JM Financial floats digital investment platform for corporate bonds

Aims to create an ecosystem whereby retail investors can easily participate in the securities market that has so far been dominated by institutional investors

JM Financial group has floated digital investment platform for bonds called Bondskart.com, to enhance the participation of retail investors in the corporate securities market. The move comes close on the heels of Reserve Bank of India’s Retail Direct Scheme that seeks to widen the investor base for g-secs.

The platform aims to create an ecosystem whereby retail investors can easily participate in the securities market, which has so far been dominated by institutional investors.

Ajay Manglunia, Managing Director & head institutional fixed income, JM Financial, said the prospective investor would have fixed income investment options across rating categories, yields and instrument types on Bondskart.com

The platform would cover options such as plain vanilla bonds, sub-debt/Tier-II and perpetual bonds aided by in-house analytics. The platform would also give investors the flexibility to sell their debt securities with secure settlements, adding liquidity as a utility function to the platform, the group said in a statement.

Going forward, JM Financial plans to add more value-added services to Bondskart.com. The fully-customised platform runs on minimum human intervention, offering time and functional efficiency. It is available on the web as well as on mobile app on android and iOS.

JM Financial Products Limited, the flagship NBFC arm, is managing the platform. As of September 30 this year the consolidated loan book of group stood at Rs 11,070 crore. The distressed credit business had assets Under Management (AUM) of Rs 10,690 crore and wealth management AUM at Rs 83,390 crore.

The Group is headquartered in Mumbai and has a presence across 601 locations spread across 181 cities in India.