Ajay Tyagi-led Sebi team apprises US investors of trends in Indian economy

Meetings held in three cities, Sebi says participants showed interest in Reits, AIFs; scope of infra projects, stressed assets, disinvestment, Gift City highlighted

A delegation of Sebi officials led by chairman Ajay Tyagi met with investors and other market participants in the US last week. Interactive meetings were held in three US cities where Tyagi briefed participants about key trends and developments in the domestic economy and the markets.

US is the top geography for foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows in the country, accounting for nearly a third of the $450 billion assets under custody belonging to overseas investors.

In a release, Sebi said participants showed interest in emerging areas such as real estate investment trusts (Reits) and alternative investment funds (AIFs). The market regulator also highlighted investment opportunities in areas such as infrastructure projects, stressed assets, government disinvestment and Gift City. The regulator said it held detailed discussions proposed regulatory frameworks on issuing depository receipts and direct listing of Indian equities abroad. Other achievements of the domestic markets, such as it being among the 10 global markets in terms of market value and also among the top 10 in terms of the number of equity derivatives contracts traded, were also highlighted.

The meetings come amid sharp selloff by FPIs in recent months. During the three months ended September 2019, FPIs had pulled out Rs 20,000 crore ($3 billion) from domestic equities—their biggest quarterly outflow in nearly three years.