Brokerage houses face attrition

The booming stock broking industry is being hit by rising attrition as the entry of big Indian business houses and expansion of existing players spawns opportunities for senior and middle-level executives.

Surprisingly, multi-national players are at the receiving end as their executives are being lured by leading Indian corporate houses, which are entering into this space.

According to industry executives, no brokerage house, including HSBC Securities, Brics Securities, Kotak Securities, E*Trade-controlled IL&FS Investsmart is spared by the phenomenon as new entrants poach from rivals to meet the rising demand for trained and experienced hands.

Kishore Biyani's Future Money, Birla group's aggressive entry into the financial services space and the rapid expansion by local boutique brokerage houses are triggering the growing attrition, said industry executives.

Smaller boutique investment banking-cum-broking houses such as Way2Wealth, Antique Stock Broking and Centrum Capital are offering "meaningful stakes" to attract well-known market experts into their fold, said industry officials.

With good talent hard to find, brokerage houses are also luring experienced personnel from mutual funds.

A group from HSBC group moved to Antique Stock Broking in Mumbai, while seven people from Kotak institutional equities have put in their papers to build a team in a new brokerage house.

Industry executives speculate that they might be either joining Kishore Biyani's Future Money or the Ajay Srinivasan-headed financial services foray by the Birla group. But, this could not be confirmed.

---

HARD PLAY

Future Money, Birla group's aggressive entry into the financial services space and rapid expansion by boutique brokerage houses are triggering the growing attrition

Boutique houses offer 'meaningful stakes' to attract experts to their fold