RBL Bank is charting a plan to enter the wealth management space as it looks to position itself as a full-suite financial services provider and remain relevant to its customer base.
“We are now on the drawing board and will definitely be coming out with plans for wealth management,” said R Subramaniakumar, MD & CEO, RBL Bank, told Moneycontrol.
The rationale behind the expansion into wealth management, according to Subramaniakumar, is to ensure that the bank moves towards a customer-centric approach rather than a product-centric one, which is presently the working style of the bank.
“We are evaluating this opportunity because the bank is moving towards a customer-centric approach rather than a product-centric one. Ultimately, we have to get on to that,” he said. At present, while the bank does offer wealth management services to its customers, it offers third-party products. “We do a lot of mutual fund business,” Subramaniakumar said.
While refraining from setting a timeline to roll out the wealth management business, he said the plan is to offer these products in-house.
Investment Opportunities
Subramaniakumar is of the view that with multiple alternative investments cropping up, RBL Bank should be equipped to cater to the holistic savings needs of the customers. “Am I providing an opportunity for my customer to adopt that through a wealth management solution, so that I can retain my customer? This is something we need to think,” he said.
This has become particularly relevant over the past two to three years, thanks to a buoyant stock market that has drawn the interest of investors and depositors toward direct equity exposure or mutual funds.
“The deposit competition is heating up, as has been the case for two years. The opportunity for alternative assets was less earlier. Now, the opportunities for alternative assets are more,” Subramaniakumar said.
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