TVS Capitals' Chairman invests in International Money Matters

Gopal Srinivasan and other investors have picked up 52 per cent stake in IMMPL

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Gopal Srinivasan, chairman of TVS Capitals and a senior member from the TVS Group family, along with other investors have picked up 52 per cent stake in International Money Matters Pvt Ltd (IMMPL), a SEBI registered financial planning and investment adviser with assets under management of around Rs 850 crore.

The other investors include Narayan K Seshadri, chairman Tranzmute Capital & Management, Anand Sudarshan, former vice-chairman and managing director of Manipal Global and others.

Srinivasan said that the company is engaged in the space of wealth management, essentially in the professional's market managing Rs 1-10 crore of financial assets. The firm, which started in 2001, was promoted by Lovai Navlakhi, an expert in goal oriented financial planning with over 18 years of corporate experience.

Going forward, it would look at M&As in South and Western markets for both customer acquisition and market expansion. Wealth management industry is going through a digital transformation and the investors are looking at bringing financial technology into the business, to turn it as a fintech company. Currently, it operates in Banglaore, Mumbai and Delhi catering to professionals and SMEs.

Navlakhi said that the strategic investors have recognised the culture, which is the major synergy, and would help the company to scale up. Some of the markets which are the in immediate radar for the company is Chennai and also contemplating to have hub and spoke model, using the existing cities as hub and catering to the nearby ones through spoke.

Demand for this service is growing at around 30-50 per cent at the market level. The company claims it has grown over seven times after the financial crisis.

Srinivasan has invested in his personal capacity along with one of the Holding company along with other investors. He declined to disclose the quantum of the investment.

Srinivasan has been investing in digital wealth management companies at his personnel capacity as he finds good opportunities. Till now, he had invested in four companies in this space, two in payments and one in vocational training loans and one in credit. This will be his fifth investment.

According to him, culture is critical in this space and it would be easy to build the business in a company which has the culture. One example is Sundaram Finance, which has built a unique culture which was key to its success, be it for digital or physical wealth management. This cannot be built over night and it takes years.