HDFC Securities enters wealth advisory business with launch of HDFC Tru

The company stated that its new offering will provide financial solutions to corporate treasury, ultra high net-worth investors (HNIs), and family offices in the over Rs 50 crore investment segment

HDFC Securities, the stock broking and research arm of HDFC Bank, on Thursday announced its entry in the wealth advisory space with the launch of HDFC Tru, targeting the burgeoning family offices and wealthy investors.

With the launch, HDFC Securities wants to capture market share at a time when the household financial assets are expected to see a multi-fold jump in the next five to ten years, especially from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

While the stock broker is already into distribution business for financial products, its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) Dhiraj Relli affirmed that the advisory business will co-exist with the distribution arm.

Market regulator mandates an arm’s length between both the distribution and advisory business for the investor’s interest. In the advisory side, the investors pay a fee for the service, while in distribution the incomes are from selling the products.

Talking about regulatory changes around futures and options, Relli added that the brokerage house will be the least impacted from it as 85 per cent of the business is not dependent on it.

The company said that its new offering will provide financial solutions to corporate treasury, ultra-high net-worth investors (HNIs), and family offices in the over Rs 50 crore investment segment.

The product offerings will be in equity, debt, alternates, private markets, and global opportunities along with real estate funds, REITs, InvITs.

The competition in the domestic wealth management industry is already intense with established names like Kotak Private Wealth and 360 ONE Wealth dominating the space.

While HDFC Tru has onboarded some clients, the mix remains at around 30 per cent clients from corporate treasury and rest from family offices and UHNIs.

“As the number of affluent individuals increases and corporate earnings continue to expand within the country, there is a rising demand for sophisticated and customised financial solutions. India's household financial assets are projected to triple, growing from approximately Rs 350 trillion in FY24 to over Rs 1,000 trillion in the next decade,” said Pranab Uniyal, head of wealth advisory, HDFC Securities.