Thanks to the growing economy, the increasing popularity of stock options and a boom in real estate, there are an estimated one lakh millionaires (USD) in India.
ICICI Bank goes for specialisation to cater to clients
KOLKATA: Thanks to the growing economy, the increasing popularity of stock options, a boom in real estate and the emergence of first-generation entrepreneurs, there are an estimated one lakh millionaires (USD) in India.
What’s more, the number of people with Rs 4 crore or more investible assets are estimated to be growing at 18.3%, next only to Singapore, according to a World Wealth report.
In comparison, in China, the growth in millionaires is 7.6%.
Given this background, it is not surprising that the private banking space in the country has been growing at over 60%.
Anup Bagchi, head, global private banking, ICICI Bank, said, “The demographic profile in India is young and, hence, the ability to take risks is also large. People are continuously looking at wealth generation”.
ICICI Bank, one of the largest players in the private banking space in the country, has subdivided its business to cater to its clients better. While private banking largely caters to clients with investible assets of over Rs 5 crore bracket.
The business for the lower brackets, which are between Rs 1-5 crore and below Rs 1 crore, is termed wealth management.
According to Bagchi, the private banking suite has a number of offerings of multiple, innovative and convenient products catering to various customer requirements. “It offers full lifecycle solutions against the other categories, where basic financial planning to suit lifestyle needs is more important. We have around 1200 families in the private banking category”, he said.
SME investment banking is also gaining ground. For instance, there are many entrepreneurs who are selling off their BPO or pharma businesses and are in turn picking up equity in multiple BPO or pharma companies and thus building wealth.
Banks are expected to come up with ways to handle what Bagchi calls “emotional issues”.
“There are entrepreneurs who set up business in the 1990s are at present sitting on huge wealth. The next phase will see inter-generation issues when it comes to wealth being distributed among kith and kin, including children, who may now be in their teens”, he added.
Meanwhile, ICICI Bank is expanding in Europe and is expected to open a branch in Germany within the next couple of months.
Currently the largest Indian private bank has a presence in UK and Brussels. In the last two quarters the bank has introduced private banking facilities in the Gulf countries, Canada and South Africa .
At present, the bank’s offices spans across 18 countries.
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