India's family offices are no longer passive custodians of inherited wealth. They are active allocators, institution builders, and increasingly, architects of multi-generational impact. Yet the environment they operate in has never been more complex. Geopolitical flashpoints are redrawing capital flows, private market cycles are humbling even the sharpest bets, and the next generation is demanding a seat at the table with a very different playbook.
VCCircle's Family Office Summit 2026 brings together India's most influential single and multi-family office heads, CIOs, next-generation wealth creators, investment strategists, and global advisors for a day of high-conviction dialogue and curated peer networking.
Now in its annual tradition as India's most trusted gathering for legacy capital, this edition takes on the theme: Building A Resilient Family Office Playbook Amidst Perfect Storm. The summit will examine how India's wealth custodians are stress-testing their strategies, restructuring their governance, and repositioning their portfolios for a world that looks very different from the one their wealth was built in.
From global asset allocation and private market discipline to GIFT City structures, next-gen succession, and the shift from philanthropy to impact alpha, every session is designed to move the needle, not just the conversation.
Date: 24th July,2026
Venue: Mumbai
Family offices have been rewiring how they factor geopolitics into their asset allocation. While India remains relatively stable, flashpoints from the Middle East to South East Asia are sending a clarion call to relook at geographic mix.
How are family offices reshaping their allocation across regions? Could South East Asia emerge as the new Middle East for surplus Indian capital? And are business families increasingly turning the lens inward, considering greater allocation to India itself?
Private market investments, whether in early-stage startups or privately held mid-to-large companies, offer high risk and high reward. Some family offices have hit jackpots; others have tasted a lemon.
As managers navigate valuation cycles, how are strategies evolving? How do you balance the need for alpha while preserving the base? And in what scenarios should a family office lean on external fund managers versus backing their own conviction?
Lending has long been treated as the conservative corner of a portfolio, a de-risking tool rather than a return engine. But in a volatile macro environment, private credit may well be the perfect antidote to equity swings.
Modest returns during a bull run can look like an intelligent hedge when markets turn. How should portfolios dynamically switch allocation into credit? Is a fixed, meaningful credit sleeve the more prudent long-term play?
Stock markets swing, valuations compress, and cycles bite, but real assets endure. Whether it is a pure-play land bank, a portfolio of residential properties, rent-yielding commercial real estate, or long-gestation infrastructure assets, real assets remain a cornerstone consideration for family offices.
Old money swears by them. But how does the new generation view the real asset opportunity? And is the play being refined further, with direct ownership giving way to InvIT and REIT structures?
At the heart of most family offices sits a generational tension. The older generation, battle-tested across multiple business and investment cycles, defaults to capital preservation. The next generation comes with growth ambitions, a higher risk tolerance, and ideas shaped by a very different world.
How do the professionals in between bridge this divide? How are heirs being prepared beyond financial literacy, to become responsible, informed, and values-aligned stewards of family wealth?
With at least one established global safe haven now facing political and regulatory headwinds, Indian family offices are reassessing where to legally base their investment activities.
Is India's own offshore financial centre, GIFT City, finally ready to be the home for families' global investment mandates? What are the operational advantages of setting up family investment entities there, and do they meaningfully counterbalance the risks of keeping bets closer to home?
Setting up a professional family office is only the first step. Too many slip back into being run on the whims of promoters or next-gen members, making it hard to attract and hold serious investment talent.
How can family offices build the right incentive structures, define genuine career paths, and create governance guardrails that make them a credible long-term destination for senior investment professionals?
A decade ago, individual angels turned full-time VCs. Something similar is now happening in the family office space. Some SFOs are evolving into full-fledged alternative investment platforms, with the family remaining an anchor LP while external capital is brought into commingled pools.
What drove this transition? How is the shift from single-family stewardship to institutional fund management actually playing out on the ground?
For years, family office philanthropy has been shaped by ad-hoc impulses such as scholarships, health camps, and temple trusts. The responsibility of a family office, however, extends far beyond such gestures.
Some of India's larger family offices and foundations have pivoted from general philanthropy to thematic, outcomes-oriented strategies, tracking SDG goals, backing climate-tech, and measuring social returns.
What does a mature family office philanthropy framework look like, and how is impact being measured with real rigour?
Family offices have both the flexibility and the firepower to carve out a distinctive public market strategy, active or passive, direct secondary or primary, ETFs or mutual funds.
How are the managers of family wealth approaching this allocation? Are ETFs increasingly seen as a smarter alternative to fee-laden mutual funds? And how far should a family office diversify its public market picks before diversification itself becomes a drag?
Mr Sundararaman Ramamurthy joined BSE in Jan 2023 and been instrumental in the turnaround story for the exchange. His period in office has been characterised by significant accomplishments including brand repurposing, product diversification, improved market share, technological upgrades, enhanced employee morale and investor/ shareholder confidence. The leadership and entrepreneurial spirit infused by him into BSE, has been pivotal for the exchange’s transformation-led success journey.
Rehan Yar Khan is the Managing Partner of Orios Venture Partners, which is ranked amongst India's top performing VC funds and manages over ?3000cr. Orios’ portfolio includes Country Delight, PharmEasy, Zupee, Now Purchase, Battey Smart, NxtWave, Vedantu, Mobikwik, Nazaara and Ixigo. Rehan previously led 1st round investments in Ola & Druva.
Rehan has been a founder since 1992 building 3 companies, 2 of them in tech; and was also closely involved in the establishment of Indian Angel Network's Mumbai Chapter. He is an active supporter of entrepreneurship development in India as a TiE Charter and policy development as past Chair of IVCA's VC Council.
He is the co-author of Make Your Own Luck, an Amazon bestseller, that encourages people with startups, careers and life.
He studied Political Science and Economics at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai and has done his MBA from Columbia Business School, New York.
Rehan lives with his family in Mumbai. Together they enjoy cooking, hiking, running, swimming, friends & family gatherings and arts & culture.
Imran is a Managing Partner at Gaja Capital. He is responsible for investing activities, operations and team development.
At Gaja Capital, Imran leads investments in the Education, Software and Consumer clusters. He has been closely involved with Gaja Capital’s investments in Amber Student (Global marketplace for student accommodation), Signzy (SaaS platform for BFSI), LeadSquared (Sales automation SaaS platform), Ei (B2B Learning Software), Sportz Village (Youth Sports), Lighthouse Learning (Pre-K and K-12), John Distilleries (AlcoBev) and CL Educate (Supplemental Education).
He holds a Master’s of science degree in software engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Rajasthan and has completed a post-graduate diploma in management from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Karnataka. He has over 26 years of experience in various industries which includes 20 years of experience in private equity.
Leena Dandekar is the Founder of Raintree Family Office and Raintree Foundation. She and her family have dedicated their capital, networks, and skills to driving impact in climate action, circularity and sustainability.
Raintree Foundation is the outcome of the family’s deep-seated passion and commitment to climate action. Their aim is to build climate resilience in living landscapes. Leena oversees as a strategist and drives the vision of “Dignity and Wellbeing for Planet and People.”
Raintree Family Office was established with the objective of investing the family-owned funds towards various impact and ESG asset classes. Leena has been one of the few leading the way in impact investing in India. Investments promoting innovation in climate solutions, circularity, and responsible consumption are focus areas.
Before starting the Raintree Family Office and Raintree Foundation, Leena served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Camlin Group, where she helmed various strategic and operational initiatives.
TC Meenakshisundaram is the Founder and Vice Chairman of Chiratae Ventures. He has over 38 years of industry experience, including 18+ years of venture experience. He serves on the Boards of Lenskart, AgroStar, Vayana, Kristal.ai, Metadome, HUVIAiR, and Pando amongst others.
With two decades of experience in the Indian VC/PE ecosystem TCM has led many initiatives to success in investments, exits, firm building, fundraising, finance and legal, amongst others. He has led several portfolio companies to scale, Unicorn, and IPO.
Earlier, as part of Walden International’s team, he was involved with investments in Mindtree, Venture Infotek and Jobstreet. Before Chiratae Ventures, TCM served as Chief Financial Officer and President – Corporate Services at Venture Infotek, India's leading payment processing company. He also spent 14 years at Wipro, where he last served as General Manager of the eCommerce Division.
A seasoned financial markets professional, Benaifer Malandkar is the Chief Investment Officer at RAAY Global Investments- the family office of the Amit Patni Group of Patni Computers. The promoter family divested their stake in May 2011 to I-Gate Corporation at USD 1.5 bn. She is responsible for investment management of the group including identification, evaluation, deal execution, and monitoring every investment across a gamut of diverse asset classes including public markets.
Additionally, she has served as a Director on the Board of Bombay Shirt Company and an advisor to the Board of Waterfield Advisors, a fast growing Multi Family Office firm. She has also served as a Director on the Board of Nirvana Venture Advisors, a Digital & Internet Venture Fund and currently is a Board Director at AD Ventures, a music content and live events company as well as a Board Director at Web Talkies Pvt Ltd, a regional content creating company.
Benaifer’s forte lies in end-to-end setting up of new businesses and following that up with a robust performance. She has a demonstrated track record in identifying early stage and unlisted company investments, succession planning, and estate management. She has raised funds for early stage and mid stage companies, and been instrumental in the leading the business strategy for a few ventures to achieve sustainable profitability. A well networked professional, she is recognized for business and market intelligence, a critical skill in the investments field.
Across the multiple organisations that she has worked in, including Citibank, ICICI Prudential AMC, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and SMIFS securities, she has consciously chosen new roles, thereby wide-basing her exposure and proficiency. With experience of over 22 years in various corporates she has gathered considerable understanding and comprehension of portfolio management, equity and debt markets, asset management, and retail & private banking industries.
She is often invited to speak at national and international industry events of repute and often writes opinion pieces in various publications. Benaifer received her post graduation degree in Masters in Business Administration from JDBIMS, Mumbai.
Nitesh Aggarwal is the Chief Investment Officer at Baldota Family Office fund with a deployable corpus of $130mn. The investment focus in to largely invest in the unlisted space into start-ups and VC/PE funds. They have already deployed ~40mn across 35 funds and 25 start-ups across India/US and Israel.
An alumnus of Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore, he has over 17 years of experience investing in the PE/VC asset class.
Nitesh was earlier associated with funds like Q Investments, New Enterprise Associates, and Edelweiss, among others.
Devashish has been in the Family Office Investing space for the last 18 years and has led 4 Family Offices in India. He has spent time across asset classes with passion to invest in Private Markets. Current portfolio has more than 15 LP positions and 40 direct investments.
Jai is a man who wears many hats. As the Head of the Dinesh Hinduja Family Office (DHFO), he oversees investments across all asset classes for the group: real estate, equities, bonds, structured products, private equity, and venture capital. Mr. Rupani led the real estate development efforts at Gokaldas Lifestyle, a group company of DHFO, for several years before taking the helm at the family office.
Before joining the Gokaldas Group, Mr. Rupani was part of the investment team at True North (erstwhile India Value Fund), a USD 2.2 billion private equity fund in Mumbai. During his tenure at True North, Jai led the investments into Merucabs (one of India’s first taxi-aggregation companies) and ACT Broadband (a leading IPTV and broadband service provider). Prior to True North, Mr. Rupani was an investment banker with The Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets Group in their San Francisco office for several years. At RBC Capital Markets, Jai was integral to the technology investment banking team managing IPOs, private placements, and M&A deals. He has completed his formal education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (BBA) and the University of Texas at Austin (MBA) in the United States. In his free time, he enjoys mentoring start-ups, playing golf, and spending time with his family.
Harsh Kr Dhanuka is the Chief Investment Office at SAR Group Family Office (Single Family Office of founders of Luminous, Livpure, Livguard, Lectrix). An accomplished financial Services professional with deep expertise and leadership experience in Family Office environment and the Investment management space. He leads the Investment Strategy and is responsible for setting up and managing the people, processes, policies, succession and estate planning for the Single-Family Office.
His investment expertise spans a broad array of asset classes and markets (domestic and global), giving him years of rich experience and an extensive network. He has more than a decade of experience of cross-functional leadership across Foreign Private Bank, Corporate treasury team of a large Indian MNC and an Institutional Single-Family Office. Harsh has worked closely with Ultra High Net worth Families, Corporate Treasuries, and highly placed professionals and entrepreneurs.
Harsh holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from St Xavier’s College, Kolkata & is a qualified Chartered Accountant & Company Secretary.
Harsh’s interests and expertise lie in dealing with complex structural issues (working on designing and implementing solutions for global wealth preservation and transmission) and also in implementing portfolio risk-reward optimization techniques (in theory as well as in practice).
Amol is the CIO of the Single Family Office of the Aga & Pudumjee Family of Thermax Ltd, which he joined in 2012.
Amol’s responsibilities towards this global portfolio include Strategic Asset Allocation, Geographical Allocation, Tactical rebalancing, Opportunistic Investing and MIS.
Amol has been instrumental in the Family Office’s move overseas. This involved Conceptualization, Overseas Trust Structuring, Obtaining regulatory Approvals, Cross Border Asset Transfers and Overseas Investments.
Amol has more than 16 years’ collective experience in Family Office Investments and Financial Research. He also holds a Global qualification in International Trust Management, conferred by STEP and the University of Manchester.
Abhimanyu Sofat is head of Dempo family office... Previous President Treasury and head of family office at NR Agarwal Industries. Earlier headed investment research and product teams at SBI Wealth and IIFL Sec.
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