Small-town wealthy dive into high-risk PMS schemes

Sophisticated, high-risk investments are no longer confined to the rich in metropolitan cities.

- Srushti Vaidya

Thanks to increased awareness following the pandemic, the wealthy in India's smaller cities such as Indore, Kochi, Nashik, Nagpur and Rourkela are becoming more comfortable with products offered by portfolio managers.

Portfolio management services (PMS) providers create concentrated and customized options with equity and debt. Unlike the diversified mutual funds aimed at retail investors, PMS firms have a higher entry ticket size of ₹50 lakh, serving high-net-worth individuals who are comfortable with higher risk.

The PMS industry's share of clients from non-metros has surged over the past three years, according to a Mint analysis of investors of some of the top firms in India. For instance, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co, one of the largest portfolio managers in the country with PMS assets worth ₹27,000 crore, has seen the share of such investors from non-metros nearly triple in three years from 10-12% to 30%.

PMS firms have an entry ticket size of ₹50 lakh.

(ISTOCKPHOTO)