CHENNAI: Upstox, an online discount broker, plans to diversify its portfolio with a focus on wealth management to retain its existing user base. The company plans to introduce sovereign gold bonds, fixed deposits, and account aggregators, Shrini Vishwanath its co-founder said in a media interaction in the city on Monday. “We are also in talks with non-banking financial corporations and all these talks are in an early stage,” he said adding that their focus will remain on trading and investment. The account aggregator feature is expected to be introduced in a few months.
“We also want to diversify our product offering and planning to apply for an Asset Management Company (AMC) licence.” The company is expected to apply in the current fiscal. “Not all features have revenue potential, but we’re introducing this based on the customer demands,” he added.
Upstox’s customer base grew from 1 million in 2020 to over 10 million, boosted by the pandemic. However, with weak market conditions, people who entered the market in 2020, many of whom are first-time investors, are not able to see profits like they did for the last three years.
Upstox’s active clients and market share have reportedly dipped this January on a yearly basis. Responding to a question on market volatility, Vishwanath acknowledged that trade volumes on the platform were declining last year. The company declined to reveal further details. However, he argued that it is temporary.
Mumbai-based Upstok founded in 2009, backed by investors like Ratan Tata and Tiger Global crossed Rs 1000 crore broking revenue and got break-even in the financial year (FY23). The company generated a positive net cash flow of nearly `130 crore in the last quarter of FY23. Upstox has set a target of 40% revenue growth in the current fiscal.