Top of the Pyramid
The phenomenal growth in the number of the super rich has laid the foundation for an unprecedented expansion of the wealth management industry in India. Inevitably, it has also driven the entry and growth of luxury brands that cater exclusively to the tastes of the ultra high net worth individuals (ultra HNIs). However, there is dearth of information on the earning, spending and investing trends of the ultra wealthy. Kotak and CRISIL seized the opportunity to create a report that analyses and tracks these trends year on year with specific reference to the Indian market.
Kotak is a pioneer and leader in the private banking space in India. Its Wealth Management team caters to over a quarter of the 100 most wealthy (as per the Forbes India Rich List - 2011) in India. CRISIL is a global analytical company providing ratings, research, and risk and policy advisory services. CRISIL Research is the country’s largest independent and integrated research house and the foremost provider of high-end research to the world’s largest banks and leading corporations.
The takeaways gleaned from this report will be invaluable for people who manage the wealth of the ultra rich, and will help niche companies operating in the segment to come up with more innovative marketing or distribution strategies for their products.
In the report, the first of what will be an annual edition; the spotlight is on behavioural aspects such as what drives these individuals, what their priorities or motivations are when it comes to spending or investing, and whether there is any homogeneity in their actions as a class. The conclusions are extremely revealing, and a lot of meaningful insights, some even positively surprising, have emerged from the analysis.
This report is based on two main strands of research:
- A series of interviews conducted with senior personnel at major global luxury brands, art gallery owners, product dealers and industry body representatives.
- Through a third-party market research agency, a market survey of 150+ ultra HNIs (defined as individuals with net worth of or in excess of
250 million) was conducted, with conversations lasting up to one hour. The respondents were spread across the three major metros, namely Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, as well as Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Pune, and Kolkata (referred to as Other cities in this report). The majority of the respondents (77 per cent) were from the three major metros. The survey took place between December 2010 and February 2011.
CRISIL Research then undertook an extensive analysis of the results of the survey, and every conclusion was subject to the same analytical rigour and review process that is the hallmark of all CRISIL Research reports.
