Artha Bharat ADGM licence: what it means for Gulf investors
Artha Bharat Investment Managers ME Limited, promoted by Sachin Sawrikar, has been granted a Financial Services Permission (FSP) by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the firm announced on 27 October 2026.
The FSP authorises the firm to manage collective investment funds and discretionary portfolios, advise on investments and credit, arrange deals in investments, and arrange custody and credit. It covers professional and institutional clients.
The permission is the final step after an in-principle approval from the FSRA.
The licence is aimed at institutional investors, family offices and professional Non Resident Indian (NRI) investors across the Middle East who want access to Indian and global markets. Sawrikar said it lets the firm engage directly with sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors in the Middle East, "who value working with managers regulated in a jurisdiction they know well."
Resident Indian investors seeking global diversification are the second audience. Artha Bharat says an ADGM fund structure offers advantages for long-term wealth creation, since gains realised inside the fund can be retained and reinvested without each underlying transaction becoming a taxable event. Tax arises on distributions or on the sale or redemption of units.
Newsletter
The corridor, every morning.
Funding rounds and cross-border capital moves, one email, five minutes.
Artha Bharat is a GIFT City manager with a licensed operation in Mauritius. The group manages over USD 800 million across four funds and has a Lakshya target of $3 billion in assets under management. ADGM adds a regulated base in the UAE.
The planned funds are for professional clients only, with a minimum initial subscription of USD 50,000. Each fund will carry its own provisos in its prospectus.
Sawrikar said that under Indian tax law, units of an overseas fund investing primarily in equities qualify as long-term capital assets when held for more than 24 months, with gains taxed at a base rate of 12.5% plus applicable surcharge and cess.
The first vehicle the firm plans to launch is the Artha Bharat ICC, an ADGM Incorporated Cell Company, which allows separate funds to sit as separately incorporated cells under one umbrella prospectus and regulatory structure vetted by the regulator. The structure is modelled on Singapore's variable capital companies.
The ICC funds are planned as Exempt Funds offered by private placement.
More in Policy
