India has only 1,042 Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs). Let that sink in for a moment.
Against an investor base of nearly 20 crores, that is roughly one adviser for every 2 lakh investors. For years, this gap sat quietly in the background of India’s financial boom. But now this gap is becoming impossible to ignore.
Post-COVID, India experienced the largest retail investing boom in its history. Driven by easy-to-use investing apps, a strong bull market, and ample liquidity, millions of first-time investors have entered the market.
But building wealth and managing wealth are two different challenges.
As investors move from the first ₹1 lakh portfolio to ₹10 lakh, ₹50 lakh, or even ₹1 crore in financial assets, the needs become more complex. The focus shifts from which stock or mutual fund to buy next to questions about asset allocation, tax efficiency, retirement planning, risk management, and alternative investments.
Here is where the limitations of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) investing begin to show. And it is also where the demand for professional advice starts to accelerate.
Why The Advice Gap Is Becoming A Business Opportunity
India’s wealth management industry is undergoing a structural shift.
As investors accumulate larger pools of financial assets, the industry’s focus is moving beyond customer acquisition and transaction volumes. The next wave of growth will be from advisory relationships, portfolio management, and wealth planning, which can create recurring revenue.
At the centre of this opportunity is India’s rapidly expanding mass affluent segment. Investors with financial assets ranging from ₹10 lakh to ₹5 crore. Too big for basic investing solutions, but often too small for traditional private banking models. This cohort is emerging as the industry’s most sought-after customer base.
This shift is blurring the lines between brokers, fintech platforms, mutual fund houses, and traditional wealth managers. Companies that used to operate in distinct segments are now increasingly moving across the value chain, all targeting the same mass affluent investor.
Mass Affluent: Why This Particular Investor Base
As per the Global Wealth Report 2026 by Boston Consultancy Group, India is expected to add more than ₹190 lakh crore in financial wealth by 2030. This will directly expand India’s mass affluent investor segment.
Earlier, Goldman Sachs projected India’s mass affluent population would likely hit 100 million by 2027, from around 60 million in 2023. At a far greater rate than HNIs and UHNIs.
At the same time, investor behaviour is evolving. Over the past decade, many investors have moved beyond mutual funds and stocks. They are increasingly exploring alternative investments, global equities, and more sophisticated portfolio strategies in search of diversification, capital protection, and higher returns.
Managing larger pools of wealth often requires expertise. Sadly, the supply of professional advisors remains limited. What was once a niche market is now attracting intense competition from some of India’s largest brokers, fintech platforms, mutual fund houses, and wealth managers.
Companies At the Centre of This Shift
360 ONE WAM
360 ONE WAM is India’s largest private wealth management firm. The company built its business on India’s ultra-rich. It manages roughly ₹3.11 lakh crore for 8,500+ families and corporates.
Its intent to enter India’s mass affluent segment became clear when it acquired ET Money in 2024. They didn’t acquire ET Money for their large mutual fund distribution business, but instead for the paid-advisory model – ET Money Genius. At that time, the platform’s fee-only model had over 76,000 active paying clients with assets under advisory of Rs 1,200 crore.
Months later, 360 ONE acquired UBS India’s wealth management, which served the upper end of the spectrum, to strengthen its wealth management offerings.
The opportunity is already beginning to reflect in the numbers. In FY26, 360 ONE WAM reported a 18.6% increase in total revenue, while its annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew 26.4%. ARR is tied to long-term advisory relationships rather than market transactions. Its faster growth indicates that a larger share of the company’s earnings is coming from recurring wealth-management income.
Nuvama
Nuvama Wealth Management primarily serves the UHNIs and HNIs segment, and already manages over $34.5 billion in financial assets of more than 4,750 of India’s wealthiest families.
In June 2026, it received SEBI approval to launch its own mutual fund business. The company has categorically mentioned that it will initially focus on launching products under the Specialised Investment Funds (SIFs) framework, a category designed to bridge the gap between plain mutual funds and the higher-ticket world of PMS and AIFs.
Nuvama, instead of waiting for investors to become wealthy enough for its traditional offerings, is positioning itself to capture them much earlier in their financial journey.
Angel One
Angel One is one of the two brokerages that benefited the most from the post-COVID demat surge. Now it is moving the other way, from broking to wealth management. The company rebranded its wealth division to “Ionic Wealth” in March 2024.
Ionic Wealth AUM crossed ₹10,000 crore in FY26, up from about ₹3,800 crore in FY25. Its client base also expanded sharply from around 680 clients to nearly 1,900 during the same period.
Angel One has also strengthened its product offerings so that most clients are served in-house. AUM of its asset management business, which mostly offers index and passive funds, rose from ₹74 crore in FY25 to ₹360 crore in FY26. In Q3FY26, AUM peaked at ₹470 crores.
Groww
In recent quarters, Groww has strengthened its offering in the wealth management space and is stacking the model end-to-end.
Beyond its core broking business and Groww Mutual Fund, Groww has launched “Prime” and “W” for its wealth management offerings.
Prime is an AI-assisted and AI-driven feature for DIY investors for mutual fund portfolio management. While “W” is a dedicated portfolio management and alternatives platform for affluent and HNI users, where each is serviced by a relationship manager.
Together, these offerings allow Groww to serve different investor groups. From self-directed beginners to affluent investors seeking personalized advice.
Zerodha: Taking the Parallel Route
Though unlisted, Zerodha remains one of the key players in India’s wealth ecosystem. Its founders, Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, are among the most heard voices in Indian finance. What they do is closely followed and analysed.
While Zerodha is largely continuing to focus on self-directed investing. The more telling development is happening outside Zerodha.
Its AMC joint venture with Smallcase has grown rapidly, with AUM rising from roughly ₹4,300 crore in January 2025 to over ₹16,000 crore within two years.
Nikhil Kamath recently co-founded wealth management venture, True Beacon, targeting affluent and high-net-worth investors seeking personalized advice and portfolio management.
The Convergence Of India’s Wealth Industry
| Company | Legacy Business | Traditional Customer | What It Is Adding | Why It Matters |
| 360 ONE WAM | Private wealth management | UHNIs and HNIs | ET Money’s advisory platform and retail investor base | Expanding downmarket to capture affluent investors earlier in their wealth journey |
| Nuvama | Wealth management and capital markets | UHNIs and HNIs | Mutual funds and SIFs | Creating an entry point for investors before they qualify for PMS and AIF products |
| Angel One | Discount broking | Retail investors and traders | Ionic Wealth, AMC and advisory offerings | Moving up the value chain from transactions to long-term wealth management |
| Groww | Digital investing platform | First-time and DIY investors | Prime and W | Building a full-stack wealth platform to retain users as their wealth grows |
| Zerodha | Self-directed investing | DIY investors | Smallcase AMC and True Beacon | Combining technology-led investing with high-touch advisory businesses |
The Market Rewards Different Paths To Wealth Creation
The appeal of wealth management is not limited to industry participants. Investors appear to value these businesses differently as well.
Wealth-management firms generate a larger share of recurring revenue through advisory fees and assets under management, making earnings less dependent on trading volumes. This often translates into better revenue visibility and stronger client retention.
Are Wealth Management Firms Under-Valued?
| Company | P/E Multiple | 5-year Median PE | Industry PE |
| 360 ONE | 38.0 | 33.0 | 21 |
| Nuvama | 30.3 | 25.8 | |
| Angel One | 34.9 | 20.3 | |
| Groww | 59.9 | – |
360 ONE and Nuvama benefit from recurring fee income, long-term client relationships, and earnings visibility. Digital platforms such as Groww and Angel One, meanwhile, are valued for their ability to acquire customers at scale, distribute multiple financial products, and grow without a proportional increase in costs.
Despite their different starting points, both models are ultimately pursuing the same objective: increasing the lifetime value of each investor. As wealth management becomes a larger part of their business mix, the distinction between the two may continue to blur.
When it comes to the valuations, it’s clear that all the companies covered are trading above both their own medians, as well as the industry average. The valuations imply that perhaps a lot of the expected growth has already been discounted by the markets. So, for these companies to do well, either there is a lift in sentiment, or then these companies will need to grow even faster. Any disappointment on the other hand could knock down valuations.
The Risks To This Opportunity
The opportunity is large, but it is not without risks.
First, the route to becoming mass affluent heavily depends on healthy capital markets. A prolonged bear market could slow investor activity, reduce asset growth, and make it harder for companies to convert investors into paying investors.
Second, regulations remain a constant risk factor. Last year, SEBI significantly tightened regulations around derivatives trading, mutual fund expense ratios, and product distribution.
Every new asset layer these firms are adding – SIFs, PMS, and AIFs – invites fresh scrutiny on suitability, disclosure, and who gets paid what to recommend it. A business built on converting commission-based distribution into fee-based advice is, by definition, operating in the regulator’s direct line of sight.
The third risk is the hardest to solve with capital or technology. It is trust. Getting investors to open an account is relatively easy. Convincing them to pay for advice is much harder. The firms that succeed will be the ones that can build long-term relationships rather than simply distribute investment products.
The Question That Decides The Winner
India’s wealth management industry is entering a new phase.
Rising financial wealth, a growing mass affluent population, and increasingly complex investment choices are creating strong demand for professional advice. In response, brokers, fintech platforms, mutual fund houses, and traditional wealth managers are all expanding beyond their core businesses.
The real winner, however, may not be the firm with the most users or the largest assets under management. It could be the company that earns the trust of India’s next generation of affluent investors and becomes their preferred partner throughout their wealth-creation journey.
Disclaimer:
Note: We have relied on data from www.Screener.in throughout this article. Only in cases where the data was not available, have we used an alternate, but widely used and accepted source of information.
The purpose of this article is only to share interesting charts, data points and thought-provoking opinions. It is NOT a recommendation. If you wish to consider an investment, you are strongly advised to consult your advisor. This article is strictly for educative purposes only.
Deepan Datta has spent over a decade studying stocks and mutual funds. His passion is to uncover interesting stories in the financial markets and share them through his writings with investors at large. He is focused on delivering clear, easy to understand and research-backed insights. Deepan began his career as a Research Associate at S&P Global, where he developed a strong foundation in financial research and data analysis.
Disclosure: The writer and his dependents do not hold the stocks discussed in this article.
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