Have $1 billion surplus to invest? Join the new club

It's going to be India's most exclusive super-rich club, with membership restricted to those with a minimum investible surplus of $1 billion. Called Private Investment Club, it will launch its services from September 16.

The host -- Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management -- is expecting only about a dozen members, to begin with. But that's not a small number, considering that Morgan has less than 200 members in its private investment clubs in four countries -- the US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore. India will become the fifth country to have such a club.

Why India? Himanshu Bhagat, executive director, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management India, said India was the world's second fastest growing economy and the number of billionaires would go up with the kind of wealth creation that was happening in the country.

"Very few firms in India provide a wide variety of services and options. We wanted to fill that gap. Indians have become sophisticated investors and they understand the importance of such a club as a value proposition," Bhagat said.

Members of the club will get preferred access to deals that Morgan Stanley will be doing. They will also get to co-invest with Morgan Stanley in deals as well as participate as limited partners in its global funds. These investors will get customised and separately-managed accounts from Morgan Stanley, apart from getting a multi-asset class portfolio comprising equity, debt, structured notes, private equity etc.

"We have been doing road shows for it and there has been an enormous response. Our pipeline of investors is already full," Bhagat added.

According to Forbes, India has the second largest number of billionaires in Asia after China, though the falling stock market in the earlier part of this year, a weak rupee and slower economic growth shaved 60 per cent from India's 40 richest people.

A Merrill Lynch Capgemini Wealth report said India was home to the fastest growing number of millionaires, a reason wealth managers are betting big on India.

Morgan Stanley started its wealth management practice last year and is targeting assets worth $5-10 billion in the next five years. It has close to 500 clients in India.