The Hindu Business Line : HSBC InvestDirect to focus on technology and training

HSBC InvestDirect plans to invest time and money in setting up the technology and in training manpower to make its broking business profitable soon, according to Mr Manasije Mishra, Managing Director and CEO, HSBC InvestDirect.

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“We are in the middle of a large business transformation. Technology is one area where we plan to invest in order to make it robust and secure. We are also working on training the staff and improving the look and feel of our branches,” Mr Mishra said while speaking at a press conference to discuss the current trends in retail broking business here on Friday.

HSBC InvestDirect has 80 branches and 150 franchisee outlets across the country, he said.

HSBC Group acquired 93.8 per cent stake in IL&FS Investsmart in September last year. It has also initiated the process of delisting from the stock exchanges though it did not specify a time frame.

The company has been reporting losses for the past one year due to the difficult conditions in the stock market.

“The second half of last year, which was when we acquired the asset, was a difficult period to run a broking company. Both retail and institutional businesses were affected,” Mr Mishra pointed out.

The company accrued bad debts worth Rs 36 crore and reported a net loss after tax of Rs 20 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, he said.

“We are not too concerned about bad debts, in fact we have already started recovering some,” the CEO said.

Retail broking accounts for almost 90 per cent of the company’s total turnover while institutional broking comprised close to 10 per cent, he pointed out.

HSBC, Mr Mishra said, proposed to leverage HSBC InvestDirect outlets across the country to increase the reach of its financial product and service offerings in the wealth management, life insurance, and asset management segments.

“Distribution of mutual funds and insurance products currently account for about 15 per cent of our total revenue. We want to increase it further,” he added.