IBG NEWS: ICC Organises ICC Wealth Management Summit
Kolkata, 15th November, 2025: ICC organised the ICC Wealth Management Summit 2025, bringing together industry leaders, policymakers and global advisors for wide-ranging discussions that spanned cutting-edge wealth management trends, India’s economic transformation, and the shifting geopolitical landscape. The summit was attended by Mr. Ajay Bisaria, Global Advisor to Asset Management Companies, author and former diplomat; Mr. Brij Bhushan Agarwal, President, Indian Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Rajeev Singh, Director General, ICC, who collectively examined subjects ranging from personalised wealth strategies and technology-driven financial models to India’s reform trajectory, trade dynamics, and the geopolitical forces reshaping global markets.
Mr. Ajay Bisaria, Global Advisor to Asset Management Companies, author and former diplomat, said at the ICC Wealth Management Summit 2025 that India today stands at a defining moment as it navigates both global disruptions and critical domestic transitions. He noted that India’s democratic and social frameworks had remained broadly stable over the past eight years, but emphasised that the economic transformation remained the country’s central imperative. “With a GDP growth rate of 6.5%, India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy, yet our per-capita income—about USD 3,000—places us around 128th globally,” he said, adding that manufacturing growth continued to lag behind national aspirations while agriculture contributed only 17% of GDP, signalling structural imbalance and unrealised potential.
Bisaria emphasised that India’s internal reform journey since 1991 had created the foundation for high future growth. He highlighted the Goods and Services Tax as a milestone that unified the internal market and cited UPI as a revolution in digital finance. He also pointed to the Jan Dhan–Aadhaar–Mobile trinity for transforming welfare delivery, banking reforms that strengthened institutions and massive nationwide investments in highways, ports, airports and digital networks that collectively improved economic efficiency. “These reforms give India a realistic opportunity to pursue 8% long-term growth over the next 25 years — an ambition that is now politically articulated,” he stated.
Turning to foreign policy, Bisaria described India’s evolution from Nehru’s non-alignment to a sophisticated multi-alignment era. He noted External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s framing of a diplomacy that “engages America, manages China, cultivates Europe, reassures Russia, partners with Japan and the Global South, and prioritises the neighbourhood.” Yet he cautioned that India may now need to manage its relationship with the United States even more carefully than with China due to the US’s centrality in global economic governance and strategic technology.
He stressed that both the US and China have weaponised trade in ways that directly affect India. American restrictions currently impact USD 35 billion of Indian exports, while Chinese measures influence almost USD 100 billion worth of imports crucial for Indian manufacturing. Europe, he added, is also shifting towards protectionism through mechanisms such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and deforestation regulations, which, though framed as climate action, often function as trade barriers targeting developing economies.
Bisaria outlined India’s strategic objectives: ensuring national security, securing reliable energy and commodities, diversifying critical partnerships, reducing vulnerabilities in technology and defence, and expanding India’s voice in global governance. These priorities, he explained, are pursued through multi-alignment, resilient supply-chain strategies and a comprehensive energy approach. India today sources defence and advanced technology from the US, builds infrastructure partnerships with Japan, deepens trade with Europe and relies on Russia for energy and military supplies. Domestically, India is accelerating industrial capacity through Production-Linked Incentive schemes, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, growth in AI and defence production, and rapid expansion of renewable energy. He pointed to continued discounted Russian crude imports as an example of India safeguarding strategic autonomy despite external pressures.
Discussing the India–US relationship, Bisaria described it as one of India’s most consequential partnerships, even as recent frictions have emerged. Stalled trade talks, differing positions on Russian oil, and US policies on Pakistan created tensions over the past year, compounded by four “geopolitical accidents”, including a summer conflict with Pakistan. He noted that progress was nonetheless expected soon, with a likely tariff agreement within the 15–19% range and the possibility of earlier Russia-related penalties being withdrawn. However, he warned of new risks, including the proposed US Higher Act, which would impose a 25% outsourcing tax and a USD 100,000 levy on each H-1B visa. He referenced a senior Trump adviser’s remark that the era of “strategic altruism” was over and that the US now expected immediate transactional returns. “India’s strategy is therefore structured across time horizons — accommodation in the short term, diversification in the medium term and deeper self-reliance through structural reforms in the long term,” he said.
Bisaria underscored that geopolitics had shifted from a peripheral concern to a central element of global business strategy. Following the Russia–Ukraine conflict, 216 Fortune 500 companies withdrew from Russia and Ukraine — an unprecedented retreat driven by geopolitical risk. Businesses, he said, now operate under constant threat of abrupt market exit. Economic tools such as tariffs, subsidies, export licensing and supply-chain controls are increasingly used as strategic levers rather than economic instruments. Systemic risks are growing, he noted, with the US accounting for nearly 70% of global financial market capitalisation and China controlling over one-third of global manufacturing, potentially approaching one-half within a decade. He pointed to a technological bifurcation: the US leading in AI and quantum computing while China dominates EVs, batteries and solar manufacturing. He added that US restrictions on advanced technologies had prompted Chinese retaliation through controls on rare-earth exports critical to global industry.
He further referenced Trump’s “Liberation Day” pledge to conclude 90 agreements in 90 days, observing that only 10–12 had materialised so far. The US, he remarked, was pressuring allies to increase crude purchases, including USD 250 billion annually from the EU. Meanwhile, both the US and China continued weaponising trade, and Europe frequently used climate regulation as a form of concealed protectionism. Strategic choke points — from insurance and shipping routes to port access and logistics corridors — had emerged as new arenas of economic contestation.
Pivoting to the implications for nations and corporations, Bisaria said that the prevailing fractured environment required strategies of hedging, diversification and managing critical dependencies. A commonly recommended threshold, he explained, was to cap exposure to any single external partner at 25% in areas such as energy, defence procurement, trade, financial systems or ecological resources. With the US deploying financial and energy controls, the EU tightening hidden protectionism and China exercising industrial dominance, India’s priorities, he stated, aligned around strengthening domestic manufacturing, protecting strategic autonomy and building resilient supply chains capable of absorbing geopolitical shocks.
Looking ahead to 2025, Bisaria described a cautiously optimistic yet complex outlook. He said the war in Ukraine could move towards an end, with the Alaska diplomatic process offering a possible settlement route. He anticipated a clearer peace configuration in West Asia following recent de-escalation. He added that US–China relations were likely to stabilise tactically — though not strategically — given persistent structural tensions. A Taiwan conflict, he assessed, remained unlikely in 2025 but carried a 20% probability within the next five years.
He stated that India may conclude a trade agreement with the United States this year, and that President Trump could visit India in early 2026 for the board summit. Trade negotiations with the EU and Australia were also expected to advance. A short India–Pakistan conflict, he warned, could not be ruled out due to the posture of Pakistan’s military leadership. However, India and China might reach tactical adjustments and limited investment openings. On the economic front, he projected India’s growth at 7% for this fiscal year and likely the next, and said the upcoming Union Budget was expected to be a landmark reform-oriented budget focusing on land, labour, capital markets and process reforms — all essential for sustaining India’s long-term ambition of 8–10% annual growth across the next two decades.
Mr. Brij Bhushan Agarwal, President, Indian Chamber of Commerce, said the country’s wealth management sector is undergoing a major shift driven by technology, collaboration, and changing investor expectations. “India has moved from a product-driven model to a more client-focused and technology-oriented approach, and as we move toward becoming a USD 5 trillion economy, the focus must shift from creating wealth to managing it responsibly for long-term prosperity,” he stated. He noted that family offices are increasingly prioritising purpose-driven, long-term investments, while today’s well-informed and tech-savvy investors seek customised portfolios that balance growth, sustainability, innovation, and lower risk. Agarwal added that with AI, automation, and blockchain reshaping portfolio management and global uncertainties influencing markets, “strategic wealth management is now about more than returns it requires resilience, responsibility, and a forward-looking mindset.”
Dr. Rajeev Singh, Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce, said India’s wealth management space is entering a pivotal phase as investors become more informed and technology reshapes financial decisions. “As the economy expands, the need for smarter, more responsible wealth strategies is becoming increasingly clear,” he noted. He added that rising interest in personalised advisory, stronger risk management, and tech-enabled solutions is redefining how portfolios are structured. “The challenge now is to build approaches that remain resilient amid global uncertainties while supporting long-term value creation,” Singh said.
This article was first published by IBG News.