Vasanth Kamath, Founder & CEO, smallcase
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After opening international market investments to retail investors through GIFT City, Smallcase plans to launch analyst-recommended global theme-based ideas by May.
Smallcase opened a facility for domestic investors to trade in US equities through GIFT City-registered Global Access Provider Tickertape, a market information and tools platform. The facility enables Indian residents to access the universe of over 7,000 stocks and ETFs listed on US markets in real time.
Vasanth Kamath, Founder & CEO, smallcase, said thanks to the updated regulatory framework, the process is now seamless, right from opening an account to LRS remittances, which are now fully digital with partner banks.
How the structure works
Investors can select individual stocks and ETFs based on live prices displayed on Tickertape. Funds move from the investor’s Indian savings account to the GIFT City Global Access Provider account in dollars after conversion. From there, funds are transferred to the US brokerage. Investors do not need a bank account in GIFT City.
Within a week of launch, smallcase has opened over 5,000 accounts, and transactions are split equally between stocks and ETFs, said Kamath.
Investors have shown keen interest in themes unavailable in India, such as AI, biotech, space and deep tech, as well as commodity ETFs on copper, lithium and uranium, he added.
Investors can buy individual US stocks and ETFs, including fractional shares, starting at $1.
By April-May, research analysts and advisors can create portfolio-based recommendations using US stocks and ETFs through smallcase, he said.
Costs and investor protection
The brokerage works out to 20 basis points (0.2 per cent) on the dollar trade value. In addition, the investor’s bank will charge a forex markup when converting rupees to dollars.
In the US, brokers hold securities on behalf of clients.
In the event of a broker failure, investors are protected by Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) insurance up to $500,000 per account for missing securities or funds.
On the sale of US securities, the proceeds will be credited to the US brokerage wallet. Investors can reinvest or initiate an inward remittance back to their Indian bank account. Alternatively, it can remain in the brokerage account for up to six months before mandatory repatriation.
While most Indian investors have over 95 per cent of their equity exposure limited to India, which represents about 5 per cent of global market capitalisation. In contrast, the US markets account for roughly 70 per cent of global market cap.
Wealth Office launch
Smallcase has also launched Wealth Office, a consolidated net-worth tracker app with an AI layer. It integrates with the Account Aggregator framework and credit bureaus to automatically fetch mutual funds, equities, loans, NPS and vehicles.
Users can manually add assets like real estate, gold, ESOPs or informal loans. The AI layer summarises investments and provides their future growth prospects.
Published on February 19, 2026
