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Kripa Raman

Dubai, Feb. 12

Reliance Money said it is launching broking, mutual fund and portfolio management services in the United Arab Emirates through a tie-up with Dubai International Securities (DIS).

The Indian company is the broking and financial services distribution arm of Reliance Capital. The entity in Dubai is a part of the Al Rostamani Group and among the top ten brokerages in the UAE.

Reliance Money will offer broking services and distribute mutual funds using DIS’s network and knowledge of the local markets. Through the tie-up, Reliance Money will tap 20 million non-resident Indians living in West Asia, said a statement from the company.

“We plan to tap over 1-lakh customers in the first year itself,” said Mr Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Director & CEO, Reliance Money, at a news conference here on Tuesday.

Initially only broking services and mutual fund services will be offered.

But Reliance also plans to offer portfolio management services for a minimum amount as low as $50,000 to NRI and PIO customers in the West Asia.

In addition, a mobile portal will be launched, allowing users to get real time access to market information on their phones. Another service will be a real time chat facility where experts will offer market research and guidance to customers, said Mr Bandypadhyay. The application for this will be downloadable for free, he said.

DIS has a large Indian clientele across its network; and with this tie-up, it would be able to provide them with a platform to transact in Indian financial instruments, said Mr Ernest J. Ratnayake, Group CEO of the Al Rostamani group.

This constitutes a parallel to the PMS services that it is now offering in India for a minimum amount of Rs 5 lakh. “The sophisticated players (in PMS) are all targeting the high networth customers, but we have decided to offer equal services to the salaried and the professional class,” said Mr Bandyopadhyay.

The reverse service, that of offering Indian investors services to invest overseas also exists, but the current investment direction is towards India, he noted.

Already some companies such as Geojit Securities and Motilal Oswal are offering their services in the Gulf. This region had fewer restrictions than the US for Indian brokerages, he said.

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