₹73 trillion inheritance boom: Women are becoming India's new wealth bosses

Indian women are set to inherit at least ₹73 trillion over the next decade, according to a new report by Barclays Private Bank in collaboration with Encubay.

The report is based on primary interactions with 22 women leaders across entrepreneurship, investing, fund management and family wealth. The ₹73-trillion estimate covers listed and unlisted family assets and is a minimum estimate because private holdings were not evaluated in their entirety.

Key findings from the report include:

86% of women leaders surveyed prioritise long-term wealth creation, while 66% actively participate in investment management.

84% of respondents favour a balanced investment approach, combining growth opportunities with capital preservation.

40% plan to prioritise private equity, venture capital and start-up investments when deploying new capital over the next three to five years. However, only 13% report being actively invested in this asset class, highlighting a significant gap between investor intent and actual allocation as well as a substantial opportunity for the wealth advisors.

77% rely on professional wealth advisors, while 85% cite trust and transparency as the most important attributes in an advisory relationship.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents said greater investment knowledge and confidence would have the biggest impact on their financial journey, indicating a strong appetite for financial education and trusted advice.

77% of women expecting to inherit wealth have begun succession planning, while only 23% of those who have already inherited wealth have fully structured plans in place.

72% of respondents review their investment portfolios monthly or quarterly, reflecting a hands-on approach to managing wealth.

“The findings show that women are already active participants in India’s wealth landscape, with 86% prioritising long-term wealth creation and 66% actively involved in investment decisions. At the same time, growing interest in private markets and gaps in investment knowledge and succession planning highlight the growing importance of trusted advice in helping families navigate increasingly complex wealth decisions and prepare for the next generation,” said Adrish Ghosh, Head of Private Bank, India.

Private equity and startups could get a bigger share of women’s money

One of the most interesting findings for investors is the appetite for alternative investments.

Around 40% of women leaders said they plan to prioritise private equity, venture capital and start-up investments when deploying new capital over the next three to five years.

But there is a significant gap between intention and actual allocation. Only 14% said they were both highly familiar with alternative investments and actively invested in them. Another 29% were familiar with alternatives but had not invested, while a further 29% had only limited understanding.

The report describes this as a knowledge-confidence gap: 86% prioritise wealth creation and 40% want to deploy fresh capital into alternatives, but only 14% currently combine strong familiarity with actual investment.

Women appear willing to take risk—but want it managed

The report also pushes back against the idea that women are inherently risk-averse.

About 85% of respondents said they take a balanced approach to investment risk, weighing potential returns against the possibility of losses.

The big weakness: succession planning

Despite the expected ₹73-trillion transfer, the survey points to a major preparedness gap.

Among women who have already inherited wealth, only 23% have a fully structured plan for transferring wealth to the next generation. Another 54% have plans in development that require refinement, while 23% know what they own but have not yet converted that understanding into a concrete succession plan.

This creates an unusual situation: women are increasingly becoming owners of significant wealth, but many are still developing the structures needed to manage and eventually transfer it.

The report said vehicles such as family trusts, structured giving frameworks, family offices and impact-investment mandates remain significantly underused, even as women place greater importance on philanthropy, values and intergenerational impact.

Financial confidence remains a hurdle

Nearly three-quarters of respondents identified investment knowledge and confidence as the single most important factor that could improve their financial lives. Better access to opportunities and greater involvement and control were each cited by 14%.

The report found that 86% of respondents considered themselves only moderately confident when making financial decisions, while 20% specifically cited lack of confidence and knowledge as one of their biggest challenges in managing wealth.

The barriers are not limited to knowledge. Balancing time and attention was the biggest challenge, cited by 50%, followed by finding trusted advice at 30%. Capital access and cultural conditioning were each cited by 10%.

Women are already gaining ground in India’s capital markets

The ₹73-trillion inheritance shift is happening alongside a broader increase in women’s participation in India’s financial and corporate ecosystem.

Women held just 5% of board seats in NSE-listed companies in March 2014, but that had risen to 21% by February 2026, with 98% of NSE main-board companies having at least one woman director.”Women’s presence in fund management has also grown. Women fund managers, either independently or jointly managing funds, oversaw ₹13.45 trillion, or 20% of total mutual fund industry assets, by January 2025, up from ₹6.66 trillion or 12.63% in January 2024. The report says 49 women fund managers were active across 339 schemes in 25 fund houses.

In entrepreneurship, 75,935 DPIIT-recognised startups had at least one woman director as of December 2024, close to half of all startups recognised under Startup India.