India’s wealth boom sparks M&A frenzy as banks chase affluent clients

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: India’s wealth management industry is scrambling to scale as a growing pool of household financial wealth remains underserved. Of the at least $1.1 trillion held by the country’s top households, defined as those with annual incomes of $25,000 or more, at the end of FY24, only about $0.7 trillion was addressed by registered wealth managers, according to a 2025 Deloitte report.

This leaves an estimated $0.4 trillion in unmet demand. This pool of household wealth is being serviced by a limited universe of private wealth managers, financial advisers, mutual fund distributors and registered investment advisers. Specialized wealth managers are only able to meet 11% of the demands of the country's top 1% households, as per a Bernstein report from 2025.

These include listed platforms like 360 One Wealth, Anand Rathi Wealth, Nuvama Wealth, as well as private players like Kotak Wealth, Julius Baer India. Waterfield Advisors, and Avendus Wealth. Most high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth demand, Bernstein noted, remains either self-managed, handled by accountants, or serviced by domestic banks and brokers offering limited customization, as well as independent advisers that lack scale.

The imbalance has turned wealth management into one of the country’s most active dealmaking sectors, drawing global banks, foreign asset managers and domestic lenders eager to secure access to India’s affluent and ultra-high-net-worth clients. “The velocity at which investable capital is forming in India has surpassed the speed at which many institutions can build organic advisory capability," said Feroze Azeez, joint CEO of Anand Rathi Wealth. The scarcity of established platforms, he said, is drawing