Market

In 1991, when India embarked on its economic

reforms programme, the countrys gross
domestic product (GDP) was Rs. 1,251,000
crore (US$ 278 billion). By 2001, ten years into
its reforms-led growth cycle, this had touched
Rs. 1,881,000 crore (US$ 418 billion). But the
snowballing effect of sustained growth saw the
GDP almost touch Rs. 5,400,000 crore
(US$ 1.2 trillion) by the end of 2010.
Going forward, three mega trends are
expected to drive the Indian growth story. A
savings rate that, at 32%, is amongst the highest
in the world; strong domestic demand fuelled
by a young population willing to spend and
enormous investments in Indias infrastructure
and other sectors. Acting together, these trends
are likely to result in a sustained 9% GDP
growth over the next decade.
India 2020, a landmark research report by
Edelweiss, has posited that by 2020, Indias
GDP will be more than US$ 4.50 trillion
(Rs. 20,250,000 crore) a near-fourfold increase
from its current levels. Interestingly Indias
savings in 2020 will be the size of its GDP today.
Incremental Indian financial savings will grow to
Rs. 17,200,000 crore (US$ 380 trillion) over this
decade. This will be four times the total financial
savings in the preceding 40 years. Per capita
GDP is expected to triple from the current
levels of Rs. 45,765 (US$ 1017) to Rs. 144,585
(US$ 3213).
The impact of this growth in the financial
services space is expected to be dramatic. The
broking sector revenues will grow 470% to
Rs. 69,750,000 (US$ 15.50 trillion), banking
revenues are expected to increase 530% to
Rs. 1,060,200,000 crore (US$ 235.60 trillion),
asset management will grow by 570% while life
insurance revenues are expected to touch
Rs. 1,077,300,000 crore (US$ 239.40
trillion) a growth of 470%.
With its strong presence in emerging
and high-growth businesses through its
diversified and innovative set of
products and services, Edelweiss is
strategically positioned to capitalise
on this explosive growth. The
company seeks to engage with a more
demanding, mature and knowledgeable
clientele that form the foundation of
todays growing financial services
industry.
Achievements
If figures can tell a story then
Edelweiss is an exceptional company. In
fifteen years, it has increased its net
worth 2300 times from Rs. 1 crore
(a little over US$ 200,000) in 1996 to
over Rs. 2300 crore (a little more than
US$ 500 million) in 2010. Its client
base, too, has grown from just a
handful to over 300,000. According to
Alexa rankings, www.edelweiss.in has
become the fastest growing online
domestic broking site in 2010.
Going by the share in the broking
revenue pie, the company is the
largest Indian brokerage firm. In the investment
banking space it is ranked second in qualified
institutional placements (QIPs) and overall third
in equity capital market transactions (ECMTs) in
the 2010 financial year. On a more recent note,
it is ranked first in equity market transactions by
the number of deals below
Rs. 400 crore (US$ 88.90 million)
in the 2010 calendar year
(Source: Prime Database).
In 2009, two merger and
acquisition (M&A) deals advised
by Edelweiss were adjudged as
Cross Border Deals of the Year
in the US$ 200+ million
(Rs. 900+ crore) and US$ 100+
million (Rs. 450+ crore)
categories. In 2010, a private
equity placement of Rs. 960
crore (US$ 213.30 million)
arranged by Edelweiss in Coffee
Day Resorts had been adjudged
the Best Deal of 2010 by Asian
Venture Capital Journal. The
following year the company was
ranked second in the high net
worth investor (HNI) category
and fourth in the retail category
in terms of the amount mobilised
in initial public offerings (IPOs)
(Source: Prime Database).
As a capping achievement the
company was adjudged the Best
Merchant Banker at the Outlook
Money-NDTV Profit Awards 2008.
History
When India liberalised in the
early 1990s, the role of capital
markets for generation and
efficient allocation of large financial resources
required for operating in a global milieu became
vital. This created the opportunity for the
emergence of players outside the traditional
banking system who could provide innovative
advice and facilitate access to risk capital.
Founded by Rashesh Shah and Venkat
Ramaswamy in 1996, Edelweiss was ideally
placed to be the bridge between investors with
capital and issuers with ideas.
Edelweiss started life as a boutique
investment bank and now straddles the entire
spectrum of financial services from investment
banking, institutional and retail broking to asset
management, wealth management, insurance and
wholesale and retail financing.
Product
Edelweiss divides its operations into two broad
lines of businesses: Agency and Capital. The
Agency business includes services like
investment banking, retail and institutional
broking, investment advisory, distribution
services and asset management. The Capital
business consists mainly of housing finance,
promoter finance, margin funding and loans
against shares.
Edelweiss caters to an enviable variety of
market and client segments. The verticals within
investment banking comprise equity capital
markets including IPOs/FPOs, QIPs, rights and
open offers, advisory services for mergers and
acquisitions, private equity syndication and
structured finance and infrastructure. Edelweiss
also offers a handsome bouquet of products in
debt capital markets including
debt syndication and broking.
The brands belief in
demonstrating thought
leadership at work is regularly
showcased through its
fundamental and alternative
research desks on the popular
on-line research portal,
www.edelresearch.com.
The company recently
launched a mobile trading
platform to allow its on-line
customers to trade in equity
on the National Stock
Exchange (NSE) as well as the
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE),
NSE futures and options and
NSE currency derivatives, using
GPRS-enabled mobile phones.
Edelweiss Wealth Advisory
offers comprehensive, bespoke
investment strategies to its
clients. The diverse offerings
range from a truly multi-asset
class allocation advisory to
structured products, portfolio
management, mutual funds,
insurance, derivatives
strategies, direct equity, private
equity and real estate funds.
The Alternative Asset
Management vertical currently
focuses largely on offshore
36 BUSINESS SUPERBRANDS
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institutional investors offering advisory and
management expertise for India-focused
multi-strategy, real estate and special
opportunities funds.
The Edelweiss Financing business primarily
includes collateralised loan products such as
sponsor funding, loans against shares, IPO
financing, loans against ESOPs and margin
funding. Recently the group entered the retail
financing space with the launch of a housing
finance company. The company expects to
shortly develop other areas of retail financing
and business loans for the small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) segment.
Recent Developments
The rapid rise of emerging opportunities and
Edelweisss own growth strategy necessitated
the company to seek acquisitions as a route to
swift expansion. In its most recent development
Edelweiss acquired Anagram Stock Broking a
company with a nation-wide network of more
than 170 branch offices and over 1300 sub-
brokers. Taken together with its own offices,
Edelweiss now operates through 360 offices
across major towns in India. Thus, this acquisition
has brought to Edelweisss fold a ready vehicle
to cover a large swathe of India.
Simultaneously, Edelweiss also plans to enter
the life insurance business with Tokio Marine
Holdings, Inc., one of the worlds leading
insurance groups. The joint venture, Edelweiss
Tokio Life Insurance, has recently received an
in-principle approval from the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority of India
and is awaiting the final set of approvals for a
possible launch of operations in the first half of
the 2012 financial year.
The group has also ventured into the
distressed assets business with Edelweiss Asset
Reconstruction Company Limited. The new
company has received the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
approval and has commenced
business.
The latest retail venture of the
group, Edelweiss Housing Finance
Limited (EHFL), has also launched
operations. The business targets
premium segment borrowers and
provides amongst the longest
tenure loans in the industry. EHFL
has set up offices in Mumbai and
Delhi and plans to reach 30 high-
potential markets in the next
three years. The company is
targeting a loan book of Rs. 5000
crore (about US$ 1.10 billion) during
this period.
Edelweisss unique learning facility
Fountainhead Leadership Centre at
Alibaug, Mumbai is a state-of-the-art
facility expected to contribute
immensely in the companys quest to
nurture a learning organisation.
Promotion
All through its young history,
Edelweiss has promoted its corporate
brand using a mix of strategic public
relations (PR), events, thought
leadership opportunities and
advertising. Until 2007, Edelweiss
primarily catered to institutional
clients, corporates and HNIs and did
not need mass market advertising
support.
During this period the primary tool
used for brand building was strategic
PR wherein senior Edelweiss
management commented on market
and economic trends, authored
articles in prominent business dailies
and magazines, showcasing thought
leadership through path-breaking research
reports and organising sharply focused events.
Edelweiss re-launched its brand identity in
2005 targeting the institutional and corporate
segments. The company used a media
mix involving print advertisements
in business dailies and business
magazines and outdoor advertising in
business districts. The core of the
communication remained thought
leadership and innovation in
practice.
Two years later as Edelweiss
readied to launch select retail
businesses the company positioned
itself as a guide to empower
people with drive. This marked the
articulation of the brands tagline
Now You Can in print and on TV.
In order to high-profile its online
broking product, the brand tied up
with a premier online website for a
lead generation programme. To
popularise the site and familiarise the
audience about the category and the brand, it
developed a game based on equity market
investments with features similar to its online
trading site.
As the economy dragged itself out of the
world wide economic crisis, Edelweiss
introduced a television-led campaign that
articulated its brand philosophy and sought to
connect with the doers. It continues to
re-inforce the positioning of an enabler of
aspirations. The simply and starkly articulated
emotional Now You Can pay off line was widely
recalled and hailed as a unique communications
strategy.
While Edelweiss continues to scale up its
existing businesses, it is also constantly looking
to invest in new initiatives in financial services
with an eye on building for future growth and
with an aspiration to become a fully diversified
leading financial services firm in the country.
Brand Values
Edelweiss believes that to realise their
aspirations both individuals and organisations
must be sufficiently empowered. This explains
why Edelweiss offers effective, actionable ideas
that build wealth.
Knowledge and research have been the key
drivers of Edelweisss explosive growth. In
addition, innovation underlines whatever
Edelweiss does. Its a conscious choice made by
the organisation to constantly pursue the new
and the different and invest in new ideas and
new businesses. At the same time, at Edelweiss
there is an organisation-wide belief that growth
is not only about managing revenues but also
managing risks.
Edelweiss
employees are
their companys
pre-eminent
ambassadors.
Investing, therefore,
in high-quality talent
and retaining it has
been a fundamental
business strategy of
the brand.
Ultimately,
Edelweiss is driven by a
belief that people create
their own tomorrows.
Through its philanthropic
arm EdelGive
Foundation the
organisation reaches out
with financial assistance
to NGOs and social
entrepreneurs in the
health and education
sectors. EdelGive
also advises these
organisations on capacity and capability building.
Employees from Edelweiss are encouraged to
get involved in a cause and to volunteer their
time and skills on projects guided by EdelGive.
www.edelcap.com
37 BUSINESS SUPERBRANDS
Edelweiss is the first new-age investment bank
established after the liberalisation of the Indian
economy
Edelweiss is one of the largest Indian
brokerage, by average daily traded volumes
Edelweiss is one of the most broad-based
employee-owned financial services companies
in India
Edelweiss has its own dedicated training
institute the Fountainhead Leadership Centre,
an initiative that encapsulates Edelweiss image
as a learning organisation
Edelweiss is named after a rare Alpine flower.
Despite the harsh environment the flowers
deep fibrous roots and the felt-like covering on
its leaves protects it from the vagaries of nature
Edelweiss is a derivation of German words
edel meaning noble and wei meaning white
Things you didnt know about
Edelweiss
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