Redefining Wealth Management in India: Partnering with Waterfield Advisors

India’s wealth landscape is vast yet significantly underserved with limited access to professional advisory services and low penetration of managed assets. With over $3T in financial savings, HNIs and UHNIs alone account for $1.2T. The country boasts nearly 1 million HNIs (assets >$1M) and 13,000 UHNIs (net worth >$30M), yet less than 20% of this wealth is professionally managed, far behind the 50%+ seen in the US and Europe. This under-penetration, combined with India's rapid economic growth, presents a significant opportunity for professional wealth managers.

Wealth management in India

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Wealth management in India is not new. Several large and publicly listed firms operate in this sector, managing over $100B. However, the industry often falls short of serving customers' best interests. Most wealth management firms generate revenue through commissions on the financial products they sell, creating a fundamental misalignment- prioritising high-commission products over those best suited to clients’ needs. This frequently results in suboptimal portfolio performance for the customers. Increasingly, a growing number of HNIs and UHNIs are demanding transparent, personalised, and holistic investment advice aligned to their wealth management needs.

Regulatory shifts favour customers' interests

Over the years, India's regulatory landscape has evolved to strengthen consumer protection in wealth management. A key milestone came in 2022 when regulators permitted wealth managers to charge fees as a percentage of assets under advisory (AUA), replacing fixed fees. This shift better aligns advisor incentives with client success, ensuring advisors benefit directly as the wealth of their client base increases. Earlier, regulators also banned upfront commissions on mutual funds, allowing distributors to earn only through trail commissions. These regulatory advancements have laid a strong foundation for long-term, trust-driven partnerships between advisors and clients.

Enter Waterfield, pioneering trust in India's wealth management

Recognising the market needs, Soumya Rajan founded Waterfield Advisors as India’s first pure financial advisory firm, free from conflicts of interest. Built on trust, integrity, and transparency, Waterfield has grown to be the leading pure-play advisory firm in the country, managing over $5B in assets today. Their tagline ‘Insight with Integrity’ is what the Indian market needs as we move forward to become the third-largest economy over the next decade.

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Building a strong advisory business is akin to test match cricket. It demands patience, discipline, and unwavering quality- qualities deeply understood in India. At Jungle, we deeply admire Soumya and the Waterfield team’s journey over the past decade. The unyielding customer love and trust among India’s wealthiest families position the firm as the disruptor in India’s large and ever-growing wealth management industry.

We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Waterfield Advisors as they set new benchmarks in wealth management with transparency, integrity, and client-first advisory.