RISE OF PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT

India's wealth management industry has expanded manifold in a decade, with portfolio managers, advisers, and analysts growing sharply, attracting more investors

- BY FEROZE AZEEZ, Joint CEO, Anand Rathi Wealth

A DECADE ago, wealth for most Indians meant holding real estate, gold or FDs. Wealth management as a concept was not a very familiar concept, and the mostly people preferred to stay away from market-linked products. That picture is changing today with households steadily opening up to equities and mutual funds, SIPs are becoming a habit, and the advisory ecosystem has grown wider and deeper. Private wealth management has moved from an elite niche to a fast-growing pillar of the savings economy.

Reflecting this shift in household preferences, India's private wealth management industry has scaled up by 3-4x across categories over the last decade. The number of portfolio managers has grown more than 2x from 188 in 2014 to 420 in 2025, investment advisers have expanded nearly 5x from 271 to 1,329, and research analysts have surged from just 26 to 1,344 in the same period. This rapid expansion has not only deepened the advisory ecosystem but also helped onboard a much larger pool of investors into the wealth management fold in recent years.

Decade of Transformation

For many decades, Indian households primarily relied on traditional savings instruments, which provided security and stability but limited growth potential. These assets accounted for a substantial portion of household wealth, with debt instruments comprising around 80 per cent of financial assets as of 2013. The average rate of inflation is around 5.9 per cent and these debt products generate around 7 per cent which means a real return of 1.1 per cent and almost no real return for individuals in the highest tax slab.