India's HNI Boom: How Much Wealth is Still Untapped?
India's HNI Boom: How Much Wealth is Still Untapped?
Jul 16, 2025
India’s high-net-worth individual (HNI) population is growing at a historic pace. While the headlines often focus on visible billionaires and unicorn founders, there’s a much bigger — and less visible — wealth wave building beneath the surface.
According to the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2024, India is projected to have over 1.6 million millionaires by 2027, with a 58% growth in ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNIs). But how much of this wealth is truly visible to advisors, and how much remains untapped?
The Hidden Middle Layer: Affluent but Under-the-Radar
While the top 1% are well-documented, a large layer of rising professionals, startup employees, regional industrialists, and second-generation family business leaders remain largely off the radar.
Key data points:
Nearly 50% of India’s new HNIs emerge from mid-market enterprises and non-metro cities.
Over ₹4 lakh crore in personal equity value is held by startup employees through ESOPs and private shareholdings (Bain & Company, 2024).
Regional business families often have significant private holdings, real estate, and cash positions yet to be professionally managed.
Unmonetized Equity: A Sleeping Giant
Equity holdings in private companies represent a huge pool of future liquidity events.
Examples:
Early-stage startup employees holding pre-IPO shares.
Founders awaiting strategic exits or partial buyouts.
Family businesses preparing for succession or stake sales.
These segments often only come to light during major liquidity events like IPOs, M&As, or large secondary transactions — moments when wealth managers and private banks scramble to engage.
Real Estate & Traditional Assets: Under-Optimized
India’s affluent class traditionally holds a large share of wealth in illiquid assets:
Real estate continues to represent more than 40% of HNI portfolios, much of it under-leveraged or under-diversified.
Physical gold remains a cultural and emotional stronghold but lacks optimization in terms of monetization or strategic hedging.
The Role of Regional Entrepreneurs
The rapid rise of HNIs isn’t just an urban metro story. Cities like Surat, Jaipur, Kochi, and Ahmedabad are witnessing massive private wealth accumulation through:
Textile exports
Niche manufacturing
Food processing and agri-business
Cross-border trading
These individuals often lack sophisticated investment strategies and continue to rely on fixed deposits or local lending networks.
Why This Wealth Remains Untapped
Core reasons:
Lack of proactive outreach and education by wealth managers.
Heavy reliance on family accountants or informal advisors.
Limited exposure to global investment products and alternative assets.
The Opportunity for Wealth Managers
This untapped wealth represents a massive opportunity for forward-thinking advisors. Engaging early, educating clients on global diversification, and offering personalized, holistic solutions can help capture this growing segment — before competitors do.
🌟 Final Thoughts
India’s HNI boom is just getting started — and much of the real wealth is still hidden, waiting to be unlocked.
For advisors, the winners will be those who can see beyond public lists and headlines, tap into regional and emerging segments, and build trust long before liquidity events hit the news.
🚀 Want to discover where India’s next HNIs are hiding?
Affluense.ai empowers you to uncover, understand, and engage with India’s rising affluent individuals — before they appear on rich lists. Explore more at Affluense.ai.
India’s high-net-worth individual (HNI) population is growing at a historic pace. While the headlines often focus on visible billionaires and unicorn founders, there’s a much bigger — and less visible — wealth wave building beneath the surface.
According to the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2024, India is projected to have over 1.6 million millionaires by 2027, with a 58% growth in ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNIs). But how much of this wealth is truly visible to advisors, and how much remains untapped?
The Hidden Middle Layer: Affluent but Under-the-Radar
While the top 1% are well-documented, a large layer of rising professionals, startup employees, regional industrialists, and second-generation family business leaders remain largely off the radar.
Key data points:
Nearly 50% of India’s new HNIs emerge from mid-market enterprises and non-metro cities.
Over ₹4 lakh crore in personal equity value is held by startup employees through ESOPs and private shareholdings (Bain & Company, 2024).
Regional business families often have significant private holdings, real estate, and cash positions yet to be professionally managed.
Unmonetized Equity: A Sleeping Giant
Equity holdings in private companies represent a huge pool of future liquidity events.
Examples:
Early-stage startup employees holding pre-IPO shares.
Founders awaiting strategic exits or partial buyouts.
Family businesses preparing for succession or stake sales.
These segments often only come to light during major liquidity events like IPOs, M&As, or large secondary transactions — moments when wealth managers and private banks scramble to engage.
Real Estate & Traditional Assets: Under-Optimized
India’s affluent class traditionally holds a large share of wealth in illiquid assets:
Real estate continues to represent more than 40% of HNI portfolios, much of it under-leveraged or under-diversified.
Physical gold remains a cultural and emotional stronghold but lacks optimization in terms of monetization or strategic hedging.
The Role of Regional Entrepreneurs
The rapid rise of HNIs isn’t just an urban metro story. Cities like Surat, Jaipur, Kochi, and Ahmedabad are witnessing massive private wealth accumulation through:
Textile exports
Niche manufacturing
Food processing and agri-business
Cross-border trading
These individuals often lack sophisticated investment strategies and continue to rely on fixed deposits or local lending networks.
Why This Wealth Remains Untapped
Core reasons:
Lack of proactive outreach and education by wealth managers.
Heavy reliance on family accountants or informal advisors.
Limited exposure to global investment products and alternative assets.
The Opportunity for Wealth Managers
This untapped wealth represents a massive opportunity for forward-thinking advisors. Engaging early, educating clients on global diversification, and offering personalized, holistic solutions can help capture this growing segment — before competitors do.
🌟 Final Thoughts
India’s HNI boom is just getting started — and much of the real wealth is still hidden, waiting to be unlocked.
For advisors, the winners will be those who can see beyond public lists and headlines, tap into regional and emerging segments, and build trust long before liquidity events hit the news.
🚀 Want to discover where India’s next HNIs are hiding?
Affluense.ai empowers you to uncover, understand, and engage with India’s rising affluent individuals — before they appear on rich lists. Explore more at Affluense.ai.