Tell us about your Journey with Choice India
We formed the Choice Group with a single-minded vision of providing all financial services under one entity. Everyone in the management has a finance background and wants to serve the masses of India.
I have been with Choice Group since the very beginning. Our objective of ‘Financial services for everyoneʼ brought us together on this journey and in the last 10 years, we have seen exponential growth in retail and institutional clients.
How do you see broking business evolving in India? Is there any scope for innovation?
Innovation is already happening in the broking business and it has become a pre-requisite today. We are a Fintech with a core focus on technological advancements coupled with user-centric innovation
Until about 5 years ago, Fintech was not a popular term used in the broking industry. Technology is bridging gaps like never before and soon all transactions will be entirely paperless. AI or Quant based trading will take CenterStage as algorithms keep being perfected, the smallest retail investor will be able to avail it
Automation will be the key. Companies are already working on ‘Automated Hedgingʼ technologies and providing great returns irrespective of market performance
Fundamentally, how is the Indian stock market placed vis-à-vis other emerging markets?
Indian Stock Market is the most advanced. The rules & regulations, governance infrastructure, technology and products are well-established as compared to other emerging markets.
However, financial products penetration is very low, which we expect to rise due to education and financial awareness.
Choice International recently acquired Bank Bazaarʼs Mutual Fund business? How do you see synergies working in this space?
Yes, itʼs part of our inorganic growth strategy. You see, the entire distribution business is turning towards volume play because of wafer-thin margins, brokerage fee cap etc many entrants are reconsidering their decisions. We have the highest rated Mutual Fund investment platform, Investica and Bank Bazaarʼs MF business was in perfect synergy.
Investica, has the entire ecosystem in place with platform flexible to take on any new addition in clients. Bank Bazarʼs MF clients are already used to the proprietary research methodology provided by them which they will be able to continue with Investica. They will have access to our research tools for Direct or Regular MF investing and since we are a Fintech, scaling up is relatively easy for us.
We as a platform are very happy to have added these investors to our platform and are looking forward to serving them to the best of our capacity
As per you what are some of the events in the forthcoming months, that will have a telling impact on Indian markets
We think the events which will impact the markets are the upcoming US elections, Covid vaccine trials and Indo-China border standoff
Tell us about your branches and distribution networking and what synergies you are seeking through the Mudra tie-up?
Well, we have 48 offices in key locations across India extending our reach to 15 states and 500+ districts and plan to add a lot more. Over 14,000 Business Associates and over 1360 Business partners to ensure that you are never far away from Choice
The Mudra tie-up is in-line with the vision to cater all retail investors across India. We want everyone to have financial well-being, happiness, security and Mudra shares our vision
