by Suman Gupta
GIFT CITY, GANDHINAGAR & Mumbai, 2nd July 2026: Artha Bharat Investment Managers IFSC LLP, a leading fund management entity in India’s premier financial hub, has debuted the Artha Bharat FinMet Physical Gold Fund — the first-ever physical commodity fund — and the first gold fund to be launched from GIFT City. The launch of the fund follows IFSCA’s formal notification of commodity trading as a financial product under the IFSCA Act, effective January 2026. This landmark launch will create a new milestone following the enabling regulatory framework created by the GIFT City regulator.
“We are grateful to the International Financial Services Authority for working with the industry to develop a robust regulatory framework that rewards and encourages innovation in product offering that will help establish GIFT City as the preeminent IFSC of the region,” said Sachin Sawrikar, Managing Partner, Artha Bharat Investment Managers IFSC LLP.
Strategic Partnership & Investment Objective
The open-ended, passively managed fund is launched in partnership with Singapore-based precious metals specialist FinMet, who serves as the investment advisor. The scheme is designed to track international spot gold prices with minimal tracking error, allocating at least 95% of its assets to London Bullion Association (LBMA) standard gold bars traded on the GIFT City headquartered India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX). IIBX is a JV of NSE, NSDL, CDSL, MCX and a BSE subsidiary.
The fund offers weekly subscriptions and redemptions, providing investors with liquidity rarely available in physical commodity-based fund structures. The Artha Bharat FinMet Physical Gold Fund also has a highly competitive total expense ratio (TER) of 0.65% per annum.
Unique Redemption & Secure Storage
“Our scheme will invest in physical gold stored in IIDI (India International Depository IFSC) insured vaults within GIFT City — regulated by IFSCA,” said Sawrikar. GIFT City’s first physical gold backed fund also has another unique USP. “Another first with our scheme is that investors will have an option to receive certified physical gold bars or equivalent cash when they wish to redeem their units in the scheme,” added Sawrikar.
The Case for Gold: Performance and Diversification
With gold currently trading approximately 28% below its January all-time high, Artha Bharat views this as a strategic entry point for medium to long term investors. India has been one of the world’s top two to three consumers of gold globally with conventional wisdom of the Indian housewife urging investments into gold as a store of value and an insurance for a rainy day. Gold has delivered exceptional returns to investors, with a CAGR of 13.7% over the last 10 years, 20.4% over the last 5 years, and an impressive approximately 20% over the last year (as of 30 June 2026).
“Gold offers three structural advantages that make it indispensable in any portfolio: near-zero correlation with equities, freedom from counterparty and sanctions risk, and competitive long-run returns,” said Sawrikar.
These three structural advantages are:
• Near Zero Correlation: A 0.02 correlation factor with the S&P 500.
• No Counterparty Risk: The only international reserve asset free from sovereign credit risk or sanctions exposure.
• Competitive Returns: Gold compounded at 12.1% p.a. since 2001, outperforming the S&P 500’s 10.4% total return over the same period.
“Gold stood firm in 2022 when bonds and equities fell simultaneously, challenging the traditional 60/40 framework. Gold is the genuine third leg of a resilient portfolio, not a bond substitute,” states Sawrikar.
Global Expertise and Secure Custody
By utilizing IIDI-insured, IFSCA-regulated vaults, the fund offers “strategic diversification” through segregated storage independent of Western custodian networks.
FinMet brings a wealth of global bullion network access, advising the fund on IIBX trading protocols, LBMA pricing, and central bank activity. The scheme will offer weekly subscriptions and redemptions, providing liquidity alongside institutional-grade security.
Catalysing India’s Gold Trading Ecosystem: The IIBX Imperative
The Artha Bharat FinMet Physical Gold Fund is more than a product launch, it is a deliberate act of ecosystem building. The India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX), launched in July 2022 at GIFT City as India’s first international bullion exchange, has struggled to establish sustained trading volumes. After rising from 411 kg in FY2022–23 to 92 tonnes in FY2024–25, volumes collapsed to barely 600 kg year-to-date in FY2025–26. Critically, the activity that has driven IIBX to date has been almost entirely commercial import-led, by jewelers with no meaningful participation by institutional investment funds holding gold as a financial asset.
The Artha Bharat FinMet Physical Gold Fund will be the first investment fund to hold physical gold on IIBX, introducing a new category of participant and a qualitatively different source of demand: long-term institutional investment flows rather than short-cycle import transactions.
“IIBX was built to be world-class infrastructure for gold trading and storage, regulated, transparent, and LBMA-standard. But infrastructure only realises its potential when it has sustained utilisation. Our fund will be the first institutional investment vehicle to use IIBX and IIDI vaults not for import, but for holding gold as a long-term financial asset. We hope this catalyses other fund managers, family offices, and institutional investors to follow, and in doing so, fulfil the original vision of GIFT City as a global hub for gold finance, not merely a conduit for jewelry imports,” said Sawrikar.
About Artha Bharat:Artha Bharat Investment Managers IFSC LLP is one of the largest fund management entities operating from GIFT City and registered with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA). It manages the Artha Global Opportunities Fund, Artha Global Multiplier Fund and the Artha Bharat Absolute Returns Fund that are registered with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), GIFT City as Category III Alternate Investment Funds. The $750 million IFSCA registered FME is promoted by XLRI alumnus and CFA charter holder Sachin Sawrikar, who brings over 30 years of global fund management experience.
