India’s private banking opportunity, especially onshore, is attracting an increasing number of top players to expand in the market.
A growing number of wealth managers are setting ambitious targets and piling resources to capture India’s wealth management opportunity as the South Asian nation boasts continued economic momentum and rapid minting of new riches.
Private banks like Julius Baer are ramping up expansion efforts onshore with plans to triple assets and double the number of relationship managers as well as clients, as part of a five-year transformation strategy in India.
According to a «Bloomberg» report citing Umang Papneja, CEO of Julius Baer’s India unit, the country’s $600 billion wealth management industry is growing 12 percent annually with only a quarter of wealth being managed professionally.
Inorganic Growth
Whiled some are seeking organic growth, others are expanding via acquisition. HSBC, for example, bought L&T Investment Management in December 2021 for $425 million to strengthen its India asset management business and better serve local wealth needs. The British lender is also planning to launch onshore private banking services in 2023 and is open to more acquisitions.
LGT acquired Mumbai-based Validus Wealth in 2019 and launched onshore wealth management services in October 2022.
India is expected to continue delivering strong wealth creation with its ultra-high net worth population (individuals with net assets of $30 million or more) forecasted to grow 39 percent between 2021 and 2026, according to a Knight Frank report in 2022.
