Winners rationale

The stars are aligning for India’s rising breed of international-class wealth managers as rampant wealth creation and economic reforms further expand the opportunity set and investors turn abruptly towards financial assets over gold and real estate. One doesn’t need to look far to find heady growth figures — India’s Top 20 wealth managers and private banks servicing the ultra and high net worth space grew their collective client assets by 63% in 2017 to US$169.3 billion, with the top five alone accounting for some US$85.7 billion.

Among the pacesetters, Edelweiss Private Wealth Management — by one measure the fastest-growing domestic wealth manager — has distinguished itself as the go-to provider for India’s ‘new’ wealth. Its decision to focus its activities on four client segments that together account for around 60% of incremental wealth creation — namely, entrepreneurs, family offices, CXOs with employee stock options, and professional investors and traders — is astute insofar as this specialisation provides Edelweiss with a significant competitive edge.

And as variegated as these clients’ needs are, Edelweiss has tailored its platform to address the full ambit of their requirements, spanning asset allocation, investment advisory, legal and tax, financing, and capital raising for family offices and corporate treasuries.

Edelweiss should be commended for deepening its offering beyond conventional wealth management solutions to include products that are exclusive or bespoke in nature and business-oriented solutions that go beyond investments. It is also the leader when it comes to alternatives, not only boasting the largest alternatives platform among its peers but also the country’s largest distressed asset fund, having moved quickly to take advantage of emerging opportunities following the introduction of a new insolvency and bankruptcy code.

Edelweiss has also been sage in the way it marshals its resources and capabilities around these client types. Each segment has its own team that draws on the firm’s experienced and growing pool of wealth managers and specialists, many of whom boast investment banking backgrounds. Based on Edelweiss’s internal survey, employee engagement in the wealth division is among the highest within the firm, which explains its remarkable 98% retention rate for financial advisors and industry-leading AUA per advisor of around US$195 million. More so, by tethering leadership and advisor awards with client satisfaction, Edelweiss has achieved a net promoter score of over 90, which is world-class in any industry.

Meanwhile, Edelweiss continues to invest in its digital and research offering. It has brought in a CTO and is focusing on developing tools that further enable and empower clients and manage compliance risks.

Ultimately, Edelweiss delivered an emphatic financial performance across all key metrics, including high double-digit top-line growth headlined by a marked increase in recurring income, and double-digit increases in client accounts, NNM, and wallet share of existing clients.

Edelweiss is Asian Private Banker’s Best Wealth Manager – India Domestic for 2018.