Goldman Sachs bucks industry trends with surge in India

Business: While the broader Indian participatory notes (P-notes) market continues to decline, US investment banking giant Goldman Sachs appears to be bucking the trend with its thriving P-notes business in the country. The company is actively courting a large number of family offices, boutique funds and ultra-wealthy individuals from overseas who are keen to enter the Indian market but are yet to decide on registering with the authorities.

In 2025 alone, Goldman Sachs has purchased at least 15 different stocks on behalf of its P-note clients, including investments in major companies such as Eternal, Paytm and Bharti Airtel, a trend that stands in stark contrast to the overall P-note landscape.

The P-note industry has declined significantly this year, falling to just 1.63% of total foreign portfolio investor (FPI) assets as of April 2025, down from 2.2% in April 2024. This is a dramatic change from half a decade ago, when P-notes accounted for nearly half of all FPI investments in India.
P-notes are financial instruments issued by registered FPIs to foreign investors. These allow foreign investors to invest in Indian stock markets without directly registering with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).