MarketIn today’s complex financial environment,planning or structuring a portfolio is essential toreduce the risk of capital erosion as a result ofshort-term volatility. India’s financial servicessector is expected to exhibit robust growth inthe coming years, driven by rising personalincomes, corporate restructuring, continuedliberalisation and the rapid establishment of amore consumer and credit-oriented culture.

The maturing of markets is always followedby increased demand – and thus the creation ofproducts that meet the growing, and specific-to-people, needs of investors. A new trend that isgradually emerging is for people to considerinvestment opportunities that meet everypossible event, bir th onwards. In financial marketterminology these are called cradle-to-graveneeds. But this apart, another dimension hasbeen added that has applied pressure on theindustry to develop new products: salaryincrease. At 13.9%, India has recorded theworld’s highest salary enhancement which inturn has brought into the limelight specialisedinvestments in equities, realty funds, art and commodities.

Fuelled by strong economic fundamentals, theIndian stock market has been on a five-year,record-breaking bull-run. Barring a fewcorrections, the market has returned an averagegrowth of over 60% inthe last three years.Attracted by thestrength and resilienceof the Indian economy,foreign funds, too,have made heavyinvestments.

All of thesehappenings have createdan environmentconducive to thedevelopment of thefinancial markets.

Keeping pace with growing financial avenuesthe Kotak Mahindra Group – one of India'sleading financial conglomerates – offersconsumers a wide range of products incommercial and investment banking, stockbroking, mutual funds and life insurance.

With consumers showing increasing interestin capital markets, several companies havequeued up to raise funds from initial publicofferings (IPOs). It is estimated that in thecalendar year 2008 funds raised from newlistings will amount to Rs. 63,200 crore (US$ 15.80 billion).This is almost twice the amount – Rs. 33,200 crore (US$ 8.30 billion) – raised in the previous year(Source:Thomson Financial).

The number of companies listed on theBombay Stock Exchange (BSE) – more than6000 – is second only to NYSE. In thisburgeoning economy Kotak Securities owns 8%market share.The company has Rs. 4000 crore(US$ 1 billion) of assets under managementacross a network of more than 310 cities and867 outlets. Kotak Securities services the needsof nearly 400,000 clients.

AchievementsWith a commendable track record, sizeablepresence on the ground and a highly qualifiedteam of dedicated staff in India, Kotak Securitiesis one of the leading stock broking firms in theIndian capital market. It has reaped a rich

harvest of awards in the last two years: CNBCTV-Optimix Financial Advisory recognition asthe Best Performing Equity Broker in India, 2008;Avaya Customer Responsiveness awards in 2007and 2006; in 2007 it also won Asiamoney’s BestBrokerage Firm and Thomson Extel Surveyrecognition as the country’s leading EquityHouse; for two years running, 2006 and 2007, itwon Euromoney’s Best Provider of PortfolioManagement, amongst several other triumphs.

The company’s prodigious list ofachievements include a string of impressive‘firsts’: the introduction of the franchisee modelin stock broking business that became astandard benchmark for SEBI; launch of portfoliomanagement services for the retail customer ;introduction of margin financing for brokingclients; initiation of the Systematic InvestmentPlan (SIP) in direct equity; and the enabling ofinvestments in IPOs and mutual funds over the phone.

HistoryThe Kotak Mahindra Group began its longjourney in 1985 as Kotak Capital ManagementFinance Limited.This company was promoted byUday Kotak, Sidney A A Pinto and Kotak &Company. Industrialists Harish Mahindra andAnand Mahindra took a stake in 1986.Thecompany then changed its name to Kotak

Mahindra FinanceLimited to reflect thenew partnership.

Kotak SecuritiesLimited is the stockbroking arm of theGroup.The firm startedits operations inNovember 1995. In theyear 2000 KotakSecurities’ online sharetrading platform waslaunched under the

web address of kotakstreet.com.This was laterre-christened kotaksecurities.com in 2005.

ProductOne of the oldest and largest broking firms inthe industry, Kotak Securities’ offerings includestock broking, investments in IPO, derivatives,mutual funds and insurance. Apart from theseinvestment opportunities, Kotak Securities alsoprovides Portfolio Management services foraffluent investors.

All Kotak Securities’ products are based onthe premise that investing should be simple.Todo this the company helps clients integrate theirbrokerage, demat and bank accounts into onesingle entity.This saves investors the needlessbother of having to otherwise juggle with threeseparate accounts when just one could do.

Kotak Securities also attempts to empowerinvestors by keeping them in the know of allrelevant developments in the investmentmarket.This is done by sending SMS alerts andalso by using mobile tools to help customerstrack the stock market even when they are onthe move.

With KEAT (Kotak E-Trading Access Terminal)

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– Kotak Securities’ proprietary and exclusivetrading tool, investors can monitor and view real time market gains and losses.This makesspotting opportunities and transacting quickerand easier.

While investments in stocks can be doneonline and through the phone, Kotak Securitiesis the only company to provide transacting inMutual Funds and IPOs over the phone.

For investors who prefer to have theirinvestments professionally managed,Kotak Securities provides both discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio managementservices.

The company has also been involved with thecreation of several path-breaking products:Optimiser is one of them. It is a product whichscientifically evaluates a portfolio and suggests

changes to increase the returns whilemaintaining the same level of risk or bymaintaining the returns and reducing the risk.

Recent DevelopmentsKotak Securities is also credited with innovatingthe Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) in directequity. It developed this novel idea through aproduct called Auto Invest. Auto Invest helpsinvestors gradually build a diversified portfoliowhile averaging the cost of their investments.Auto Invest Gold is an exciting new productwhere investments are made in gold equitytraded funds. Redemption is in the form of goldbars instead of money.

A recently launched facility is the Non Discretionary Portfolio ManagementService which offers clients an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the nuances of investing.

PromotionEvery investment is carefullyengineered. Relationship managershelp clients monitor, assess andtweak their portfolios at everylevel.They give personalisedadvice and ensure clientsreceive quarterly researchreports, account performancestatements and a monthlyincome statement (MIS) attheir doorstep. A dedicatedwebsite and a customerservice desk allow clients tokeep a constant tab ontheir portfolio'sperformance.

Kotak Securities hasbeen using targetedpromotions to generatebusiness. Direct mail shotswith out-of-the-box offers have helped the company acquirenew clients.

A unique idea put to test wasThe Best Investment DecisionContest which targeted investorsin the stock market.The schemegenerated an overwhelmingresponse. In a market wheredirect mail offers come pouringout of letter boxes a 3% return isconsidered outstanding.The BestInvestment Decision Contest

produced a stunning 6% response.Kotak Securities’ memorable coffee

commercial was created to promote theconcept of investing made simple. It drew ananalogy that just as a simple cup of coffee canget complex when overwhelmed with differentvarieties of beans so also investing can be acomplicated exercise when confronted withmultiple choices.The commercial led on toshow how Kotak Securities was best equippedto make investing simple.This 30-second spotwas short listed for the Abby awards.

Brand Values Kotak Securities brings with it years ofexperience, expertise and research. Its portfoliomanagers have spent decades understandingdiverse investment instruments

and consumerneeds and are perfectlyequipped to handle the most exacting demands.

The company strongly subscribes to the viewthat growing its investors’ wealth is the reasonwhy it exists. Adherence to transparency andcompliance to ethical practices are two of itsmost important commitments.

www.kotaksecurities.com

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THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT

Kotak Securities introduced the flat brokeragefee model in India

In 2006 Kotak purchased Goldman Sachs’sstake

On an average day, Kotak processes over500,000 trades in secondary markets

Kotak Securities is the largest stock broking firmin India

Kotak Securities

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