Funded by a renowned PE firm New Silk Route, financial services provider Destimoney Securities is looking to make further inroads in a highly competitive environment

The attractive yet cutthroat world of retail financial services and distribution is like a rainbow being chased by companies big and small. Everyone, from banks to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) is keen to get a larger share of the mammoth pie.

Destimoney Securities is another such financial services provider that is geared up for a more aggressive expansion into this business. Recently, Kerala-based lender Dhanlaxmi Bank invested Rs13 crore for acquiring a 15% stake in Destimoney Securities. This is yet another instance of a bank tying up or investing money in a brokerage firm to offer a bouquet of financial services to its customers. Axis Bank-Geojit BNP Paribas, Bank of Baroda-India Infoline, SBI-Motilal Oswal are just some of the examples of alliances between banks and brokerage houses.

Dhanlaxmi Bank currently offers Destimoney products and services from across all its existing and new branches. The online trading product is being marketed as "Dhan4U" and is currently being offered to all the customers of Dhanlaxmi Bank. Going forward, other product offerings of Destimoney, namely, Portfolio Management services, Portfolio Advisory services, Commodity & Currency trading services, etc, shall be offered to all existing and new customers of the bank, points out Vivek Vig, managing director, Destimoney Group.

Speaking about the nature of Dhanlaxmi's investment in the company, Vivek Vig said, "This investment into Destimoney Securities is an extension to the strategic partnership with Dhanlaxmi Bank to offer online trading facility to the bank's existing and new CASA customers. It shall also bring in greater synergy and focus towards expanding (the) product basket to (the) bank's customers and also increase fee-based revenue for the bank. Both the partners are keen to set up high-quality infrastructure and technological platforms to offer value-added products and services to middle India markets." 

Destimoney claims to differentiate itself from its competitors through a unique client-centric philosophy and an ethos of integrity. On his company's game-plan for further expansion, Mr Vig said, "Destimoney shall continue to grow its business besides this partnership with Dhanlaxmi Bank. We are committed towards building a world-class retail financial services powerhouse and will continue offering value-added products and services to 'Middle India'."

Destimoney Securities is currently offering its products and services through 15 branch offices and over 100 associate partners spread across more than 50 cities. It hopes to continue expanding its reach and point of sale across strategic territories within the country.

Responding to whether the company would seek more investments in the future, Mr Vig said, "Destimoney is on the growth path and shall continue making fresh investments into the company to support its accelerated growth either through its existing shareholders or from other investors, going forward."

Destimoney Securities is a 100% subsidiary of Destimoney Enterprises, a financial services and advisory company owned and controlled by private equity firm New Silk Route (NSR). NSR acquired a 100% stake in the business in
mid-2008. The fact that a respected and well-known private equity firm like NSR invested a sizeable chunk of money into this business is a testimony to the potential of the nascent financial services industry in India.

Various PE funds have tried their hand at this business, which includes the investment by Barings India Private Equity in Cochin-based JRG Securities back in 2007. NSR is a leading Asia-focused growth capital firm founded in 2006 with $1.4 billion under management, focused on the Indian subcontinent, as well as other rapidly-growing economies in Asia and the Middle East.

The firm is led by Rajat Gupta, Victor Menezes and Parag Saxena, all with track records of building and leading global organisations.