RR to open 100 branches in South India

With the bourses zooming past 11,000 points, RR Equity Brokers, the flagship company of RR Financial Consultants, is scouting for opportunities in the tier-II and tier-III cities across the country.

The company, which entered the equity business a year ago, is looking at setting foot south of the Vidhyas by opening 100 new branches in South India by Deepavali this year.

Speaking to Business Standard here, Jayant Manglik, senior vice president of the company said smaller cities were unexplored markets for the equity broking houses. "We found a lot of opportunities in smaller cities where the commodity market is powerfully spread out and the disposable income of the people is very high," he said.

He, however, added that although people in these cities were ready to spend on stocks and shares, the lack of proper information on how to invest money in a structured manner was a major obstruction.

On the expansion plans, Manglik said the company had announced opening of 400 branches across the country, of which 100 centres will come up in south India. "Karnataka will get 35 of the new branches while the rest will be divided among the southern states including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, he pointed out.

He said the company was largely looking for franchises in small cities. In Karnataka, the places chosen by the company for opening the new branches include Dharwad, Belgaum, Hubli, Hassan, Tumkur, Chikmagalur among others. Presently, the company has presence in 36 cities apart from having its 81 franchises.

Manglik said the booming economy had brought forth multiple options for investment before the investors and the notion that stock market was only for urban dwellers and the elite, was no more there. In this scenario, the role of the financial advisors was very crucial in arriving at investment decisions.

"Anybody who makes an investment needs to make proper asset allocation and it is your financial advisors who will tell how much of your disposable income should be invested in each of these assets," he said. However, RR's advice is that the percentage of investment in equity by a person should be hundred minus his age.

About the opportunities in Karnataka, Manglik said the awareness level of the people in the state about the stock market and risks and returns in it, was very high in comparison to the northern states. "So Karnataka as well as the whole south is a key market for us since west is almost saturated and matured market," he said adding the company was planning to organise training programmes in tier-II and tier-II cities with the help of financial advisers.