How India’s Retail Investors Quietly Became the Market’s Most Stable Force
In this week's The Core Report: The Weekend Edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Pranav Haridasan, Managing Director and CEO of Axis Securities about how India’s youngest investors are showing surprising patience and discipline, behaving more like institutional players than market newbies.
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Hi and welcome to The Core Report. We are in an interesting phase in the stock markets right now. In November, we were all set to breach our September 2024 peaks but that's not happened right now because there's a lot of demand and supply in maybe not the directions we want.
But there's a larger question here as we head into 2026. What are the broader trends that are defining the stock markets as they stand today? What could influence prices?
What could influence direction? What could influence themes as we look ahead? So talk about all of that from a stock broking perspective.
I'm joined today by Pranav Haridasan, Managing Director and CEO of Axis Securities, right here with me in our studio in Mumbai. Pranav, thank you so much for joining me.
Thank you for having me.
Pranav, so you've been in finance and then you moved into stock broking. So a very broad question first. How do you see this transition when you worked in let's say a Citibank and other places and then into stock broking?
Yes, so you know I've always really been in markets. So in my early part of my career, I was a fixed income trader. I spent four, five years trading fixed income.
I started my career in ING by Citibank. So it's sort of coming back into a bank in that sense. And then I worked with IDFC before they got a bank licence actually.
And then I moved to institutional equities business in 2008 after I graduated from business school. And then it was, I mean obviously if you're going into school in 2007, everyone wanted to be in equities by 2008. Things have changed dramatically, right?
So I mean we started out at a different time in the market. I think that has its advantages. You see the lows when you start.
So yes, in 2008 at Credit Suisse in the institutional equities business, I spent six years there. Then moved to Citigroup, which was again similar in the institutional equities, talking to clients that want to invest in India. I spent a lot of time with foreign institutional investors during that phase.
And then moved to the Axis Group in 2020.
So Pranav, we are ending 2025. It's been an interesting year. So from your perspective, what's happening around you?
Yes, so I mean, I think we just need to put things in perspective. I think from 2020 to 2025, we had a phenomenal run just off the COVID lows. I mean, I think market structurally, things changed.
Like the retail has so much more confidence investing in Indian equities than ever before. It comes from the back of massive underpenetration. I mean, one, the fact that only eight or nine percent really have DMAT accounts.
I'm not saying that that number will go into the 50s, but it can get easily into the mid-teens. And I think that's a factor. And I think the confidence that markets have sustained these kind of performances through periods.
So today, even through the last 18 months, you've not seen drawdowns, you've not seen nervousness as much, especially on the SIP book, I think, which gives a lot of confidence. And I think the equity culture is here to stay. Right.
The question really to ask is, are we prepared to see these bumps, which we should? And as most equity investors, you should get comfortable with it. And I think in some sense, because how young the population is, the investors are, etc.
There is a need for driving the education to move them from very short term orientated returns and higher risk driven performance to moderation in that expectation. Right. So in some ways, I think the 18 months has been a good, you know, kind of consolidation and consolidation, put things in perspective, you're seeing a little bit more cautiousness in how you deal with derivatives products, you're looking at a little bit more fundamentally driven investments, which we think is, you know, augers well for the markets overall.
But having said that, I think the global, you know, markets have had tonnes of pockets of excesses in my view, especially around AI, and you know, what has happened there, right? So the question to ask is, even in India, some of the excesses have corrected, are we really seeing any pockets of excesses getting added in other parts of the world, and especially in markets like the US and, you know, and that, and that in some sense, even as we think India is starting to look more exciting, and especially as you know, we saw in early part of this government's tenure, you saw more CapEx led investing, now you're seeing a bit more push towards consumption. And I think today, you see a combination of both. It's not like they've taken off the pedal with respect to CapEx, right?
It's both, which I think is a great situation to be because you have the balance as a government to be able to do it. In that construct, you're starting to feel good about India domestically. But you're starting to worry a little bit about is there global excesses, which obviously will be on, you know, markets if there was any sort of correction.
So and I'll come to that in a bit. So tell me about your own book, so to speak. I mean, you talked about, you know, the need for, let's say, a slightly more calibrated approach by retail investors and this period being good for that.
When you look at your own data, and the way people are transacting and the velocity of those transactions, what does that tell you?
Yeah, you know, I mean, I think what we are starting to see is a lot of patience, a lot of patience, I think people stick to their strategies. There is a lot more discipline than you would have.
What would be the average ticket size, let's say, or and how do you sort of break that up?
Yes, so you know, so we don't break it down in that format of, you know, average ticket size per customers, because it depends on the cohorts that we're really looking at. But in the large H&I market, which is also the large investors that come to us at large, which is a reasonable part of what we do, we have seen, you know, post the amount of wealth creation that we saw in this four, five years, there was a lot of people just happy to sit out and wait for the right opportunities. We saw that and we saw calibration in financing books across the street.
I mean, if you would know, you would remember that during the whole correction around the Adani stocks that happened a few years ago, the financing book actually dropped down significantly because there was a lot of mid caps leverage that was taken off the books. What we saw through the last 18 months was a reasonable moderation, even as markets corrected 20-25%. The overall financing book, I think for the industry level went down from 85-90,000 crores to close to 70,000 crores.
It wasn't a very large drawdown. And now we're back above the peak, we're close to 100-110,000 crores. So that sort of has come back pretty quickly.
And I think what we are seeing is the leverage that, you know, came through via derivatives products starting to come through what I think is much, you know, easier to manage products because any cash financing products are actually the margins that are put up with the exchange is significantly higher. And as a result, I think there is that little migration. It also comes from customers who understand that a little better.
So yeah, so overall, I think the large investors, because of the amount of money that they managed to make in the markets over the last few years have been patient. And I think that retail investors and the new to market investors have been much more resilient, and they've been coming in a very structured manner. But if you ask me, is it going to see the spurts that we saw around COVID?
Maybe not, I think we'll see a steady organic growth from here. And it will really depend on the amount of disposable income that comes into the hands over the next few years.
And I'm going to ask you about equities versus derivatives. But you're also saying in a way that retail investors are behaving like institutional or larger ultra high network individuals and so on. I mean, you're saying that there is some commonality in the way both are investing?
Yeah, I've been surprised with how resilient the retail investing has been in India in the last 18 to 24 months. And I think that's coming from maybe a space of having seen a reasonable period of bull market, right. And also, we have to keep in mind that we've not seen any, any Six Sigma events that sort of can shake confidence, right?
We've come back from downturns pretty quickly in the last 15 to 20 years, right? If you really think of it, maybe because, you know, just the way the governments have stepped in, etc. So maybe that sort of gives them the confidence, but also to keep in mind that there's a young population that's starting to invest.
And so if given the tax implications, etc, of investing in equities, there is a natural tendency to believe that if you invest over 15-20 years, there is a larger runway. Also, I think the awareness around, you know, just whole investor education has been so substantial in the last few years, right, especially around mutual funds and SIPs and investing, I think that plays a significant role as well. But yeah, I think we all have also a responsibility to increasingly drive the importance of asset allocation.
And I think that's the area of, you know, where we're all very focused on when we build products.
So 90% of investors in derivatives have not made money and the people who made money are sitting in Wall Street and not here. But be that as it may, there has been a regulatory push to bring about some balance and maybe some sanity. How has that affected you?
I'm not saying affected in a good or bad sense, but how has that changed things for you? See, there are two ways to look at it.
I mean, one thing is, I think it's a very simplistic assumption that some people made money and some didn't. I mean, purely because derivatives can be products, it's very difficult to know the other side of the transaction. And therefore, I wouldn't come to a conclusion that, you know, that this was because we don't see the whole transaction, right.
So that's one portion of it. But yeah, but having said that, we know for sure that the understanding of the products, you know, need to be better. We need to be careful about who is that product being sold to, etc.
And to that extent, the fact that tick sizes have gone up, the lot sizes have gone up has led to in this enough data now to show over the last five, six months that it has led to the number of trades that are happening have slowed down, right, which also essentially means that, you know, people who are investing for five minutes or 10 minutes or 15 minutes kind of returns are starting to slow, which I think is a good thing. The second part of your question is what is it done to the industry at large, right?
I think to the industry at large, it has definitely shrunk the wallet. So when you look at it over the last two, three years, from the peak, the wallet is down anywhere between maybe 25-30%. And it has also led to, you know, more focus on the cash side of the business across the industry, right?
And that has made the cash component and the financing book more competitive in terms of pricing versus when the focus was on derivatives, right? So I think these two things have happened. And also, there have been a few regulatory actions through the last 18 months with respect to DPAMC charges and so on, which have also taken off a little bit, you know, of the overall industry wallet.
But I think having said all of that, the penetration in the market continues to be the big thing. And most of the measures that you know, the regulator has taken plus what the industry has been all participants to this has actually led, I think, to, you know, a safer, better environment for investors to operate. And you're seeing the penetration continue to deepen, even in what has been sideways markets.
So which I think is a good thing.
So we talked about the ultra high net worth individuals and the retail investors as maybe on either end of the spectrum or the affordability spectrum. Now, are they buying the same kinds of stocks as well, or themes as well? Or what are the fundamental differences between the two?
Yeah, no, I think they, what at least what we say, and you must keep in mind that we see a lot of first time investors, and we also see a very broad based investor set, because, you know, of our access to tier two, tier three towns, you know, as a large financial institution. So it may be slightly different for the market as a whole, because market tends to be a little more concentrated when you add all of that up, because a number of active users are not growing at that kind of pace. But I think for us, what we see is the large investors tend to be more quick fleeted in terms of their decision making.
And so they tend to play more thematics, whereas the retail investors tend to invest, generally speaking, more long term. I think that the transition that we have seen is in the last two years, at least, if you I mean, and you I'm sure you see this as well. Like if I walked into, you walked in to have coffee at a club, every other person is giving you a stock idea, right?
Every other person, no one's asking you for one, but everyone's giving you one. But I think that has changed. Like today, the conversations on coffee tables are less about, you know, or you know what, every this industry is great, or this stock's looking good.
And I think there is a feeling that you need to do more work to, you know, find that investment thesis. And I think that transition, I'm starting to see a little bit more in retail investing in India. But yeah, but the time span that people have today, and it's so limited in terms of the researching capabilities, that I think we have, you know, the job for all of us is how do you educate your audience in as little attention span as possible, right?
And what do you drive? And you know, I think that's really the challenge. And that's why we're doing a lot of work.
Right. So as a stock brokerage now, I mean, you obviously do research, you suggest and make recommendations. How are you focussing on picking themes or ideas, again, at this time?
Yeah. So, you know, I think one of the things that for us, and I'm glad that you asked this question, because one of the things we have done consistently is focus on research. And we've genuinely believed through all these cycles that, you know, what we need to get out to our audience is just, you know, good quality content that helps them make better investors.
And just with that kind of focus, we have been playing, we've obviously played a lot of themes in the last three, four, five years, we've also run a very successful PMS business, which has grown significantly and performed well. So I think all of these things have been aided by very high quality research that we run, you know, within our platform. And the focus has been on long term investing, we also run a quant strategies desk, which focusses on short term momentum ideas, but our long term themes of all long term investing has all been, you know, driven around the large themes that we've seen emerge.
And that has played out, you know, pretty well. So if you ask us today, we're still, you know, focused, I mean, just a little bit more tactical, but we're focused on the consumption space, just given, you know, the GST relief we have seen, and plus some of the areas where we think that there is, you know, good demand that's coming through. And on the CAPEX side, we have historically liked defence, we like a few spaces that are, you know, that we think the government will continue to invest aggressively in, and some of the areas where the Make in India theme is actually starting to play out now.
So those are also areas which we are, you know, interested in. No, like, you know, there's a lot of space, like, you know, say building materials, you know, I don't want to get stock specific, but there are areas where, you know, where we think that we get into reasonable critical mass from where, you know, the advantages will start to seep in. So there are, you know, so we can be a bullish, you know, most of that, the whole Make in India thesis, I think, for example, the EMS place, and so on, right, there was, there's been a lot of talk around it, obviously, we're waiting for more certainty around the tariffs, and so on.
But we think once the cloud clears, you know, we'll have reasonable long term runway, because there is a huge domestic market opportunity in India. And yeah, so that's going to throw up.
Right. So let's talk about valuations, since you've talked about consumption. So one of the things that's holding back, let's say, some of the bigger stocks or well known stocks in consumption, or IT for that matter, is the perception that their valuations are too high.
Now, while they've corrected somewhat, they've also not corrected so dramatically that they become much cheaper. And then there are industry issues as well. How are you approaching this?
Yes, you know, I think it's a more convenience argument, in my opinion, the valuations, because there are so many sectors where, you know, the valuations globally are trading at multiples that you can't even like relate to. I think the consumption on average versus the average multiples, it's come down. And just given the growth market that we are, and given the opportunity set, there are reasonable pockets, which have corrected quite nicely and gives you a reasonable entry point.
There are areas which continue to be slightly stretched on valuations, you have to really play for companies that will have sustainable advantages, and can continue to dominate the number one and two space over reasonable periods of time. So yes, I mean, I'm more in the camp that, you know, you look at the average multiple, you price in the fact that, you know, it's a market that's going to grow 8-9%. There are areas which will grow at 14-15%.
And then you're looking out for those opportunity sets. And if you're operating off companies that are putting up, you know, serious capital investments that they've made in the last two, three years, and we'll see huge expansions, then you know, the multiple story is slightly different. But I agree with you that on the discretionary side, there are areas where, you know, you think that there is some more room for it to come in.
But you know, but for markets like India, that argument hasn't held well over time, because the expectations are significantly higher over reasonable periods of time. So if you're expecting to grow it by 8-9% over the next 20-25 years, then you know, waiting for that optimum valuation point is not easy to find or to catch.
So the last few quarters, for instance, has been a bit of a waiting for Godot, because everyone was hoping that, you know, of course, now with Q2, there was Q1, there was 4Q before that. So and we didn't see the kind of turnaround that we were expecting. But Q2 seems to be offering some greener shoots, so to speak, what's your sense?
So what, you know, I think what I'm picking up is that the early part of Q2 was challenging in terms of, you know, overall growth. We've seen some good green shoots in September. So if you see services data in September, including exports, actually, had done pretty well.
And which is surprising despite the tariff cloud, right. So that's good. And I think October, November, December, you should start to see given the GST cuts, etc, you should start to see a significant better takeoff.
And what's your sense? I mean, this is an intuition plus data question. So the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association says 40% jump, of course, on a lower base, but they definitely seen big jumps in two wheelers, small cars, where the GST benefit has been higher, and cars in general.
Now, we still don't know how the normalised numbers will be like, because from August 15, till September 22, we saw a slowdown because people were holding back and rightly so. What's your sense?
Yeah, I mean, I think there is obviously there is a pent up demand in that whole number, right? I would, if you asked me to guess, and it's so random, it would be like 50 60% of it is driven by, you know, people holding back and then coming into invest. So I think the moderated number, in my view will be anywhere between 10-15% growth, right?
That's the more sensible way to look at it, which I think is pretty decent, right? But yeah, but I think you have a very fair point that, you know, there are areas where there is, there's still concerns like travel and tourism, you haven't seen the kind of pickup in the last five, six months, you know, for various reasons, then there have been the monsoons and the climate changes for real. And, you know, areas where you could predict earlier, like air conditioner sales, you know, plus plus, right?
There have been cold beverages. Yeah, there has been like this year, the monsoon has been overextended.
Yeah, I mean, it ended last week.
Yeah, exactly. Hopefully. Yeah, exactly.
So yeah, so I think, you know, these kind of things have led to the ability, what was what we call cyclical and was easy to sort of predict has become a little bit harder. And I think we need to watch for those few pockets. But I think at large, when you sort of generalise, I think we are in, you know, you need to think that we're in a space where inflation is low, there is...
And it's going to drop even further. Yeah, I mean, that's the expectation, right? And then and overall, so you're, you know, and the fact that there's more money in the hands.
I mean, we've almost forgotten the direct tax cuts that happened, right, like last year. So there has been a bunch of measures. And yeah, and I think that at least listening to, you know, the government and the voices over the last many months, it does feel like there is more in the offing, right?
So I mean, and we have the budget in Feb and so on. So even I would think that this is sort of a path more than, you know, one decision that was made to sort of make it easier. I think it's generally be headed in this direction of more easing.
And there's been a lot of easing of business rules as well, like, you know, especially for the broking community. There was a circular that was out a couple of weeks ago, that sort of laid out a lot of things, you know, operational things were sort of defined as operating metrics from earlier being called penalties and so on. So I think the regulator and the government is also doing a lot to sort of ease, you know...
Can you illustrate that a little more?
Yeah. So there was a ease of doing business circular that came out, you can look that up. But I think what it intends to do is simplify, they picked up about 185 areas, and they reclassified them, some of them as, you know, what should actually be a penalty and what should actually be operating, what they call financial disincentives.
So that sort of, these are all areas which is making, you know, at least there is a lot of dialogue to make things easier. And I think, in that sense, you feel like there is a sense of urgency to move forward, which I'm not sure the tape is picking it up, you know, as much as, you know, we're starting to see on the ground.
Okay, so I'm going to come to IPOs and valuations of new tech companies. But in a moment, there's an interesting point that you raised about the definition of cyclicality in companies. Is that something that you've given more thought to?
Because this is really the first time that we're all grappling with this, isn't it?
Yeah, I mean, actually, we've been starting to think about it, at least I have been. And I think, it's, I mean, it's interesting to see how it will play out, because some of the base effects, you know, most of the time markets are calculating year on year, and Q and Q numbers, or just looking at this thing. But it's, you know, it's, I mean, I was just giving an example of one particular theme.
So I'm not sure if I really, I see enough data points for it to draw a parallel. So maybe too early to say, you know, the cyclicality definition is starting to change. But I think there are areas where you know, you're starting to see clearly that play out.
If you ask me about, like, just think about an air conditioning or a refrigeration team over the long term, right? You just know that it has to play in that direction. It's an obvious, but if you start looking at it on a quarter on quarter basis, it starts to look so different.
And therefore, you know, my only view is that from a tactical trading perspective, you have to look at a certain set of data. And from a long term investing perspective, the kind of things that you're looking at are slightly different. And therefore, you know, I mean, both of them offer opportunities to investors.
And yeah, so it's, and I think a lot of the models generally pick these things up. Got it. Yeah.
I mean, for example, gross electricity demand and consumption has dropped. And while to the government's credit, we were actually preparing for higher peaks, which did not happen this summer, but only happened in 24. And it's not clear whether we will see those kind of peaks again, in terms of total gigawatt of generation and consumption, which means down the line, maybe there will be less air conditioner usage and so on.
Because if you have six month, almost five to six months of monsoons. So I'm just wondering, I mean, what else could it affect?
It's such a hard thing, right? Because we've had this, because we all are so driven by a shorter memory that we think of what happened in the last five months and tend to extrapolate it, which is true. But we've also seen extraordinarily hot summers.
Yeah. Right. And we've seen that over the last many years.
So it doesn't, I mean, it doesn't mean that we won't see that again. And those periods won't overextend as well. And therefore, that will lead to a pickup.
The question really to ask is, the volatility of this data sets that we're seeing has increased. And you're seeing that across markets, across sectors across. So yeah, the ability to play and predict has become harder.
And I think the cycles have become shorter. So that I think is very evident.
Because air conditioners, again, just to stick to that example, manufacturers were manufacturing, producing, and I wouldn't say dumping, but let's say, pushing stock into trade in anticipation of a much longer and much longer and hotter summer, because that was the prediction. It was not their fault. The IMD predicted that would be the case.
And what we actually had was an early monsoon, which completely turned the tables and everything had to go running back. Anyway, so these are things to think about. And I think that...
Yeah, but that's not a trend that you can predict. So I think the question is, that could change. And so yeah, and you're absolutely right.
So the ability for companies to be able to predict the demand curve is tougher than it was before.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And therefore, those who are tracking companies in order to make a bet, we'll have to think of other things, perhaps maybe responsiveness, resilience, and so on.
I'm just thinking. Okay, let's talk about some of the new tech companies and IPOs that we've been seeing. So what's your general feel?
No, I mean, I think it's been, you know, I mean, India continues to be a very hot IPO market. And we're seeing, and I think there is a sense of... Very hot or too hot?
No, I mean, you know, it's very hard to say it's too hot, because some of these IPOs have actually been pushed back through the last one year, right. And it's coming through at sensible valuations in the sense that, I mean, we saw some of the performances in the last three, four months, it's been even Steven, but some of them have done very well, right. And these are companies that, you know, that you think would have been priced right, right, coming into the market, because, you know, there are large Holco companies, which are, which, and they're listed abroad, and so on.
And these are, you know, their Indian arms getting listed, right. So the performances have been good. And, you know, net, I think, from a retail investor perspective, it really depends on, you know, on the IPO allocation, what you get, and then the performance, because from the first day listing price to actually where it's trading, there's not been that much on the table.
And now that's not, I mean, but the IPO's actual price is the IPO price, not the day one listing price, right. But the ability to get stock in that IPO, just given the demand, has been tougher for a lot of retail investors, right, because they've got smaller clips and so on. But I think performances have been better than it has in the past, where I think there has been less left on the table.
Now, the real, I think a lot of the media questions and what is topical in the last few weeks from what I read has been about, you know, how a tech company is getting valued. And I think that's... Tech companies without profits.
Yeah, but that's a little bit of an unfair kind of argument, in my opinion.
Also, because about more than about 20, if you take 20 IPOs from last year, in the same space, or genre, most of them are quoting below water.
Yeah, but it's a little bit also what the market has done in the last 12 to 18 months, right, than with respect to the theme. I agree that some of them might have been stretched in terms of, you know, how they were sort of placed. And these are all learnings that, you know, the market will take away, I guess.
And you're seeing some of that play out now, because I think there's, in my opinion, it's been more balanced, if you look at it today, than you know, if you rewound the tape to about a year ago. But I think the more important point is that you can't value them the same way as you value the rest of the market. Because it's, you know, the story is different.
The speed of growth that you expect from some of these companies are very different. So, you know, I think that mistake, we have to be careful about, because if you valued Google or Facebook or any of them on the same profitability metrics, when they were listing, you're unlikely to have been investors, right. And that's true across all tech companies that listed globally.
So I think, I mean, These are not Google and Facebook. No, but the point is that Many of them are brokerages like you, I mean, and I'm sure you understand their numbers.
But you know, I think not, you know, it's no, I think it's important. I'll just take a step back and not many are brokerages. But I think just across the board, like if you look at some of the companies that are listing this, the model of growth, and the scale that we are talking about, that they will be able to exhibit, has elements of that.
It's not growing at a 10-15% linear scale, right. And I'm by no means saying that, you know, like the broking industry will continue to see breakthrough growth and so on. But I think the point is that you have a very large audience that you have been able to grow into and build trust through time.
And you've been able to create wealth, right for them. So the ability to cross sell products into them and create that ecosystem does exist. Now, how companies do that during that period is something to see.
And, you know, and they've built products that are pretty world class, right? I mean, today, when you look at some of the companies that are, I mean, the companies that are listing in the last in the next four or five weeks to the companies that listed a few weeks ago, I mean, most of them really stand out in the industry for what they've built. So yeah, so I mean, I take your point that on the valuations, there needs to be, you know, a sense of and I think some bit of that moderation is coming through and that argument is perhaps a valid one.
But I think the second aspect, which I think there's just so much of dirt being thrown on the companies in terms of it being compared to the rest of the market, I think sometimes it's a little bit unfair.
And the reason I'm asking is you're an intermediary, I mean, and you're the one or other, you're the marketplace through which all of this is going. So people will come and catch you and say, why did you push this to me? And, you know, I mean, we've not come there as yet.
Hopefully, we don't. But if it happens, then.
No, I think, no, see, we have a, I mean, I think of my view on this as an, I mean, as an institution, it's very simple, right? We write research, which is qualified research written by a research analyst with our views on companies, and we call what we think is okay. With respect to a lot of these companies, we just present facts that's on the table, right?
And we're just representing the facts in a simple, easy to understand format. In most of them, we're not taking any calls as a brokerage business. So and I think we are very cautious in explaining both sides of the story as well.
So yeah, so no, I don't think that we are aggressively pitching these, we are a platform for stocks that we don't have a research view on. And for the stocks that we have a research view on, yes, we, you know, we're happy to be, you know, held on our calls, because, you know, I think that that's the story that has worked out brilliantly for us over the last 5-10 years.
So would you say, I don't know if it's a personality thing with you and all your colleagues, are you conservative? Are you sort of a blend of aggression and conservative in terms of the way you pitch stocks and so on?
I think at large, if you look at the markets at large, you know, people have been reasonably bullish. And that is because, you know, India's in that growth phase and growth trajectory that it has played out well, right? But I haven't seen anyone, you know, calling some out of whack, you know, numbers and putting it out there, right?
So yeah, I would think we're a cautiously bullish community.
And you're also part of a bank. I mean, I guess your personality is also defined by that, to some extent.
In my personality or the organisation?
It all comes together, doesn't it?
Yeah, no, I mean, I hope so. So I think, yes, I think generally, like, I mean, on a serious note, I think the way it works is that we look at all our clients as very long term invested into the bank. And therefore, we want to sell products that really helps long term wealth creation, right?
Because and this is not me giving you a marketing spiel, but it's just, I mean, if you just simply look at what do we do, we bring investors, you know, into a financial institution, and we sort of walk the journey with them over 20-30 years, right? That's what we've been doing.
And you're not aggressively marketing, like maybe some of your...
Yeah, because yeah, the reason we don't is that we are invested across the financial lifecycle. And we're also invested across the breadth of financial products. So you know, you're not, your expectation is not to sell only one product to them, right?
We have all sides. And we have, so depending on your risk appetite, and where you are in your financial journey, we have a product for you as a group. So yeah, so we don't push, you know, any particular theme, because it's short term, and it's tactical, and it works for us.
So personality wise, this is me saying it, you would be closer to an ICICI and an HDFC, rather than someone else.
Well, I mean, we are a bank. So I mean, I guess, we're all a bank, right?So I mean, in that sense, yes, I mean, we look at our investors, and our clients from the overall financial lifecycle perspective, right? And we want to be selling products to them that's relevant to them at that point in time.
And you're a new gen bank with technology and so on, but also maybe with slightly older values. Again, that's me saying it.
Yeah, I mean, I'm glad you're saying that. We've been around for really long. And I think we really thoroughly, you know, we take very seriously the technology space.
And, you know, as an organisation, and as a group, we've really been, you know, front footed in leading and driving that.
So yeah, totally. So let's hope you remain that. Now, we're nearing the end of 2025. How are you looking at, I don't know whether you are, but how are you generally looking at the calendar year ahead?
I'm actually starting to be, I mean, I've been more positive about the whole transition and change that we're seeing. We expected 2025 to be challenging, just on the back of, you know, the run we had, plus all the changes that we saw. And we had to recalibrate to the new regulatory environment.
So I think in that context, it's played out okay. And the first half was expected to be a little challenging. Maybe it got a little bit deeper than we thought.
But I think we're coming through well, you know, I think markets have started to bounce, things are looking a little better. I hope the global uncertainty sort of will be behind us soon. And once that happens, and hopefully the trade deals get signed, etc, you get clear visibility to the next six, eight, nine months, right.
So next year is setting up well, in my opinion, and earnings should come back, most importantly, and that should help. Right. And that's a good note to end on.
Pranav, lovely talking to you.
Thank you so much.
