What is an FPI? Foreign Portfolio Investor
To answer what is an FPI: an FPI, or Foreign Portfolio Investor, is an overseas investor registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to invest in Indian securities such as listed stocks and bonds. The rulebook is the SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2019, which SEBI's own listing shows as last amended on 7 July 2026 (read 14 October 2026). When you read that foreign investors bought or sold Indian equities on a given day, those are FPIs.
Definition
An FPI (Foreign Portfolio Investor)
is an overseas investor registered with SEBI to buy and sell Indian securities like listed equities and bonds. The FPI route replaced the older FII route in 2014. The SEBI FPI Regulations, 2019, amended up to 7 July 2026, govern it today and sort FPIs into two categories. Source: SEBI.
What is an FPI, and how does it differ from an FII?
For years the market called these investors FIIs, or Foreign Institutional Investors. In 2014 SEBI consolidated FIIs, their sub-accounts, and Qualified Foreign Investors into one route: the Foreign Portfolio Investor. The SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2019, notified on 23 September 2019, replaced the 2014 rules. Regulation 45 repeals the 2014 Regulations and tells each designated depository participant to re-categorise the FPIs it had registered under them. So "FPI" is the accurate regulatory term today, while "FII" survives mostly as everyday shorthand, including in the widely quoted "FII/DII" flow figures. The FII vs FPI page walks through the history.
2 categories
FPI categories under Regulation 5 of the 2019 Regulations, down from three under the 2014 rules
Source: SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2019, amended up to 7 July 2026, read 14 October 2026
What are the two FPI categories?
Regulation 5 sets the two buckets. The lists below follow the regulation's own wording, as consolidated up to 7 July 2026.
| Category | Who it covers (Regulation 5) |
|---|---|
| Category I | Government and government-related investors such as central banks and sovereign wealth funds; pension funds and university funds; appropriately regulated entities such as insurers, banks, asset management companies, portfolio managers and broker dealers; and certain funds from Financial Action Task Force member countries |
| Category II | Everyone not eligible for Category I, such as regulated funds that do not qualify for Category I, endowments and foundations, charitable organisations, corporate bodies, family offices, individuals, and unregulated funds set up as limited partnerships or trusts |
The regulation also deems an applicant set up in an International Financial Services Centre to be appropriately regulated. The category matters to a reader of filings because the shareholding pattern reports the two categories on separate lines.
Where do you actually see FPI activity?
FPIs do not file a single public portfolio, but their footprint shows up in two public places.
First, aggregate FPI buying and selling appears in the daily FII/DII activity data, which you can track day to day.
Second, holdings appear in each listed company's quarterly shareholding pattern. Foreign portfolio investors sit in Table III, block B(2) Institutions (Foreign), on two lines, Category I and Category II; how to check FPI holdings walks through the filing line by line. Any public shareholder holding 1% or more of the shares is named: the SEBI LODR Master Circular dated 30 January 2026, para 2.4.1, reads "1% or more than 1%" (read 14 October 2026; not moved). An FPI at exactly 1% is named, not only one above it. Flock's FII and DII holdings page shows the filed FII and DII percentage for each stock, with the quarter it covers and a link to the shareholding-pattern filing it came from.
When do FPI holdings next update?
The quarter ended 30 September 2026 is in its filing window now. SEBI LODR Regulation 31(1)(b) gives a listed company 21 days from quarter end to file its shareholding pattern, so the Q2 FY27 filings are due by 21 October 2026. A holding read from those filings is as of 30 September 2026, not the day you read it.
So what is an FPI in one line: the registered overseas investor behind the foreign flows and holdings you see in Indian filings. Flock reads that public disclosure data and keeps each figure stamped with its date and source. What any of it means for you is your call to make.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between FPI and FII?
FII is the older term. In 2014 SEBI merged FIIs, sub-accounts, and Qualified Foreign Investors into a single Foreign Portfolio Investor route, and the 2019 FPI Regulations repealed the 2014 ones (Regulation 45). FPI is now the regulatory term; FII survives as everyday shorthand. Source: SEBI FPI Regulations, 2019, amended up to 7 July 2026.
What are the categories of FPI?
Regulation 5 of the SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2019 sets two categories. Category I covers government-related investors, pension and university funds, and appropriately regulated entities. Category II covers everyone else, such as corporate bodies, family offices and individuals. Source: SEBI FPI Regulations, 2019, amended up to 7 July 2026.
Where does FPI activity show up in filings?
Aggregate FPI buying and selling appears in the daily FII/DII figures. Holdings appear in each company's quarterly shareholding pattern, on two lines, FPI Category I and Category II, and an FPI holding 1% or more of the shares is named. Source: SEBI LODR Master Circular dated 30 January 2026, para 2.4.1.
Who regulates FPIs in India?
SEBI regulates FPIs under the SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2019, last amended on 7 July 2026. An FPI is registered by a designated depository participant on SEBI's behalf, which issues the certificate of registration. Source: SEBI FPI Regulations, 2019, Regulation 2(1)(e), read 14 October 2026.
Flock tracks these filings, sourced, dated, and linked back to the original. See what smart-money entities disclosed, without the guesswork about what it means.
Disclosures shown are public regulatory filings. Data may be delayed or incomplete. Smart-money entities may no longer hold positions shown. Not investment advice.