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We do have banking ambitions, says Incred Group's Bhupinder Singh BHUPINDER SINGH, the shadow banking entity's founder and chief executive ofcer, spoke to Raghu Mohan

Topics Banking Industry | KKR India Financial Services |

Raghu Mohan | Last Updated at July 5, 2021 06:10 IST

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Bhupinder Singh, Founder & Chief Executive Ofcer, Incred Group

https://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/we-do-have-banking-ambitions-says-incred-group-s-bhupinder-singh-121070400711_1.html 1/6 7/5/2021 We do have banking ambitions, says Incred Group's Bhupinder Singh | Business Standard News

ALSO READ The Incred Group has been in the headlines for its merger with KKR India Financial Services, and it has also been on an acquisition IPL 2021, CSK vs KKR highlights: Pat's heroics in spree. Former Deutsche Bank’s co-chief executive Anshu Jain is a vain; CSK win by 18 runs backer; and others include Investcorp, Paragon Partners, Elevar Equity and Manipal Group chief Ranjan Pai. BHUPINDER SINGH, IPL 2021, KKR vs PBKS highlights: Kolkata ends its the shadow banking entity’s founder and chief executive ofcer, four-match losing streak spoke to Raghu Mohan. Edited excerpts:

IPL 2021 Match 25, DC vs You have been acquisitive of late with Qbera, Vishuddha, and KKR highlights: Prithvi storm the MAPE Advisory Group. What are your plans on the blows KKR away inorganic and organic front? IPL 2021: KKR vs RCB match postponed; Varun, Sandeep The InCred Group comprises two distinct businesses — InCred test Covid positive Finance which is our tech and analytics-based new-age NBFC; and IPL 2021, SRH vs KKR Match- InCred Capital which is our integrated institutional, wealth 3 Highlights: KKR win by 10 management and asset management platform. And while there is runs no specifc focus given to inorganic growth, we are always open to looking at opportunities. Each of the acquisitions we’ve made has contributed meaningfully to the overall InCred story.

Qbera provided a boost to our direct consumer lending business in InCred Finance; Vishuddha served as a good base to launch our equity portfolio management services and alternative investment fund businesses, while MAPE has been at the core of our i-banking expansion. In addition, we have also built out our debt trading and equities capabilities within InCred Capital.

Regardless of our growth strategy — whether organic or inorganic — I care most deeply about the robustness of that growth. To that extent, the softer aspects of team cohesion, an agreement of shared vision, a common passion to build something unique, and yet very large have been central to all our growth decisions, especially the inorganic ones.

During these uncertain times, would it not be a better strategy to preserve capital rather than chase growth?

There is no doubt that 2020 and 2021 have been the most challenging years in a very long time for the entire world. Precious lives have been lost and people have seen jobs and economic growth disappear. Our primary focus at a time like this has been on the well-being of our employees and our customers. However, this has also been a period which has thrown up some very interesting investment opportunities which can be particularly attractive from a long-term value standpoint.

With the kind of build-out InCred has done with so many acquisitions, don’t you run the risk of becoming unwieldy?

The short answer is “no.” I think it’s very important to highlight that while we have made a number of acquisitions, all these put together would contribute less than 10 per cent to the overall InCred story today. The vast majority of the growth across our business lines has happened organically.

What kind of a non-banking fnancial company (NBFC) will Incred morph into?

Our lending business, InCred Finance, continues to grow from strength to strength. We have seen healthy growth rates across all aspects of that business, with a strong risk metric, and we will continue ˅ on this growth trajectory over the coming years. I would anticipate that the business will have reached a Hide Close scale where it becomes appropriate to list it on the bourses in the next two to three years. Our focus in COVID-19 this business will continue to be in retail and small business lending. INDIA

InCred Capital is a huge focus area for me personally, particularly the wealth management side, where DEATHS: 402,005 we have very large ambitions for growth. I see this being primarily driven by our domestic wealth business, but also anticipate strong contributions from our global non-resident Indian franchise. We have just gone live with our frst international wealth unit in Dubai, and are in the process of launching in Singapore as well in the months to come. These international wealth centres together with our core

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domestic wealth engine will enable us to cater to not only all local wealth customers in India, but also the global Indian community.

What is in fact the status of the merger of InCred Finance with KKR India’s NBFC arm?

We have had some very friendly and constructive discussions with KKR over the last few months and are now in the fnal stages of the process. We will look to conclude this soon once the relevant regulatory approvals are in place.

Is there a banking ambition at play in the background?

I think the answer is a “no” until we get to a certain scale. Once we achieve a critical level of scale, it becomes a very viable and possibly even a desirable option, as access to a stable retail deposit base can play a very benefcial role in our asset-liability management strategy. More broadly, for an Integrated Financial Institution like ours, a mainstream banking licence would be the most natural way to fully participate in the upside growth potential of a country as big as ours.

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First Published: Mon, July 05 2021. 06:10 IST

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