India wealth management the landscape is undergoing a structural reset, driven by young people HNIincreasing financialization, rapid adoption of technologies and changing investor expectations. As first-generation entrepreneurs and next-generation family office executives enter the capital markets, the traditional relationship manager (RM)-led model is being challenged by new demand for convenience, transparency and product depth.
In this edition of ETMarkets Smart Talk, Srikanth Subramanienco-founder and CEO of Ionic Wealth, explains why the future lies not in choosing between human advice and technology, but in integrating the two.
From an omnichannel strategy to account aggregation and broadening access through the Accredited Investor Framework, he explains how Ionic balances IQ (domain expertise), EQ (relational warmth) and DQ (digital capability) – a combination that has helped the company cross $1 billion in assets under management in less than two years while remaining relevant in the next phase of wealth management in India. . Edited extracts –
Kshitij Anand: Well, let’s just start with how the HNI population is growing rapidly at present. What structural changes are you seeing in the industry? And there is another point I would like to add here. I’m sure you’ve also noticed that many people under 40 fall into this bracket. So, it’s up to you to speak.
Srikanth Subramanien: India is currently experiencing its own “Silicon Valley moment”, with entrepreneurship and innovation leading the way. As many new age companies IPOed in the last five to ten years begin to unlock value, we are seeing a wave of first-time investors entering the sector. walk.
It is not just the founders, but many others involved in this journey who are accumulating wealth from a young age. Many are under 30 years old and have never had significant assets officially managed. However, they understand how technology can improve convenience.
So, A) this cohort is added.
B) Systematically in India, we have seen a financialization of investments, with money moving over the last five to six years from “real assets” to financial markets. We are seeing this through the increase in mutual fund portfolios and Demat accounts.
C) The advent of the next generation in business or family offices also brings new trends. With a median age of 28-29, the voice of investors in India today is very young compared to a decade ago.
So we are seeing a broadening of the investor base in India.
Indian investors today are much more comfortable with technology, both in accessing information and in executing trades. In the brokerage space, the evidence is clear: compared to ten years ago, almost 65-70% of market share is now held by fintech platforms.
The real driver was convenience. The technology provides seamless access and availability at any time. Over time, as this experience takes root, even the definition of trust begins to evolve. Earlier, trust meant businesses run by their promoters, group companies, their conduct and governance. While all of this still matters today, trust has also shifted to the robustness of the technology. If I press a button, does the transaction go through? is redemption coming to me?
Today’s investors are not afraid to use technology to become wiser, minimize information arbitrage, access newer products, and execute commoditized trades through technology.
In addition, a new generation of investors is emerging, particularly those returning after studying abroad and their aspirations are evolving. They are no longer satisfied with conventional offers. While high net worth individuals can access REITs, InvITs, global markets, bonds, private equity and venture capital, they too are looking for meaningful exposure to a broader, more sophisticated investment universe, structured in a way that suits them.
So, technology demand and product breadth are two very interesting changes that we’re seeing. And on the HNI side, two to three cohorts of customers are expanding the market base at a very steady pace.
Kshitij Anand: But to some extent, is the traditional model of relationship management with the help of relationship managers still viable today? What is your view on this?
Srikanth Subramanien: I believe there is room for everyone. Traditional RM-led models present economic challenges in terms of cost of service, but strong incumbents can support them because they already have annuity revenues that exceed their operational expenses.
For new challengers trying to create a traditional wealth management company, the break-even threshold is stretched because they do not have the luxury of recurring income or annuities to cover them.
During black swan events such as the 2008 global financial crisis or COVID, the sustainability of a business is tested. So businesses need to see what works for them.
In my opinion, we will all fall into three different categories.
First there will be those who talk about artificial intelligence, with or without a clear strategy, simply because it is fashionable.
Second, there will be deniers who refuse change, as is the classic case whenever a new technology emerges.
Third, there will be pragmatists who integrate technology into experience.
I’m sure people from all walks of life will have their own strategies. However, we align ourselves with the third compartment.
In a high EQ sector like wealth management, significant importance is always given to validation by an experienced human touch.
Our omnichannel approach gives the investor a choice: what to do through technology and what to manage through human interaction. Our stack is built so that our RMs as well as our technology – as regulations allow – are fully equipped to support the end-to-end journey.
We find that some investors dedicate 80% of their wealth management journey to technology and engage an experienced RM only for strategic discussions, while others may prefer the opposite.
This is our hypothesis to build in the future.
Kshitij Anand: Absolutely, it’s good that you highlighted the omnichannel approach. So, how do you think the omnichannel approach goes beyond the RM model?
Srikanth Subramanien: Given that some of us have been in this industry for almost two decades, we believe an RM-led model has been very effective. The challenge, in many cases, has been the cost structure associated with RM and non-RM functions — where we have seen cost overlaps.
We believe that the greatest comfort between the investor and the world of capital markets is RM. So we decided not to disrupt this unless the investor chooses a non-RM approach.
However, we found a significant opportunity to reduce costs behind the scenes, thereby increasing RM’s productivity and efficiency.
I will give you three examples.
First, we have almost 100 RMs and only nine or ten service managers. This is approximately a 1:9 or 1:10 ratio of service managers per RM, and we are not experiencing service issues. The reason is that most service and operational tasks are automated through an internal technology stack.
Secondly, most wealth management companies find it difficult to compile a 100% MIS for an investor due to their dependence on external counterparties such as PMS and AIFs and delays in receiving data. Today, thanks to the Account Aggregator framework and MF Central, with client consent, we can access a complete real-time and historical view of a client’s portfolio. On top of this, we can overlay analyzes to offer personalized recommendations.
Third, through our innovation lab, we train AI clones of our relationship, product and service teams. A trained product robot can thus efficiently respond to 100 RM requests simultaneously, even if it is handling other tasks.
Likewise, if investors are only comfortable with one RM-trained clone, then we could potentially have the same high-quality RM present in 10 different meetings simultaneously.
Some of these initiatives have already been implemented; others are still experimental. We will continue to introduce them gradually, depending on investor demand.
Kshitij Anand: And another thing that usually comes to the surface is experience. Just like when we go to a five-star hotel, it’s not always about the food, but about the experience: the quality of the food served, how it tastes, etc. Now, given that you’re tech-heavy – and traditional platforms generally suffer because they’re not able to offer the right kind of experience – how is the experience equivalent at Ionic Wealth?
Srikanth Subramanien: So we follow a technology philosophy of build, buy and operate. Our philosophy is that everything that is essential to us – defined by a clear hierarchy – must be controlled by us. Our main core business is everything that touches the lives of our customers. So, wherever the customer experience is directly impacted, we believe it should remain within our control.
In any technology stack, there will be BAU situations: glitches, bugs, latency issues. We realize that if key areas are outsourced, we cannot wait two or three days for diagnosis and resolution. This is where the lack of confidence comes into play.
To clarify, we will not build the entire technology stack ourselves. We are not a technology-driven company; we are a technology-driven company. But the elements that directly touch the lives of our clients (onboarding journey, mutual fund transactions) are areas that we will continue to develop internally.
The benefit is that with a 24/7 technology stack including monitoring capabilities, we can anticipate a bug before the customer even notifies us. Thus, near real-time resolution, without depending on suppliers.
We also operate in a dynamic environment: regulations change, new products emerge, tax rules evolve. In a standard provider model, priorities depend on the provider. However, when these requirements are essential for v ou, you can define what is high priority and act immediately.
We therefore believe that critical and security-related areas are better controlled internally for faster diagnosis and resolution. However, for non-essential areas that don’t warrant our bandwidth, we are happy to partner with experienced providers rather than reinvent the wheel.
Kshitij Anand: Actually, it’s good that you pointed that out. You mentioned earlier that you are a technology-driven company and that about 20% of the company is largely technology-focused. You also said that you have mini AI labs that build your own systems. How did this come about and how does it help you create a better investor experience?
Srikanth Subramanien: About 20% of our workforce is on the technical team, but 100% of our business is technology-driven. Everyone from the product team to private banking to Wealth Technology — uses internally developed technology tools for various purposes, whether it is our internal CRM tool or our consulting tool.
Due to the evolution of technology, we are able to operate with a relatively small but specialized technical team. The AI Lab exists because we believe that at a business scale, you tend to be extremely busy with transactions, solving customer queries, and day-to-day execution.
We have two labs: an investment lab and an AI innovation lab. Each is a small team – perhaps two or three members – supervised by an experienced person. These are high-quality professionals whose primary job is to look three to six months ahead, while the rest of the organization focuses on solving immediate problems.
Culturally, as businesses grow, we might tend to get caught up in current challenges and take our eyes off the future. To avoid this, our management team and I meet once a fortnight. Half the meeting is devoted to reviewing current operations – a sort of rear-view mirror exercise – and the other half involves members of our labs to discuss forward-looking ideas.
This ensures that, culturally, we always stay one step ahead of the future. We strive to continually innovate, anticipate change and stay ahead of the curve.
Kshitij Anand: And that’s very important in today’s time and world: we look at what’s coming next and prepare rather than reacting to it when it actually hits us. But you s, let me add one more thing to the conversation. Owning the technology stack is very important, but how does it help build the entire system and enable everything to be integrated?
Srikanth Subramanien: The most important part is, as I’ve given a few examples – whether it’s the MF Central example or the Account Aggregator – using technology on multiple levels makes a difference. Since we own the technology stack, whether it’s diagnostic time, recovery and healing time, or the use of the data layer on top of our database, we have greater control.
For example, although we use publicly available language models (Gemini and Claude), the algorithms on top of these AI language models are our own and have integrated them into our database.
Investors should try the Ionic AI agent on the beta version of our app. It doesn’t give you a generic open source answer but a specific answer because we have visibility into your portfolio. Of course, we are very aware of the aspects – IPR and consent.
Trained in both LLM and SLM and connected to our database and built on our proprietary algorithms, our model can offer support similar to that of an RM who has known you for a decade.
Additionally, AI is iterative. The more we use it, the better. Although we don’t claim 100% accuracy yet, we are happy with the results and use them daily to build intelligence into the system.
Looking ahead, I see a future where intelligent conversations will happen effortlessly, at the airport, before a movie, or on the weekend. Today, most professionals only set aside time on weekends, while weekdays leave little room for thoughtful financial conversations. Investors will have the power to choose when to interact with their AI agent – trained on their own data – at a time and place that suits them.
Kshitij Anand: Let me add one more point. How are you leveraging Indian account aggregation framework to improve portfolio analysis?
Srikanth Subramanien: Interestingly, we have worked closely with Sahamati, who acts as an industry facilitator. We realized that MF Central was a great tool for aggregating and consolidating mutual fund portfolios in one place. But if we were able to achieve a similar consolidation for Demat holdings as well, it would significantly improve the investor experience.
Most financial products are dematerialized and AIFs are expected to move in this direction soon. Stocks are already dematerialized, PMS structures are proxies for stocks, and we have REITs, InvITs, private equity, and much more. Thus, between 75% and 90% of a portfolio could be in dematerialized form.
Through the Account Aggregator framework – which connects to depositories – we can provide consolidated data on Demat holdings as well as mutual funds.
Initially, the framework only provided two years of historical data – a time period we found far too narrow. In financial services, limited data can distort perspective. If an investor has a ten-year history but can only visualize two years, the context is compromised. Meaningful decisions require complete visibility.
We worked closely with administrators and ecosystem participants to extend the historical data window from two to twenty years. We believe we are among the few, if not the only ones, offering up to two decades of history through the Account Aggregator framework.
Once the data is consolidated, the next step is knowing how to use it – and that’s where data science comes in. With the client’s consent, we analyze their historical behavior: how they reacted during bull markets or downturns.
This allows us to better guide our clients and make the advice process more contextual and behavioral, particularly in times of market volatility.
Kshitij Anand: These are wonderful ideas. On a lighter note, I would say that we have often seen examples on television where someone discovered their father owned X, Y, or Z stocks decades ago, and suddenly it turned out to be a gold mine.
Srikanth Subramanien: In fact, we have real-world use cases – even within my own family – where, thanks to MF Central and the Account Aggregator framework, people have discovered forgotten folios or inventory.
Some of these initiatives, beyond helping companies like ours build businesses, are truly in the public interest. Consolidation and visibility are perhaps the simplest forms of creating value for investors. I hope that these public good services will remain active and accessible.
Of course, we remain convinced that efficiencies can be improved within the account aggregation process. We are working with relevant stakeholders in the ecosystem to further improve this.
Kshitij Anand: Ionic Wealth now has over $1 billion in assets under management. What is driving this momentum? I’m sure you’ve already listed a number of factors – why it’s important and what drives it – but it’s up to you to do so.
Srikanth Subramanien: I think we come from an experienced ecosystem. We have been fortunate that most of our private bankers and clients continue to place their trust in us. But we are also very aware: we do not take this confidence lightly. We view this as a privilege, not a right.
From day one, we made sure to create a very robust platform. There isn’t a single asset class we don’t cover. As part of this, we have built centers of excellence, whether it is international investments, private equity investments or creating a flagship equity product around India’s long history.
The culmination of a relationship built over the years, a solid lineage and the creation of a robust platform with obvious strengths in specific areas has allowed us to have the chance to evolve. But like I said, this journey has only just begun. We are not here for early victories. These early milestones give us the right to win, but in reality, we’re probably only the first 5% of our journey.
Kshitij Anand: If you had to summarize the structural changes that differentiate Ionic from a private bank or traditional wealth management office, what would they be?
Srikanth Subramanien: The biggest differentiator is omnichannel. Many wealth management firms are still deciding their approach – some are technology-only, others RM-only. But over the last six months, I’ve seen the conversation around omnichannel intensify. We were among the first to start talking about omnichannel, and I think that helped us.
At the firm, we follow a three-pillar program: IQ, EQ and DQ. We constantly strive to maintain a balance between all three.
IQ is intelligence quotient – our domain ability. We were among the first wealth management companies to launch our own Global Innovation Fund based in GIFT City. Additionally, while there is plenty of talent in micro, sector and thematic investing in India, we saw a gap in macro investing. So we brought in exceptional talent to create the Indian PIPE fund, for the long term.
We have also provided access to high-quality private equity transactions and built a robust multi-asset allocation platform. Some of our call options, such as long positions in commodities, particularly silver, and international diversification have generated strong incremental returns. For investors with limited time, our flagship asset allocation product, Allocate, which was a top 10 fund for two consecutive months this year, serves as a proxy for asset allocation strategies.
Domain expertise is at the heart of our IQ strategy. Even before launch, we made sure that our platform was built from scratch, unlike other players who may prioritize building a team of relationship and sales managers before moving on to building the platform.
DQ is the digital quotient, where technology is at the heart of everything we do.
Equally important is EQ, or Emotional Quotient. We do not want to disrupt the greatest comfort of investors: MRs. Customer engagement focuses on insights, engaging the next generation and building relationships.
So, whether it is EQ through relational warmth, QD through technology enablement, or IQ through domain expertise, these three cornerstones help build a balanced, long-term wealth management practice.
Kshitij Anand: You mentioned that one arm of the firm is always outward-facing. How do the next five years look like in the field of wealth management?
Srikanth Subramanien: We are going through a very interesting phase. Sometimes I hear cynical opinions that the bubble will burst. I don’t think so. We are a growing country and we need strong asset management, wealth management, broking and banking ecosystems to ensure financial inclusion and enable participation in India’s growth.
More competition and doing the right things is healthy. Everyone has a role to play: digital-only, RM-only omnichannel models. Of course, if companies make strategic mistakes, spend too much beyond their means, or overleverage their balance sheets, these risks remain – just as they did twenty years ago. Common sense has not changed.
But India deserves more than a handful of wealth management companies. We need high-quality companies with robust platforms, strong domain expertise, smart use of technology, cost discipline, and a philosophy of giving investors the power of choice while maintaining warm relationships.
In my opinion, the best-case scenario for India is not one, two, three or five companies, but perhaps 15 or 20 strong wealth management companies of different sizes and models. Some are fragmented, some local, some large-scale, some purely technological – but all contribute to market expansion.
Kshitij Anand: Can you explain the accredited investor framework to us?
Srikanth Subramanien: The accredited investor framework is something we adopted very early on. We believe that as Indian investors increase their net worth, many of them will qualify for what is known as the accredited investor framework.
Again, as with technology, there is a level of hesitation in our own industry about the value it will add. But looking at the broader tone, the regulator believes that if an investor is accredited, they are able to make certain investment decisions without the need for very strict regulations.
The aim, therefore, is to allow these investors to participate in investments such as AIFs and PMSs at lower thresholds. We ensure that this information reaches investors. We have already enabled many accredited investors in the sector and we continue to work with accreditation agencies, industry bodies and the regulator to streamline the process.
(Note: the reporter was invited to his office)
(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
