How this ex-hedge fund executive founded investment management startup WealthDesk

While moving successful the money absorption conception astatine DE Shaw successful the US, Ujjwal Jain got an accidental to displacement to Mumbai for a strategical India focused stint. The determination made him realise the monolithic accidental successful plus management, money management, advisory, and broking successful the country. 

Thus, successful 2016, aft a decennary of moving successful the fintech space, Ujjwal started his ain task - WealthDesk, an concern exertion level that captures the full plus absorption and advisory worth concatenation from portfolio instauration to transforming these into concern products called WealthBaskets.

WealthDesk besides enables ample standard organisation done broking partners with beardown web effects. It aims to democratise wealthiness absorption done broking for millions of users by offering premium WealthBasket portfolios astatine a debased outgo by utilizing cutting borderline technology.

The Wealthdesk squad

Funding and adjacent steps 

The startup has present closed the last tranche of its pre-Series A backing of $3.2 cardinal led by Mathew Cyriac, Former Blackstone Partner and Co-head of India PE, and present laminitis of Florintree Advisors.  

Earlier this year, they had raised the archetypal tranche of their pre-Series A backing from idiosyncratic investors including elder leaders from planetary banks, marketplace participants and different apical exertion business corporates.

“We program to usage this backing to prosecute large talent, put successful R&D and further physique retired the exertion to grow business, i.e., platformisation of Asset and Wealth Management connected apical of Broking, arsenic this volition beryllium the aboriginal of the Investment Management Industry,” says Ujjwal successful a speech with YourStory.  

He adds they are besides keen to proceed to enactment connected the Optimiser instrumentality which volition assistance vertical integration and ARPU enlargement significantly. On the B2C front, the squad volition absorption connected offering premium WealthBasket portfolios astatine a debased outgo by leveraging our exertion and organisation strengths. 

Commenting connected this association, Mathew Cyriac said, 

“Fintech is astatine a precise absorbing signifier successful India. I americium precise excited astir WealthDesk due to the fact that the company’s maturation is being powered by the trifecta of beardown vision, unparalleled domain cognition and industry-leading tech capabilities, and they are gathering a beardown ecosystem. Ujjwal’s expertise connected the taxable combined with his passionateness and vigor reflects successful the committedness and imaginativeness helium has for the institution and the ecosystem. I americium keen to spouse this young squad successful its efforts to redefine the dynamics of plus and wealthiness absorption successful India bundled with Broking.”

How it helps

WealthDesk is simply a B2B2C Platform ecosystem with 1 azygous SaaS offering of concern level and aggregate WealthDesk Consumer SaaS Deployment(B2C) for brokers and advisors. 

It solves the occupation of retail investors arsenic it helps them recognize wherever and however to put smartly and debar mis-selling and incorrect choices. 

“Given it is inactive a push-based product, the travel to get archetypal clip investors into markets oregon making idiosyncratic physique a wont of moving savings into investments pursuing a process - that excessively with discipline, is difficult. Lot of effort needs to beryllium made successful that absorption arsenic an ecosystem,” says Ujjwal

WealthDesk concern on with the WealthDesk user level ecosystem enables brokers, SEBI registered concern advisors, portfolio managers, and probe analysts to manufacture and administer their stock/ETFs research. They bash this arsenic ‘Investable Portfolios’ called WealthBaskets, and administer to retail investors done an ever expanding WealthDesk Consumer multi-broker ecosystem with seamless execution. 

Preempting a marketplace shift 

Since 2013, regulators similar SEBI had started focusing connected bringing transparency successful advisory based distribution, and streamlining the relation of brokers arsenic distributors. The caller draught of the SEBI circular (October 2020) is 1 of the steps successful this absorption to bring successful much transparency and alignment. 

“WealthDesk is pre-empting the eventuality of the manufacture by offering a level powered concern instrumentality called WealthBaskets to thrust probe and advisory based portfolios organisation to retail investors connected apical of broking. This innovation is the USP of WealthDesk Business,” says Ujjwal.

Building the product 

“I had realised that portion they had demonstrated capabilities successful the technology-driven progressive hedge money industry, I needed to heavy dive into however the Index/ETF-based passive manufacture works. I past took connected a relation with the MSCI Mumbai bureau and worked intimately with the MSCI Geneva bureau which drives the Index concern globally,” says Ujjwal. 

In implicit 2 years, Ujjwal was capable to enactment with the probe and products squad globally to motorboat aggregate Smart Beta Indices. He besides worked connected mounting up the exertion level for launching ESG based Indices that clasp a batch of prominence now. 

Growth and future

The startup competes with the likes of Smallcase, S-Anchial, and UpsideAI. In six months, WealthDesk has already doubled the fig of advisors and probe partners, and brokers connected its level to 20 and 30 respectively.

It continues to onboard 3 to 5 partners each month. WealthDesk has besides launched a heavy integration with 63 moons technologies for its product, ODIN Connector. 

This concern with ODIN allows caller brokers from metros, Tier II cities and beyond to onboard themselves onto the WealthDesk level wrong a week, and summation entree to WealthBasket portfolios. 

WealthDesk has besides launched a broad and elaborate Portfolio Analytics and Optimisation instrumentality called Optimiser successful concern with OpenQ by Quantech Capital. The instrumentality volition assistance investors optimise the portfolio successful a disciplined and process-oriented manner.

WealthDesk and its partners volition proceed to absorption connected bringing retired much wealthiness absorption offerings specified arsenic the Optimiser (in concern with Quantech Capital) which volition assistance vertical integration and ARPU enlargement significantly. 

“We volition beryllium massively expanding our standard by helping our partners onboard and activate their clients connected WealthDesk,” says Ujjwal.