India is increasingly moving to the center of global private wealth discussions as some of the world’s richest families reassess where to place their long-term investments, according to Anthony Ritossa, founder of the Global Family Office Investment Summit.
Speaking to IANS on the sidelines of the latest edition of the summit held in Miami, Ritossa said global family offices are showing heightened interest in India as a strategic investment destination, driven by technology-led growth, demographic strength, and the expanding influence of the Indian diaspora.
“India is a massive growth engine,” Ritossa said, pointing to the country’s large, well-educated population and rapidly evolving entrepreneurial ecosystem. “Many family offices want to ensure that India is represented in their portfolios.”
Return of Global Indian Entrepreneurs
Ritossa noted a key shift underway in global capital flows involving Indian-origin entrepreneurs who built successful businesses abroad and are now returning to India with capital, experience, and international networks.
“Now they’re starting to move back to India,” he said, “and they’re taking what they’ve learned globally and creating a new level of entrepreneur incubators in India.”
According to Ritossa, this reverse flow of talent and capital is helping deepen India’s startup ecosystem and is increasingly catching the attention of long-horizon investors seeking exposure beyond traditional Western markets.
From Small Gathering to Global Platform
Launched in 2016 with a modest gathering of around 60 participants in Dubai, the Global Family Office Investment Summit has since grown into a major global platform connecting family offices, entrepreneurs, conglomerate owners, and members of royal and ruling families.
“It was a relatively small gathering back then,” Ritossa recalled. “But it snowballed over time and now attracts repeat delegates from across the world.”
Today, the summit convenes in cities including Dubai, Miami, Monaco, Riyadh, and destinations along the French Riviera. Ritossa described the gatherings as a “safe harbor environment” for high-level decision-makers to exchange ideas and explore long-term opportunities.
Miami’s growing prominence as a global investment hub has also strengthened the summit’s influence. Ritossa noted that Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has described the event as “becoming a bridge between the United States and the Middle East,” with Miami and Dubai acting as gateway cities.
How Family Offices Invest Differently
Ritossa emphasized that family offices differ significantly from traditional venture capital firms. Unlike VC funds, which typically operate on fixed timelines and answer to limited partners, family offices deploy what he described as “permanent capital.”
“Family office investment capital tends to take a much longer-term horizon,” he said, adding that this structure often allows family offices to become early movers into emerging sectors.
He pointed out that the summit began discussing Bitcoin as an investment idea nearly eight years ago, when the cryptocurrency was trading near $3,000, alongside early conversations around blockchain technology and artificial intelligence.
“We’ve had dedicated digital assets and AI panels for the last eight years,” Ritossa said, noting that while AI has since gone mainstream, it has long been a focus within family office strategy.
Sectors Drawing Investor Attention
According to Ritossa, current areas attracting strong family office interest include artificial intelligence, data centers, defense technology, longevity healthcare, and real estate development. He noted that defense technology, in particular, is expanding rapidly, with some investors arguing that it is growing even faster than AI.
On the broader U.S. investment climate, Ritossa said sentiment among Middle Eastern family offices has remained positive during Donald Trump’s second administration. He cited large public commitments to U.S. data center investments as signals that have encouraged further private-sector participation.
India’s Growing Role in Global Capital Flows
India featured prominently in discussions at the Miami summit, with repeated emphasis on the role of the Indian diaspora in shaping global entrepreneurship and cross-border investment flows. Ritossa said the summit series has facilitated more than $4.5 billion in investments and transactions over the past decade, with approximately 9,800 delegates participating worldwide.
He added that during the most recent Miami conference, a single company secured a $300 million investment commitment, underscoring the platform’s growing deal-making influence.
Looking ahead, Ritossa said the summit plans to expand into new destinations, including Bahrain under the patronage of its royal family, and is also exploring opportunities in Morocco. The platform is also placing increased emphasis on philanthropy and impact investing, with charity dinners and personal contributions supporting humanitarian causes.
Family offices, which manage wealth across generations and often operate outside the constraints faced by institutional funds, have become an increasingly powerful force in global finance. Their rising interest in India, Ritossa said, aligns with New Delhi’s broader push to attract long-term foreign capital into technology, infrastructure, and innovation-driven sectors — a trend he expects to strengthen in the years ahead.
