About
Founded in 1999 by Ranu Vohra, Kaushal Aggarwal and Gaurav Deepak of Coolstartups, the firm morphed into Avendus, a technology focused investment bank in 2000. It is now owned by KKR (a global Private Equity buyout specialist) following the purchase of a majority stake estimated to be USD 115 million in 2015.
Avendus Capital Pvt Ltd is a private company Indian company with operations in India, New York, London and Singapore.
- The group has a number of business segments –
- Asset Management
- Credit Solutions
- Investment Banking
- Wealth Management: started wealth management business in 2010
The wealth management business statistics are –
Relationship managers/ advisers: 36 (2019, Asian Private Banker)
Assets under management: USD 3.9 billion (2019, Asian Private Banker)
The WM business serves UHNI and Upper HNI segments with target customers with at least USD 5 million. It segments clients into groups of USD 5 million, USD 20 million, USD 100+ million. Clients include family offices, treasuries apart from UHNIs.
The firm has the following licenses – Mutual Fund Distributor (MFD), Registered Investment Adviser (RIA), Portfolio Management Service (PMS), Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) for lending, Broker, Research Analyst etc
Portfolio Management Services (PMS) – INP000005257
Registered Investment Adviser (RIA): INA000006527
Key staff
Nitin Singh, Managing Director and CEO (February 2020 to present) – Nitin has over 20 years of experience and an MBA degree from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. He is a graduate of Economics from Delhi university. LinkedIn
Ashvini Chopra (June 2020 to present), Executive Director and Head, Family Office – Ashvini has experience spanning with a postgraduate diploma in business management. He holds a Diploma in Trust and Estate Planning from STEP UK. LinkedIn
Pankaj Fitkariwala (June 2020 to present), Chief Operating Officer – Pankaj is a qualified Chartered Accountant with 21 years of experience in wealth management. LinkedIn
Arvind Bansal (July 2014 to present), Executive Director and Head, Products and Advisory – Arvind Bansal has more than 20 years of experience in wealth and asset management. He holds a Bachelor in Engineering degree from IIT, Delhi and an MBA degree from ISB Hyderabad. LinkedIn
Swati Singh (June 2016 to present), Executive Director and Head, Fixed Income – Swati has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry and specializes in fixed income. She holds an MBA deg
Services
Avendus Wealth Management offers investment advisory services, including both discretionary and non-discretionary Portfolio Management Services
- Lending
- Wealth planning- trust services, customized estate and succession planning services. Also offer advisory services spanning: taxation, liquidity event management, lifestyle, financial reporting and auditing
Investment philosophy (for firm)
We did not find a stated investment philosophy for Avendus Wealth Management. However, it is indicated that Avendus Wealth Management follows a bottom-up investment approach for discretionary managed equity portfolios. For non-discretionary managed equity portfolios, Avendus Wealth Management combines both top-down and bottom-up tactical views based on macro-economic factors.
Additional insight on the investment philosophy is provided by Nitin Shah in a media interview; episode 4 of Money Matters with Shradha Sharma. He shares his framework for investment as being centered around: quality, market leadership, liquidity and safety. Nitin adds that it is important to execute investments in a staggered manner to be positioned to take advantage of new information as it is made available.
Media
Indian family offices, HNIs accelerate their investment pace in startups amid the pandemic, Economic Times, 11th Dec 2020.
Arvind Bansal observes a shift in the investment choices of UHNIs and HNIs into technology focused startups. He indicates that this is due to the recognition of technology as a business enabler following the pandemic.
Avendus CEO on Driving the Firm to the Peak of the Indian Wealth Management Market, Hubbis, 9th Nov 2020.
Nitin Singh who joined Avendus in February 2020 just before the pandemic, shares his view on growth prospects for the firm. Nitin explains that the regulatory pressures on costs and margins results in increasing scrutiny on the quality and integrity of product selection and advisory services.
How to build wealth in the current times, Episode 4: Money Matters with Shradha Sharma, 5th May 2020
In this media interview, Nitin Singh, speaks about investments in startups, Avendus’ knowledge base and network in this area of investment. He states that in the assessment of startups, three pieces are essential differentiators: the quality of the brand and founder, the unique value proposition and how the startup would benefit from existing channels and impending changes in consumer behaviour. Nitin lists clarity of purpose, a unique dual ability to think strategically and yet be simultaneously short minded, as key qualities of people who successfully build wealth.
Analyst questions
- What is your investment philosophy? Is this constant across asset classes?
- Do you have any guiding principles on how you define and identify quality, market leadership, liquidity and safety in investment alternatives for clients?
- Do your clients specifically ask for certain types of products and services? How has this changed over the years?
Prepared by – Adza Vajime
Peer reviewed by – Chaitanya
Date – 1st March 2021
Date – 8th March, 2021
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