Edelweiss eyes Rs 1.5 trn in personal wealth management corpus in 2-3 years

Its personal wealth management arm, which currently manages Rs one trillion, clocked a robust revenue growth of 35% CAGR in the last three financial years

Homegrown financial services company Edelweiss is targetting a personal wealth management corpus of more than Rs 1.5 trillion in the next 2-3 years, compared to Rs one trillion at present.

Edelweiss Personal Wealth Advisory, the personal wealth management arm of Edelweiss Global Investment Advisory, clocked a robust revenue growth of 35 per cent CAGR in the last three financial years, the company’s senior executive vice president, Rahul Jain, told Business Standard here today.

He claimed the personal wealth management segment had not been adversely impacted by the current economic downturn. “In fact, the slowdown has accelerated the segment, since discerning investors are now seeking safer investment opportunities beyond the real estate and bullion sectors,” he added.

The company has a pan-India client base of more than 600,000 in the personal wealth management category, including 25,000 in Uttar Pradesh.

“In UP, we plan to double our client base to 50,000 in the next 2-3 years, considering the high client acquisition potential in the state, especially in cities like Lucknow, Kanpur and Meerut,” he added.

Jain said Edelweiss was investing heavily in technology in order to improve convenience and offer more value-added services to customers. “While more than half the users of our online platform are millennial, female participation is also picking up pace with the current share standing at 25 per cent,” he added.

Meanwhile, he said the personal wealth management arm had seen its mobile application ‘Edelweiss Mobile Trader' (EMT) usage clock 144 per cent growth in UP over the past two years. He attributed the high growth trajectory to the customised and ‘unbiased’ advisory to investors, especially in the retail segment, through user-friendly and advanced technology platforms developed in-house.

Commenting on the domestic financial market conditions, Jain claimed there was good demand from retail investors for debt products, which provided fixed income and were comparatively safer than shares.

“Recently, we have raised more than Rs 500 crore by floating non-convertible debentures (NCD) in the capital market. Going forward, we plan to mop up between Rs 300 crore and Rs 500 crore on regular basis through NCDs,” he added.

Earlier, Edelweiss had said that the funds raised through the issue would be used for onward lending, servicing of loans taken by the company and for general corporate purposes.

“India is in an exciting phase and it is the right time to adapt to the changing needs in the wealth management industry. As we move towards the dream of becoming a $5 trillion economy, I feel technology will play a crucial role in our business,” Jain said.

The company is also planning to expand its branch network from 65 at present to 85 in the next 12 months.