Global Multi-Asset (Moderate)

The Global Multi-Asset (Moderate) Portfolio is a balanced core portfolio built from ETFs, holding US, developed market and emerging market equities alongside bonds. It sits between the Conservative and Aggressive versions: enough equity exposure to grow over time, enough bonds to soften the falls. It is designed as a base holding rather than a theme bet, and Vested compares it against a balanced global benchmark rather than the S&P 500. You can see the full list of holdings and their weights once you sign up.

This portfolio may suit you if you want a single global holding that does most of the work, spread across regions and across equities and bonds, without choosing a theme or a country. It is the usual starting point for investors putting money outside India for the first time. It is less suitable if you specifically want maximum growth and can tolerate larger falls, in which case the Aggressive version fits better, or if you need the money soon, where the Conservative version is closer.

Yes. Resident Indians can invest in the Global Multi-Asset (Moderate) 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 Global Multi-Asset (Moderate), 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 putting this together yourself means picking ETFs for each region and asset class, setting the weights, and actually rebalancing them, which is the step most people skip. 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.

A balanced portfolio still falls in a bad year. Equities are the larger driver of returns and of losses, and the bond portion does not always cushion them. In 2022, bonds and equities fell at the same time. Emerging market exposure adds its own country and currency risk. Because the portfolio holds bonds, it will usually lag a pure equity portfolio in a strong bull market, which is the trade-off for smaller falls in bad years. Vested tags it as moderate 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 Global Multi-Asset (Moderate) 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.