Artha Bharat Investment Managers intends to transfer two of its investment vehicles to Abu Dhabi, according to The Hindu BusinessLine. The firm will move the Artha Global Multiplier Fund, which holds over $100 million in US equity positions, and the Artha Bharat Absolute Returns Fund, an arbitrage strategy managing roughly $25 million. These two entities represent more than $125 million in total assets. The company plans to convert its current GIFT City structures into feeder funds, a change designed to streamline how resident and non-resident Indians access these strategies.
Sachin Sawrikar, the firm’s managing partner, explained that the current International Financial Services Centre framework made it difficult to pool both groups of investors in a single fund. He highlighted that the Abu Dhabi Global Market regime allows eligible professional clients to start with $50,000, a significantly lower entry point than the $150,000 minimum typically required for restricted schemes in GIFT City. This threshold difference is particularly impactful for the Absolute Returns Fund, which has struggled to secure outside capital during the 15 months following its inception, a constraint Sawrikar linked to the limited investor pool under the previous structure.
Operational inefficiencies also drove the decision. The Hindu BusinessLine reported that GIFT City managers face significant friction when paying overseas vendors, such as law firms and research providers. Each payment requires a withholding tax assessment and supporting documents, often forcing the fund to absorb gross-up costs. In the UAE, this withholding tax rate is currently zero. Sawrikar noted that while GIFT City remains competitive regarding office space and personnel expenses, the complexity of cross-border service payments creates a distinct disadvantage.
The firm plans to launch new Abu Dhabi-domiciled funds in early 2027, moving existing non-resident investors into these new vehicles with their approval. The GIFT City funds will then be restructured as feeder funds during the Indian financial year starting in April 2027. Under this new model, international and non-resident investors will buy directly into the Abu Dhabi master funds, while domestic Indian clients will gain exposure through the local feeder structures. This shift marks a broader change in Artha Bharat’s operating model, as the company increasingly routes new launches through overseas master funds rather than establishing them locally.