Critical Minerals

The Critical Minerals Portfolio holds US-listed companies involved in mining, processing and refining the minerals that modern manufacturing depends on: copper, lithium, uranium and rare earth elements among others. These inputs go into electrical grids, batteries, semiconductors, defence equipment and data centre infrastructure. Supply is concentrated in a small number of countries, which is why governments now treat these minerals as strategic. Vested’s research team sets the selection and weights. You can see the full list of holdings and their weights once you sign up.

This portfolio may suit you if you want exposure to the raw material side of electrification and manufacturing rather than to the finished products, and you can sit through commodity cycles. Mining shares behave differently from technology shares, which some investors use as a diversifier. It is not suitable for short horizons. Note that mining companies are also affected by things that have nothing to do with demand, such as weather, permits, and local politics at a single site.

Yes. Resident Indians can invest in the Critical Minerals Portfolio through Vested under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), which currently allows you to remit up to USD 250,000 per financial year for overseas investments. You open a US investment account through Vested, complete a one-time KYC, and transfer money from your Indian bank account. The shares and ETFs are held in your own account in your name, not pooled in a fund, and you can sell and bring the money back to India whenever you want. Gains are taxable in India depending on how long you hold, so factor that into your planning.

Vested reviews every Managed Portfolio, including Critical Minerals, once a quarter. A review does not automatically lead to a rebalance. The portfolio is only changed if the research team concludes that the existing allocation no longer makes sense, for example when a company no longer fits the theme or when the weights have drifted away from what was intended. Managed Portfolios are non-discretionary, which means nothing is bought or sold in your account on its own. You are notified when a change is recommended and you decide whether to approve it. There are no brokerage or transaction charges on rebalancing trades.

Because picking miners yourself means judging reserves, mine life, cost position and permitting risk, which is a very different skill from analysing consumer or technology companies. A Managed Portfolio does that groundwork for you: Vested’s research team decides which companies go in, how much weight each one gets, and when something should change. You still own the actual shares and ETFs in your own US account, so you can see exactly what you hold, and this is not a fund unit. It also helps with a problem most people run into on their own, which is quietly ending up with far too much money in one stock. You pay an annual advisory fee on the amount you invest, with no purchase fee, no brokerage on rebalancing trades and no exit load. None of this stops you buying individual US stocks on Vested as well, if you want to do both.

Mining shares follow commodity prices, and those prices are cyclical and can stay low for years. Individual companies carry operational risk at specific mines: accidents, delays, cost overruns and disputes with local communities. Permits and environmental approvals take a long time and can be refused. Much of the world’s supply and processing capacity sits in a few countries, so trade policy and export restrictions matter a great deal. New mines take many years and a lot of capital to build. Vested tags this portfolio as high risk. Because the holdings are priced in US dollars, your returns in rupees also depend on how the rupee moves against the dollar over the period you stay invested.

There are five steps. First, sign up on Vested and complete your KYC, a one-time process to open your US investment account. Second, add money by remitting from your Indian bank account under the LRS route. Third, open the Critical Minerals Portfolio and read through its holdings, risk tag and fee before you commit. Fourth, invest the amount you want. You can start small and add to it over time, and there is no lock-in. Fifth, review it periodically and approve or decline any rebalancing recommendation you are sent. You can withdraw at any time without an exit load.

Because they are the physical inputs behind technologies that are otherwise talked about as if they were software. Lithium is central to the batteries used in electric vehicles and grid storage. Rare earth elements go into the permanent magnets inside EV motors, wind turbines and many defence systems, and there is no easy substitute at scale. Copper is needed for electrical grids, data centres and anything that moves power. Uranium fuels nuclear plants. The strategic part is where they come from: mining and especially processing capacity is concentrated in a small number of countries, which is why governments now treat access as a national security question rather than a commercial one. Recycling and material substitution could ease this over time.