Ionic Wealth crosses $1 billion AUM, with laser focus on mid-level wealth customers

Shobhit Mathur of Ionic Wealth

• Ionic Wealth crosses $1 billion AUM in under two years
• Targets investors with Rs 1-25 crore investible surplus
• Launched AI-powered virtual assistant for personalised planning

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Angel One's wealth-tech arm, Ionic Wealth, has crossed $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) in less than two years of operation, co-founder Shobhit Mathur has told Moneycontrol.

The company’s focus on the underserved segment with investible surplus of Rs 1 crore to Rs 25 crore has seen its AUM grow 30 percent this fiscal.

Mathur said the new economy has created multiple such millionaires over the last few years.

“This segment was really getting bigger, and it is not just the top 5 cities of India, but nearly 50 cities in India. The demand is rising fast, but there is not enough talent. You cannot go to a tier 2 or a tier 3 town and think of a high-quality adviser or a private banker to serve the needs of that customer,” Mathur said.

Breaking the mould

Most wealth management firms focus on ready-to-invest funds of above $1 million, as their operating cost doesn't allow them to cater to such customers.

Ionic Wealth estimates that the wealth management industry will grow to $1.6 trillion AUM by FY29, presenting a huge opportunity.

According to Mathur, these well-travelled clients seek the same investment opportunities as large investors. An omni-channel approach by travelling to their cities and meeting them in person has helped the company build trust with this segment, Mathur said.

“The existing set of private bankers and advisers had started to get repriced because the private banking industry was doing well, thanks to the fact that the markets had done well over the last five years. So, the bankers were automatically gravitating towards a larger set of investors,” Mathur said.

According to him, the Rs 1 crore-Rs 25 crore set of investors has been growing exponentially, fuelled by what he calls the “triple multiplier effect” —  rising per capita income, asset appreciation, and a steady growth in earnings and savings.

A growing segment

Founded by Srikanth Subramanian, Mathur and Dharmendra Jain in 2024, Ionic has more than 1,600 customers and physical operations in the top 10 cities.

While fintech apps have popularised and made investment easily available to the segment, once the customers’ investible surplus goes beyond Rs 1 crore, they are likely to look for wealth managers, Mathur said.

Once the investible surplus goes beyond a crore, investors think of more than portfolio management services, beyond equity, mutual funds and bonds. “ ‘What are the other alternative venues? Can I get access to some high-quality returns? Can I actually brainstorm, debate with someone, whom I can trust to talk about how I think about a particular industry, a particular sector, a particular opportunity, etc,” he said.

The AI push

With technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), the company can offer the same level of services that were previously available only to private banking customers.

Ionic Wealth has launched Ionic Agent, a virtual assistant trained on decades of investing experience, that provides personalised financial planning to clients in accordance with investing preferences, goals and risk appetite.

“We bring in a strong layer of technology… otherwise, your cost-economic ratios will not work. You cannot have a senior banker serving a small-ticket-size investor when he will automatically want to gravitate to a larger value,” Mathur said.

The technology platform provides weekly performance summaries and interactive chat features, helping customers make decisions based on the investment team’s insights.

It makes AI more relevant to specific portfolio holdings, while driving scalability. Simultaneously, the Ionic team provides macro strategy, tactical allocation and timely investments and withdrawals.

Mathur said as investors diversify into short and long-term investments, along with specialised strategies, they can face legal and tax complications. Navigating cross-border transactions and alternative investment funds (AIFs) can be time-consuming.

“We hold the licence to be a distributor, an investment adviser, a portfolio manager with a PMS and an AIF licence. We have a research associate licence. There are multiple parts under the Ionic Wealth umbrella geared to optimise returns,” Mathur said.