Mumbai, Nov. 15 -- British bank Standard Chartered has begun offering its Signature CIO Funds to affluent Indians through GIFT City, betting that rising wealth at home will fuel demand for offshore diversification.

The launch follows an August approval from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), GIFT City's regulator, allowing the bank to distribute the funds to resident Indians. Launched four years ago, the funds manage $5 billion in assets across 13 markets.

"A lot of customers, when they originate wealth in their home country, want to look at investments offshore just to be able to diversify their portfolio," said Samir Subberwal, global head of wealth solutions, retail products and analytics at Standard Char...