New Delhi, April 8 -- India's top wealth managers have started looking beyond bets on listed companies to investing models that, in addition to stocks, invest in mutual funds, bonds, and commodities.

In doing so, not only are they spreading out risk and limiting downside on returns, they are also responding to reluctance among investors to pay just for advice on which funds to buy or sell in a falling market.

The so-called multi-asset model has seen steady traction in recent years, according to industry insiders. While data at the industry-wide level is not available, Mint interviewed senior executives at large wealth management companies and portfolio management services, or PMS, firms and analyzed their portfolios to capture the trend...