Date:20/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/12/20/stories/2005122003840600.htm

Back Kotak Mahindra to expand wealth management biz

Our Bureau

Mumbai , Dec. 19

KOTAK Mahindra Bank, which is the second largest player in wealth management, is planning to increase this segment from a base of over 2,000 clients to over 3,000 by March 2006, said Mr C. Jayaram, Head, Wealth Management.

"We are very aggressive in new client acquisition, which is important for business growth," he said. The bank offers the service in 11 offices across the country. A client with over Rs 5 crore of financial assets, excluding residentail properties, would qualify as a candidate for wealth management.

Apart from the usual products such as mutual funds, insurance and portfolio management, Kotak Mahindra also offers a real estate fund and a private equity fund.

These are products offered by the bank's associates. While historically high net individuals preferred instruments which assured a fixed income, many have now switched to equity funds. "Clients are clearly looking for more assets to invest in such as art funds, or commodities or gold. Internationally, all sorts of products are available, but in India, such products are not yet available," Mr Jayaram said.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, which has positioned itself as a bank for the `mass affluent,' has a total of 1.5 lakh customers. Of these, 30,000 are exclusive customers who invest with the bank and 2,000 are wealth management clients.

Though the bank does not have much of an NRI client base for wealth management, it does offer the service through its international subsidiaries in Dubai and London. The bank is also looking to open a branch of its UK subsidiary in Singapore by April 2006.