciated vs $. But all of that depreciation has been coming in the zero interest regime we have been in the last decade. If you see the previous decade, INR was flat vs $ and NIFTY also grew more than S&P500. Point here is to say that there are financial cycles and the next cycle is likely going to be different (because of higher interest rates at least in the medium term) than the last one. Additionally, higher interest rates also makes US equities less attractive than what they were in the last decade, and India is likely to be among the fastest growing economies in the next decade so a good bet for diversification for 5-10% of your wealth.

2. Can you elaborate on tax laws becoming more onerous for NRIs? The Feb law change doesnt affect NRIs remitting money outside, so dont think is relevant in this case.

First thought that entered my head as well.

And it really is "the West" (not just US), since the original phrase is Latin.