BackAltamount eyes $200 mn from India’s super rich
Altamount eyes $200 mn from India’s super rich
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Mumbai: Indian multi-family office Altamount expects assets under supervision to double to Rs10 billion ($206 million) in six months as it taps the growing rich as well as non-resident Indians, a top aide said.
Multi-family offices are wealth management firms that normally tap rich with investable funds of $30 million or more.
Altamount, which launched India operations in February, is eyeing clients with at least $15 million in investable assets.
Richa Karpe, a director at Altamount Capital, told Reuters in an interview the firm had signed seven families so far to advise on assets worth Rs5 billion, and was in talks with several others who could bring in about Rs30 billion.
“We are looking to close Rs1,000 crore (Rs10 billion) and with about 15 families in the next six months," Karpe said.
“Traction for this service is definitely there and whoever we have presented to have really liked the concept... We have a pipeline of 3,000 crore," the Mumbai-based executive said.
Altamount will soon start an office in India’s capital New Delhi and has plans to set up shop in London and Dubai with an eye on a large number of wealthy non-resident Indians.
Karpe said global financial crisis had added to the allure of the multi-family offices as they are seen independent and have performed relatively better than traditional wealth managers, many of whom are accused of selling toxic investments to rich.
The steep losses have raised demand for better advice and transparency, and multi-family offices, who do not manufacture products but charge a fee of 50-100 basis points of the assets under supervision for their advice, are gaining, Karpe said.
In India, the number of wealthy fell by nearly a third to 84,000 in 2008, the fastest drop in the world after Hong Kong, as a 52% slump in domestic shares hurt the net worth of individuals, according to a Merrill Lynch/Capgemini report.
By comparison, the world’s rich lost a fifth of their wealth in 2008. Their number fell 15% as the crisis wiped out two years of growth, the report said. Their wealth dropped below 2005 levels to $32.8 trillion.
“Internationally, there has been a lot of flow of money back to family offices," Karpe said.
Industry studies estimate that single-family offices worldwide manage upward of $3 trillion. Multi-family businesses run by banks and other institutions have about $350 billion in assets, according to consulting firm Cerulli Associates.
A rebound in Indian shares, which has more than doubled from a low hit in early March, is also helping wealth managers attract clients.
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