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India’s Top 10 wealth managers by AUM & RM headcount 2016

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The ten largest wealth managers in India by client assets currently manage a little over 9%, or US$56.9 billion, of the nation’s total HNW wealth of US$600 billion, according to Asian Private Banker’s inaugural India onshore league table.

India's Top 10 Wealth Managers

Of India’s Top 10 Wealth Managers by assets under management (AUM) and relationship manager (RM) headcount for 2016, four are domestic and six are global players.

Domestic wealth managers account for US$21.5 billion – or just under 38% – of the total, while the globals manage US$35.4 billion.

Similar to China, the sheer size and lack of penetration of the HNW market spells opportunity for private banks and wealth managers,  and there has been a sharp increase in the number of set-ups contesting the space.

Case in point, Centrum Wealth Management, which has US$1.5 billion in assets under management (AUM) and 70 relationship managers (RMs), has already worked its way into the country’s Top 10 after just five years in business.

The largest domestic wealth manager is IIFL Private Wealth Management, spearheaded by Amit Shah, with US$9.5 billion and 220 RMs at an average of US$43 million per RM.

Kotak Wealth Management follows close behind with US$8 billion in AUM but just 30 RMs at an average of US$267 million per RM.

As expected, the deep ties between India (and particularly its diaspora) and the West have benefited global banks who dominate the Top 10.

Citi (including Gold, Private Client and Private Bank) ranks number one in India in terms of AUM with US$12 billion. With just 20 frontliners servicing India onshore, each of Citi’s RMs has an average book size of US$600 million.

Julius Baer and Barclays Wealth each have US$6 billion in AUM with 35 and 40 RMs, respectively.

However, the ascendancy would appear to lie with the domestic players given their steep growth trajectories, low set-up/operations costs and ability to lure talent.

Indeed, IIFL Private Wealth Management successfully poached a team of 10 Barclays Wealth RMs earlier this year.

Today there is a general consensus that wealth managers require US$3-4 billion in AUM to remain profitable in India. The ‘sweet spot’, at least according to Shah, is US$100 million per RM with a team of around 30-40 senior frontliners – considerably less than what is optimal for Asia’s high-cost offshore scene, where a rule-of-thumb average book size runs north of US$200 million.

India’s macro outlook is a cheery one, given favourable demographics, progressive reforms and economic tailwinds that are pegged to increase the size of its middle class and, effectively, the HNW wealth pool.

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