MBAs For All
Page - 9
Foreign funds and domestic
investors have been enthused by the strong growth prospects of the Indian
economy, which is expanding, thanks to higher corporate spending based on rising
consumer demand for everything from cars to mobile phones.
The economy grew an annual 8.0 per cent in the July-September quarter, beating
forecasts due to strong output in services and manufacturing. It joined other
Asian nations in reporting higher-than-expected growth, including China, whose
economy expanded 9.4 per cent in the same three months. There is a strong
potential for growth of around 7.5 per cent a year for the next five years in
the Indian economy - a little bit less but very near to the growth rate that
China is experiencing.
The private banking service in
India targets individuals with more than $ 500,000 in investible surplus. India
already runs a successful Asian private banking practice for some 6,000 clients,
which has assets of more than $10 billion. One of the leading banks in India has
75,000 international customers for its private banking services, manages assets
of up to 150 billion euros ($177 billion). India is the next growth market for
private banking as high-end salaries surge and wealth management needs become
increasingly sophisticated. It is expected to have assets of more than $1
billion in Indian private banking within three years. India is a very
fast-growing market.
In the next 5 to 10 years it will
be the most important in Asia after Japan and India wants to be amongst the
first movers in this promising market. India had 70,000 high net-worth
individuals at the end of last year with financial assets of more than $1
million each, according to a report from Merrill Lynch and Capgemini. This
segment seems to be growing 20-22 per cent a year for the next three to five
years. About $300 billion in wealth is also held by Indians living overseas and
many are interested in investing back home.
With private banking business
becoming the new buzzword, banks are now knocking on B-schools' doors to shop
for wealth managers. With the boom in this sector, requirement for the same is
increasing at a great pace. The requirement of the wealth managers for the
current year is expected to be around 10,000 -12,000. Investment banks want
employees with a combination of strong analytical and interpersonal skills. Some
jobs lean more towards one skill-set than another (e.g., brokers need to be
mainly sales people). A typical job of an equity analyst requires both analytic
and interpersonal skills. Investment banking is a high work, high risk and high
reward profession. When one starts the career, the working hours will be long
but the work can be exciting. One should remain prepared for the moments of
frustration where s/he is stretched too thin and moments of exhilaration where
everything clicks. It is relatively hard to break into investment banking unless
one pursues the interest with full convictions.
