The Hindu Business Line : PMS space expands with more entrants in fray

Whatever the name, most PMS providers claim that they provide investors a wide basket of services, including online advisory and personalised customer servicing.

Kolkata , April 17

The cup of choices continues to overflow for seekers of portfolio management services (PMS). More than three years into the bull run, the PMS space is still attracting new players, some of them with striking names like Guiness 123.

Whatever the name, most PMS providers claim that they provide investors a wide basket of services, including online advisory and personalised customer servicing.

The stress, at least in advertisements that some of the newer entrants are issuing these days, is clearly on offering a "complete range" to clients.

The older players - the established companies, which admit that the Indian market for PMS products has been growing rapidly - underline the need for maintaining service quality. It is their unanimous opinion that with so many competing options on offer, an investor needs to be very careful while exercising choice.

Guiness Securities

Take, for instance, Guiness Securities, a company that currently offers services through an online trading portal named 16anna.com. It has lately been pushing its PMS - titled Guiness 123 - as well.

Or consider the recently renamed Fortis Securities, which in its current avatar of Religare has decided to retain such PMS options as Tortoise. The latter, true to label, basically seeks to grow the value of a portfolio over time.

Broking houses that have enunciated PMS aspirations feel portfolio management will be one of the areas that will assume greater significance in future.

Mr Krishna Kumar Karwa, Director of Emkay Share & Stock Brokers, said that brokerages are anyway planning to expand in various ways. "Branding will become key to sustainable growth," he said, adding that PMS will become more important in this context.

Others are of the opinion that the presence of so many offerings, especially in the context of wealth management, may even perplex investors.

Mr Arpit Agarwal, CEO of Dawnay Day Financial Services, urges investors to ensure that they are actually serviced by trained professionals. Unbiased advice and diversity of products are major considerations on this front, he added.

Established labels such as Tortoise are at the moment competing with brands promoted by other well-known companies.

Among the latter are players like ASK Raymond James, which offers wealth management services under portfolios named Eagle, Kingfisher, and Lighthouse Infrastructure. Each has its unique features, it is said.