\n As India\u2019s wealth landscape expands and cross-border capital mobility increases, affluent families are confronting new structural challenges around succession, governance and regulatory compliance. While much of the industry\u2019s attention remains focused on investment performance and asset allocation, an equally critical dimension is the architecture that preserves wealth across generations and jurisdictions.
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\nFor firms operating in the fiduciary and trusteeship space, the challenge is to help families navigate increasingly complex domestic and international frameworks – ensuring that wealth is not only accumulated effectively, but protected and transferred in a disciplined and compliant manner. In an exclusive interview with Hubbis, Tariq Aboobaker, Chief Executive Officer of Neo Trusteeship Services, discusses the firm\u2019s role within the broader Neo Group platform, the structural issues facing wealthy families, and why succession planning and governance are becoming urgent priorities across India\u2019s private wealth landscape.\n <\/p>\n
Key Takeaways<\/p>\n
\n\tPreservation alongside growth: Neo\u2019s trusteeship business focuses on wealth preservation, structuring and succession planning, complementing the group\u2019s broader investment advisory capabilities.
\n\tStructural complexity rising: Cross-border wealth diversification, international residency choices and evolving family dynamics are increasing the demand for formal governance structures.
\n\tRegulatory navigation required: Mechanisms such as LRS, ODI and OPI continue to create confusion among investors seeking offshore exposure.
\n\tGIFT City evolving slowly: While India\u2019s international financial centre offers new structuring possibilities, regulatory constraints still limit dedicated family investment vehicles.
\n\tSuccession gap persists: Many wealthy families still lack formal wills, trusts or succession frameworks despite rising asset values.
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Structuring Wealth Within the Neo Platform<\/p>\n
Neo Trusteeship Services forms part of the broader Neo Group ecosystem, which combines wealth advisory, asset management and fiduciary services. While Neo\u2019s wealth advisory teams guide clients on investment strategy and portfolio construction, the trusteeship arm addresses the structural side of wealth management from an estate planning aspect.<\/p>\n
Aboobaker describes this division of responsibilities clearly. While investment advisers focus on what clients should invest in, his role centres on how those investments should be owned, structured and transferred.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhere advisers focus on how to grow wealth, our responsibility is how that wealth should be structured and preserved,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
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This includes advising families on trust structures, domestic and international holding vehicles, succession frameworks and cross-border asset planning. The objective is to ensure that the legal and governance architecture underpinning wealth ownership remains robust as families expand geographically and generationally.<\/p>\n
The trusteeship team also works alongside Neo\u2019s broader wealth leadership, including the firm\u2019s wealth advisory division led by Shajikumar Devakar. The integration between advisory and fiduciary services allows the platform to address both investment growth and long-term asset protection within a unified client framework.<\/p>\n
Common Structural Challenges Facing Indian Families<\/p>\n
Across India\u2019s wealthy families, Aboobaker identifies several recurring structural issues that drive demand for trusteeship services.<\/p>\n
One of the most frequent concerns involves exposure to foreign inheritance frameworks, particularly the United States estate tax regime. Indian families with assets, residency or family members in the US often underestimate the potential tax implications.<\/p>\n
\u201cUS inheritance issues are one of the most common challenges we see,\u201d he notes, highlighting the need for proactive planning when families have cross-border ties.<\/p>\n
Succession planning represents another major gap. Despite significant wealth creation over the past two decades, many family-owned businesses still operate without a formal transition plan. In some cases, the next generation may have little interest in continuing the family enterprise, creating uncertainty around ownership structures and governance.<\/p>\n
These issues frequently intersect with broader questions about family governance, business restructuring and cross-border estate planning. As wealth becomes more complex, informal arrangements that once worked for smaller family businesses are increasingly proving insufficient.<\/p>\n
Globalisation Driving Structural Complexity<\/p>\n
India\u2019s wealthy families are also becoming far more international in both their asset allocation and personal lives. Capital diversification across jurisdictions is now a priority for many entrepreneurs and business families.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamilies increasingly say: I have wealth in India, but I want to diversify globally,\u201d Aboobaker observes.<\/p>\n
However, India\u2019s regulatory framework for outbound investments remains complex. Several different routes exist for overseas capital deployment, each governed by distinct rules.<\/p>\n
The Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) allows individuals to remit up to USD 250,000 annually for overseas investments. Meanwhile, Overseas Portfolio Investment (OPI) and Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) frameworks provide additional mechanisms for companies and business owners to invest internationally.<\/p>\n
Understanding how these routes interact – and where capital can legally be deployed – remains a major source of confusion among clients.<\/p>\n
Aboobaker notes that trusteeship advisers frequently spend significant time helping families interpret these regulations and determine which structures are appropriate for their investment objectives.<\/p>\n
GIFT City and the Search for Offshore Alternatives<\/p>\n
India\u2019s Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) has emerged as an important part of the conversation around offshore structuring. Designed as India\u2019s international financial services hub, the jurisdiction has introduced several frameworks aimed at facilitating global investment flows.<\/p>\n
One of the structures attracting attention is the Family Investment Fund (FIF), which was initially seen as a potential vehicle for wealthy families to pool assets and invest internationally.<\/p>\n
However, regulatory constraints remain.<\/p>\n
Under current rules, capital remitted from India cannot be directed into a dedicated family investment vehicle in GIFT City through certain investment routes. As a result, families can participate in broad-based funds but may face limitations in establishing vehicles exclusively for their own capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a perception that families could set up their own dedicated funds through GIFT City,\u201d Aboobaker explains. \u201cBut regulators have clarified that outbound investments through certain routes must be into broader pooled vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n
These evolving regulatory interpretations mean that structuring decisions require careful planning and ongoing engagement with regulatory guidance.<\/p>\n
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Key Priorities<\/p>\n
Looking ahead over the next 12 months, Aboobaker identifies education and compliance as the central priorities for his business.<\/p>\n
A key focus will be reviewing existing structures that may no longer align with current regulations. Many families established offshore investments or holding structures years ago without fully updating reporting requirements or regulatory declarations.<\/p>\n
Some investments made through the Overseas Direct Investment regime, for example, may not have been fully disclosed to regulators.<\/p>\n
Ensuring that these structures are properly regularised and compliant is becoming increasingly important.<\/p>\n
Another priority is expanding the adoption of formal succession frameworks across the client base. Despite the growing scale of Indian wealth, Aboobaker notes that a surprising number of affluent individuals still do not have a succession plan in place.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe still meet many families who have discussed succession planning in theory but have not implemented even a simple will,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
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Over the past year alone, the firm has helped establish more than 100 trust structures, reflecting what he sees as a significant acceleration in market awareness.<\/p>\n
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Into the Future: Rising Demand for Wealth Structures<\/p>\n
Aboobaker believes the next decade will be transformative for India\u2019s estate planning and fiduciary services sector.<\/p>\n
When he began working in the estate planning field around two decades ago, trusts were rarely implemented even when discussed. Today, trust adoption and implementation rates have risen dramatically as wealth levels expand and family dynamics evolve.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s economic growth has produced a large cohort of first-generation entrepreneurs, many of whom are now confronting succession questions for the first time.<\/p>\n
At the same time, global mobility is increasing. Children of wealthy families are frequently studying or settling abroad, while families themselves are exploring residency programmes in jurisdictions such as Portugal, Malta and the UAE.<\/p>\n
These shifts introduce legal, tax and governance complexities that did not exist a generation ago.<\/p>\n
Family structures themselves are also changing. Traditional joint-family arrangements are giving way to more nuclear structures, while younger generations may prefer entrepreneurial or technology-driven careers rather than continuing legacy industrial businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these factors are increasing the complexity of wealth ownership,\u201d Aboobaker notes.<\/p>\n
As a result, he expects demand for trusts, governance frameworks and asset protection strategies to expand far beyond the traditional ultra-wealthy segment.<\/p>\n
What was once considered a service for only the richest families is now being adopted more widely among high-net-worth individuals seeking long-term wealth continuity.<\/p>\n
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Getting Personal<\/p>\n
Tariq Aboobaker was born and raised in Mumbai and spent part of his childhood at boarding school at Mayo College in Ajmer before returning to the city to complete his education. He later pursued a law degree and has spent more than two decades working in the wealth structuring and estate planning sector.<\/p>\n
Over the course of his career, he has specialised in advising families on succession planning, governance frameworks and complex wealth structures across jurisdictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat keeps the work interesting,\u201d he reflects, \u201cis that every family situation is different. The underlying structures may be similar, but the solutions require creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside work, Aboobaker enjoys driving and exploring India\u2019s countryside. He is particularly interested in off-roading and regularly travels through the hill regions of Maharashtra, including Lonavala and nearby areas, where dedicated tracks allow controlled off-road driving.<\/p>\n
He also has a long-standing interest in horses, although he jokes that he now admires them more than rides them. Golf, meanwhile, is a newer pursuit he is gradually learning alongside his busy professional schedule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As India\u2019s wealth landscape expands and cross-border capital mobility increases, affluent families are confronting new structural challenges around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[219760,219764,219772,219768,219759,219763,219771,219767,219761,219765,219773,219769,219758,219762,219770,219766,64,63,99,18608,186,184,185,1542],"class_list":["post-772326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-asia-private-banking","tag-asia-private-banking-news","tag-asia-private-banking-online-training","tag-asia-private-banking-training","tag-asia-wealth-management","tag-asia-wealth-management-news","tag-asia-wealth-management-online-training","tag-asia-wealth-management-training","tag-asian-private-banking","tag-asian-private-banking-news","tag-asian-private-banking-online-training","tag-asian-private-banking-training","tag-asian-wealth-management","tag-asian-wealth-management-news","tag-asian-wealth-management-online-training","tag-asian-wealth-management-training","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-e-learning","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}