ShiftAltCap is a nuanced investment firm that specializes in identifying globally competitive and innovative businesses listed on New York Stock Exchange. It creates theme based, scientifically made portfolios of such businesses, and brings them through a digital platform to individual investors in India in a legal and compliant way.

Founders are senior industry professionals from Asset Management, BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, Insurance), Technology Practice, Manufacturing and Management. The team of the company includes professionals from related fields. Their combined experience is over 200 years. You may see the details of founders on our website.

We today consume products and services from global brands viz. Colgate, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Samsung, Philips, Sony, Intel, Nike and so on. We trust these products and services because they are of good quality. And we help these companies make superior profits. But we do not invest in these companies and share in these profits. The main reason why we don’t invest in them is because global investing is new to us - either we don’t know what to invest in, or how to invest in (how do we ensure our money is safe ? whether the product and company are regulated ? how will I get my money back ? etc). We at ShiftAltCap help solve these problems and enable Indian residents to invest in global markets in a legal, transparent and honest way, while ensuring you always retain control of your money and securities.

There are many reasons, but I will share the top 6 reasons why you should invest globally : USA is 42% of the global market cap, while India is only 3%. Why ignore the biggest market ? Top companies listed in USA are all futuristic businesses, while the top companies listed in India are mostly traditional businesses. It is common sense to also invest in the emerging future. We consume products/services from global brands every day (from Colgate to Google to WhatsApp to Microsoft to Nike) because we trust them - yet we don’t invest in them. We invest only in Indian companies. If we trust them as consumers, why don’t we trust them as investors ? Indian Rupee steadily depreciates against the US Dollar by 2%-3% every year. This adds to your returns. Insurance - your money and securities are insured upto US $ 5lac Fractional ownership of shares - you can buy even 1/100th of a share in US but not in India. So you can buy more companies with a very small investment.

ShiftAltCap offers 2 theme based, scientifically built portfolios : ALLinTECH : all technology businesses you may ever need to own. This is a moderate risk portfolio, and has delivered 29% CAGR with a healthy sharpe of 1.16. ALLESSENTIALS : businesses that have an evergreen demand for their products & services. This is a low risk portfolio, and has delivered 21% CAGR with a healthy sharpe of 1.19.

Foreign investments fall under RBI guidelines for remittance which is called Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). As per current LRS limits, an individual can remit abroad up to US $ 250,000 (approx. Rs 1.80 crore) every financial year. This full amount can be utilised for investment in global market, except for F&O (Futures and Options). In the USA, all holdings in the 2 portfolios are listed on NYSE (which ensures compliance along with transparency and liquidity), the broker & custodian DriveWealth is registered with SEC and governed by FINRA. Finally the bank Silicon Valley Bank is governed by US Fed.

There are many reasons, but I will share the top 5 : Focus : The portfolios are based on a clear theme : technology and essentials. This ensures focus and performance. Scientific Diversification : The portfolios comprise all 4 asset classes viz. equities, bonds, commodities and real estate. These asset classes never move in the same direction, thus providing higher stability and lower volatility. Further, we use the Kelley’s criteria to pick and allocate across asset classes, with low correlations among the portfolio asset (this criteria has also been used by Warren Buffet). Transparency : Our portfolios are transparent - you control & own the underlying securities in your own custody account, and can see things ‘live’ every day. Honest charges : you pay total 2% per year on the value of the investment. And zero brokerage on the assets in the portfolios. We take no hidden or any other charges. And certainly no profit share since all profits belong to you. Full liquidity : you can withdraw your money any day you like by selling your portfolio, at prices you see live on the platform. We have no lock in, and zero exit charges.

Over the last 3 years, our two portfolios have performed as follows : Our ALLinTECH portfolio has delivered 29% CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate); Our ALLESSENTIALS portfolio has delivered 21% CAGR; (Must say disclosure : “Please note that past performance does not guarantee or promise future returns”)

The main risk is price risk - of prices of underlying securities changing significantly in a very short tenure. We manage this risk by rebalancing at least once every quarter.

US $1,000 (approx. Rs 77,000)

US $250,000 (approx. Rs 1.80 crore) per person per year.

The platform is secured with 256 bit encryption, better than what banking platforms are. The platform is owned by Stockal, and ShiftAltCap has partnered with Stockal to execute the transactions through DriveWealth, a stock broker registered with SEC in the USA. In simple words, one can think of Stockal as a digital pipe that enables citizens of one country to access and invest in markets of another country. Stockal has already been approved by HDFC Securities as their only technology partner for global investments by their individual clients, and 6 banks have also approved Stockal for remitting money viz. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, IDFC First Bank, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank and SBI.

The silicon valley Bank is governed by the US Fed and is insured by FDIC for up to US $250,000.

RBI mandates transfers of money from India to any country n only be done through Form A2. This is a standard form made by RBI which all banks have to follow. Currently 6 banks have digitised the process of Form A2 and sending the money abroad - these are HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, IndusInd bank, IDFC First Bank and Yes Bank. If you have a bank account with any of these 6 banks, you can comfortably transfer the money from your laptop. If you have an account with any of the other banks, you will need to go to your bank and do the Form A2 process on paper. The money will be credited to your US based Silicon valley bank within 2 working days.

Yes, any investor can after his account has been activated.

No - only individuals can invest.

No - only individuals can invest. RBI permits Liberalised Remittance Scheme only for individuals. All other entities need prior RBI permission to send money out of India.

Yes. If NRIs are adding funds via India, they can use their existing NRE or NRO account and if they are adding funds from their foreign bank account which does not fall under LRS, they can directly remit funds from their bank account online.

Who can invest : any Indian resident, or NRI in countries other than North America. If they are also holding Aadhar card, it will be much easier. Who cannot invest : any NRI resident in North America (USA, Canada, Mexico) and Foreigners cannot invest.

Trading account is to buy and sell shares in the portfolio. Custody account is like the Indian Demat account and is to hold shares you have purchased in your portfolio.

The account will be opened with JP Morgan Chase bank.

No, there is no custody fee applicable on your account.

DriveWealth is the broker that executes your trades in the portfolio. Owned by SoftBank, it is a SEC registered stock broker in the USA and is governed by FINRA.

When you login to your account, click on ‘Portfolio’ to seal your holdings. You can also download your statement.

Your investing account is opened with our partner platform DriveWealth LLC - regulated by FINRA and registered with the SEC in US.

Margin trading or leverage of any sort is not permissible per RBI regulations on global markets for Indian residents.

The holdings in custody account are insured by SIPC by upto US $500,000.

Settlement cycle is T+3 for US equities and exchange traded funds ETF’s.

US IPO’s are currently not supported for Indian residents.

Indian residents can only open a cash account, no leverage, no margin trading is permitted at all. Client-owned, fully-paid securities are protected in accounts at depositories and custodians that are specifically identified for the exclusive benefit of clients. DW reconciles positions in securities owned by clients daily to ensure that these securities have been received at the depositories and custodians. In addition, every customer is protected by the Securities and Investment Protection Council Insurance (SIPC insurance) by up to USD 500,000 split as USD 250,000 in cash and USD 250,000 in stocks.

It normally takes about 1-2 working days to deposit / withdraw your money.

If you have the minimum US $ 1,000 required to invest in our portfolios, you can click on either of the 2 portfolios and will see two buttons - one for buy and second for sell. It is as simple as that.

Yes you can. For such purchases, you will need to pay a brokerage to DriveWealth as per your plan chosen by you at the time of opening of account. However, you don’t have to pay any fee to us (ShiftAltCap) on such direct purchases.

You will need to consult your taxation advisor for your specific situation, but I can give you a general overview of how the taxation will work. First of all, the taxation depends upon your residential status - it will be different for Resident Indians and for Non Resident Indians. Second, India and the USA have signed a Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) that helps a person being taxed in only one country. Thirdly, tax is charged on taxable income. In our portfolios, taxable income comes from two sources viz. In the form of Capital Gain when the value of your portfolio has increased when you sell it; As dividends / Interest you receive from any company. These 2 will be taxed as follows : Capital Gains : will NOT be taxed in the USA. Will be taxed in India as per Indian laws. Dividend / Interest : will face a tax deduction at source of 25% in the USA; however, you can claim this tax deduction as a reduction in your taxes when you pay them in India.

When you open your account, you will need to add US $ 5 as a one time fee payment to get a “W8-BEN”. This is a form mandated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the USA to collect correct information on investors who are not residents in the USA and is used for reporting purposes When you are filing your taxes in India, you can download this form for your specific transactions from our website when you log in. And give this form to your CA who is filing your tax returns who will claim the offset.