Yes Bank subsidiary and leading brokerage firm, Yes Securities Ltd (YSL) targets an asset under management (AUM) of 10,000 crore in the next two years, up from about 250 crores currently. The parent, Yes Bank trading account, is also aggressively pumping in funds to ensure sustained growth in the brokerage vertical.
The growth, according to a top official of the company, will come from the retail-driven cash segment.
Looking beyond the rough patch
In an interaction with Business Line, Prasanth Prabhakaran, MD and CEO, YSL, informed that the brokerage went through a rough patch following Yes Bank’s financial issues during fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020.
We have made a strong comeback in the recent quarter. Last year, we closed at a top line of 156 crore, of which 135 crore was from the retail brokerage space. For fiscal 2022, we are aiming at closer to around 250 crores, of which pure retail brokerage share would be about 220 crores, said Prabhakaran.
The banker brokerage had opened about 70,000 accounts last year, which were in addition to about 68,000 accounts it had for the past eight years.
Currently, every month we open around 8,000-10,000 accounts. So, against 1.5 lakh accounts that we closed for March 2022, we will end up opening more than double of that this year. So we will close fiscal 2023 at around four lakh accounts, and usually 25 per cent market share comes from the Gujarat market, said Prabhakaran.
Relying on YES Bank network
YSL, which gets most of the retail accounts through the parent – Yes Bank, has remained focused on markets such as Bangalore, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Delhi. YSL relies on the strong Yes Bank network of 1,200 locations, which gives YSL about 60 per cent of the new accounts from non-metro cities.
We play to the strength of the bank, said Prabhakaran, adding that YSL is expanding big time with fund infusion from the parent. The YSL board has recently approved a fund infusion from Yes Bank to further fuel the growth in the broking business. The bank is practically pumping in three times of the net worth that we have to ensure that the growth momentum is maintained, he said.
Competition with discount brokerages
On the competition with the discount brokerage firms and fintech start-ups in broking, Prabhakaran stated that YSL sources clients through the Yes Bank, unlike the discount brokerages who do it from open market.
We believe that a client comes into the market to make returns not to save costs from the brokerage of 10 paisa or 20 paisa. If I managed to help him make returns in the market, he wouldn’t mind giving me a premium also the way mutual funds and your AIFs give, he said.
On broader economic and investment environment, Prabhakaran stated that even though there remains a short-term volatility because of an unprecedented situation happening globally, things will return to normal hopefully in the next three to six months.
