FinTech has the potential of becoming one of the major

“FinTech has the potential of becoming one of the major employment generators in the state over the next few years besides promoting ‘ease of living’ among citizens”: Tmt. Pooja Kulkarni IAS, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Guidance Tamil Nadu

Tmt. Kulkarni attended the Chennai Micro Experience of FinTech Festival India 2021-22

FFI is supported by Niti Aayog, six central ministries, Government of Tamil Nadu, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT) etc. and organised by Constellar Exhibitions

 

Attending the Chennai Micro Experience of FinTech Festival India 2021-22, Tmt. Pooja Kulkarni IAS, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Guidance Tamil Nadu, said, “We are focusing highly on FinTechs as we believe it has the potential of becoming one of the major employment generators in the state over the next few years besides promoting ‘ease of living’ among citizens.”

Talking about the potential of Tamil Nadu she further said, “Tamil Nadu has been a pioneer in the financial sector with Chennai being at the forefront of several financial innovations and initiatives. With four well-established pillars for the FinTech ecosystem - Domain Knowledge in Finance, Data Analytics & Information Technology, Infrastructure, and Diversified & Inclusive Markets, Tamil Nadu is poised to evolve into a Global FinTech hub. Right from creating a single-window channel to facilitate domestic and foreign investments, to promoting an enabling environment for FinTechs and startups to flourish in the state, we are committed to extend all possible support.”

FinTech Festival India is organised by Constellar Exhibitions (a subsidiary of TEMASEK and Singapore Press Holdings which organizes Singapore FinTech Festival) and supported by Niti Aayog and six central government ministries.

The daylong conference in Chennai was also attended by some well-known stalwarts such as Karan Mehta, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Kissht, Himanshu Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, Kristal.AI, Irfan Mohammed, Chief Business Officer - Financial Services, CredAvenue, Sharan Nair, Chief Business Officer, CoinSwitch, Prabhu Rangarajan, Co-Founder, M2P Fintech and Anil Pinapala, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Vivifi India Finance among others.

Among the notable industry speakers who attended the conference, Srikanth Meenakshi, Co-Founder, PrimeInvestor.in said, "India has among the most advanced FinTech industry in the world. And this FinTech festival is an opportunity - both to celebrate the domestic ecosystem as well as to shape its future with dialogues between the pathbreakers in its various sub sectors. It's a privilege to be part of this event, to contribute and to learn."

“It was fascinating to moderate the session on Cryptocurrency and its impact on the Future of Indian Economy at FinTech Festival India – Chennai Micro Experience. Cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin has grown in popularity in India, with the volume of Indian rupees traded in cryptocurrency at an all-time high. I had interesting discussions on the views on Crypto as an asset class in 2021 and beyond – the opportunities, challenges, reliability, and security with Mr.Sharan Nair, CBO of CoinSwitch and Mr. Arjun Vijay, COO of Giotuss, two of the renowned experts in this area.” said, Mahesh Ramachandran, Partner & Fund Manager of Pontaq Cross Border Innovation Fund.

A white paper on ‘Chennai: A hub for Saas Startups’, published by FFI’s Knowledge Partner - Ernst & Young (EY), was also unveiled today in front of the august gathering. The white paper deep-dives into the evolving start-up ecosystem in Chennai and takes a detailed overview on how the city is fast emerging as a hub for SaaS based start-ups.

Fintech Festival India is the country’s largest FinTech confluence to be held till March 2022. It will witness participation from over 500 Indian and global leaders and 12,000+ delegates. FFI will see participation from Brazil, Israel, UK, Russia, Canada, Finland, Japan, Singapore among others.

The conferences are being supported by Government of India’s Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Ministry of Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME), The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited ( A Government of India Enterprise – Under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting) and Startup India (Department for promotion of Industry and Internal Trade & Invest India). It has also received support from the Government of Tamil Nadu, Government of Karnataka and Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT).

Fintech Festival India is being conducted in physical and digital format through 10 Micro Experience Conferences in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Guwahati, Chennai, Mumbai, Gift City (Ahmedabad) and Pune. The festival will end with a 3-day mega event in New Delhi from March 9 - 11, 2022.

The next Micro Experience will be held in Mumbai on 26th November 2021.

In addition to the government, FFI which aims to unleash the power of FinTech across the country, has also drawn interest from industry including Indian insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and World Trade Centre Mumbai among others.

Pune attracted institutional investments of

Pune attracted institutional investments of ~INR 9,600 crore during 2015-20; 77% accounted for offshore investors: JLL

·         Of the total institutional investments, 49% accounted for office assets whereas 25% contributed towards the housing segment

·         The city presents an off-campus student housing demand of more than 1.6 lakh beds, which is expected to increase to 2.1 lakh beds by 2023

·         Employment of migrant millennials is expected to grow and cross 7.3 lakh by 2023

JLL launched an exclusive Pune city report titled “Real Estate in Post Pandemic Pune - Opportunities in the making” which highlights that the city attracted institutional investments of ~INR 9,600 crore during 2015-20. The report further states that office assets accounted for the highest share of 49% of the total institutional investments due to robust demand, stable rentals, and low office vacancy of 5% whereas the housing segment garnered 25% share of investments.

Investment sentiments picked up during the first quarter of 2021, but subsequent lockdown has led to brief hiatus in deals. Between 2015-20, foreign institutional investors, mostly private equity funds, dominate the deal volumes in the city with a 77% share of total investments. Leading funds have acquired office space assets to build portfolio for listing through REITs. Global funds, meanwhile, have mostly transacted outright purchase of office assets.

“Pune’s urban infrastructure is set to receive a major facelift with the planned metro network and the Ring Road. The city’s metro network is expected to go operational in the next 24 months. In terms of Ring Roads, the city is getting two of them, the first of the two is under Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and is going to be 65 meters wide. The second Ring Road which is 110 meters wide is under Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The outer Ring Road is expected to be completed first before the inner Ring Road. On the outer Ring Road, we are also expected to see a new three strip greenfield airport coming up at Purandar for which land acquisition to the tune of 4000 acres is underway. The airport is expected to have one cargo and three passengers’ strips. This will be a bigger than Panvel or Mumbai airport. Panvel airport is also expected to provide a boost to the growth story of Pune. Further, the city’s advantage of talent, technology, industry, and connectivity will propel it towards becoming the next megacity of India. As the real estate sector grows in tandem and quality assets are developed continuously, the city is expected to provide huge opportunities for occupiers, developers and investors, across the globe,” said Sanjay Bajaj, Managing Director - Pune, Logistics & Industrial, JLL India.

“Investors are keen to evaluate Grade A office and industrial assets, as both asset classes have strong fundamentals and will provide stable long-term returns. Office and industrial focused funds are likely to pursue high value deals in relevant micro-markets of the city. New investment platforms are expected to be formed in 2021,” he further added.

“Driven primarily by IT/ITeS, BFSI, Fintech, R&D, and manufacturing occupiers, Pune has grown rapidly as a market and has been witnessing leasing activity on an average of 5 million sq ft per year (except 2020) with peak demand of 6.4 to 6.5 million sq. ft in 2018-2019. The steady demand for Grade A office spaces led to increased occupancy, resulting in vacancy levels steadily dropping from ~15% in 2010 to ~5% in 2020, along with a strong growth in rentals during the same time frame. Large global Institutional investors have recognized this growth potential and have established a strong presence in the Pune office market. Going forward, the presence of these institutional owners is only expected to increase and will further work towards increasing the attractiveness of Pune as an office market. In addition, the HNI demand has been exemplary over a sustained period of time and has contributed largely to both core asset sales  and quality speculative assets which were built to suit the needs of the occupiers,” stated Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head of Research & REIS, JLL India.

Pune offers 31 million sq. ft of REITable office space.

The office market accounts for a sizeable share of the two listed REITs, highlighting the potential for REITable office assets from the city. The risk mitigation strategy followed by REITs entails asset acquisition across cities and asset classes. JLL’s research indicates that 31 million sq ft of office space stock would be eligible for REITs. The REITable stock includes all the operational lease-only projects with area greater than or equal to 2,00,000 sq ft and a vacancy of less than or equal to 20%. Most of these projects are owned and operated by prominent developers. Kharadi, Baner, Balewadi, and Hinjewadi which are major IT-office space hubs, would account for 49% of the total REITable office space in Pune.

Logistics and Industrial

Logistics and Industrial has been one of the consistently performing markets in the country due to its balanced industrial sector and growing consumption base. It is home to several foreign industrial manufacturers and a sizeable R&D base for engineering, driving a sizeable chunk Maharashtra’s GDP. The key drivers that have been fueling strong growth in the warehousing sector have been mainly Pune’s large and diversified industrial manufacturing sector and a growing services sector that has influenced consumption led demand. The city is the second most important urban and industrial node of the state of Maharashtra that contributes a significant chunk to India’s economic output. The industrial base is expected to get a further boost from three planned industrial corridors passing through the city. Today, Pune attracts nearly 20% of the entire industrial investment in the country. It is an established automobile and durable goods manufacturing hub, with several Indian and foreign industry majors in the field.

The Pune industrial and warehousing market has grown steadily, with the total stock increasing at a CAGR of 19% over the last 5 years to reach nearly 27 million sq ft in 2020. Out of this, nearly 65% is Grade A stock. More importantly, the market has been characterised by good demand-supply dynamics in the last few years, which resulted in vacancy levels hovering around the 10% mark. JLL expects that the healthy demand-supply dynamics will continue over the next few years, making Pune one of the most attractive markets in the country for the development of industrial parks and warehouses. Although Pune has been an established manufacturing hub, it has been witnessing significant growth in warehousing activities from 2018, especially in the Chakan-Talegaon and Nagar Road submarkets. The city’s warehousing market witnessed a dip owing to the pandemic and related effects. The market started gaining momentum in Q1 2021 with construction of delayed projects getting completed in this quarter. This resulted in an increase in the growth of supply by 30% as compared to previous quarter and 0.72 million sq. ft. of absorption in Q1 2021. It is expected that the absorption will bounce back to pre-pandemic levels of 2018 by 2021. The post-pandemic market recovery would be supported by the continued growth in demand from sectors such as e-commerce, 3PL/ logistics, FMCG, etc. The absorption levels are expected to gain further momentum in 2022 and would be nearing 4 million sq ft.

Manufacturing in Pune is concentrated in the northern region with Chakan, Talegaon and Nagar Road accounting for most of the activity. Resultantly, this region also emerged as the base for the development of the warehousing sector in the city.

Rise in business models of operators

Most student housing and co-living players currently operating in Pune have adopted the asset-light strategy of leasing residential units or an entire building from the property owner, and sub-leasing individual rooms or beds to end-users. Some operators also sign long-term management agreements with landlords to run their premises as a student housing / co-living facility. In this setup, the lease agreement is directly between the property owner and the end-user. The operators act as custodians of the property and provide value-added services to the end-user. Over the last couple of years, Pune has also witnessed the emergence of purpose-built facilities where the operator partners with a developer to build properties to be run as co-living or student housing setups. Selected co-living and student housing accommodation are in the north-western regions of Hinjewadi-Wakad-Tathawade and Baner-Balewadi, followed by Viman Nagar and Kharadi in the North East. Only a few organised setups are present in the Central part of the city due to restricted supply of relevant residential properties, which can be converted into co-living or student housing setups.

Axis Mutual Fund launches ‘Axis Global Innovation Fund of Fund'

Highlights: -

·         An open ended fund of fund scheme investing in Schroder International Selection Fund Global Disruption (SISF) – a global equity fund that aims to provide capital growth by investing in companies worldwide that benefit from disruption

·         Disruptive growth is an opportunity for investors to capture significant value creation over time

·         SISF focuses on a broad set of sub-themes including fin-tech, e-commerce, environmental, healthcare etc.

·         Offers Indian investors an opportunity to participate in a globally diversified equity portfolio that can complement their Indian equity allocation

·         Minimum application (NFO) of Rs. 5,000 and in multiples of Rs.1/- thereafter

·         Benchmark: MSCI AC World (Net TR) (INR)

·         NFO date: May 10^th 2021 to May 21^st 2021

Axis Mutual Fund, one of the fastest-growing fund houses in India, today announced the launch of their new fund – ‘Axis Global Innovation Fund of Fund’. The fund will provide investors with an opportunity to invest in Schroder International Selection Fund Global Disruption, an equity fund that aims to provide long term capital growth by investing in companies worldwide that benefit from disruption. The New Fund Offer (NFO) opens for subscription from Monday, May 10 to May 21.

Disruption is ubiquitous. It transforms the way we live, displaces existing markets, and pioneers new creations we didn’t even know we needed. Today, disruptive forces are manifesting themselves faster than ever due to technological advancements, creating a rich and fast-growing universe of transformational companies with growth potential. Disruption is also changing the way the global economy operates and the rapid evolution of new companies is transforming the way they interact with their customers. Companies faced with disruption (from a new competitor or product) usually react by becoming either an enabler (the conduit for change), an adaptor (the positive respondent who seeks to amend their business or product range) or a denier (the incumbent who fails to adapt).

 

Schroder ISF (International Selection Fund) Global Disruption seeks to provide capital growth by investing in innovative companies that are redefining their industries or are successfully adapting to change. The fund is actively managed to access multiple disruption themes globally including – Environment, Automation, Healthcare, FinTech, Communication, Food & Water, New Consumer, Digitalization, and E-Commerce.

 

Exposure to global investment opportunities today is one of the most crucial aspects for investors to broaden their investment universe. Global investing also allows investors capture disruptive growth through various themes, many of which are not available on the listed markets in India. Global investing therefore diversifies the investment portfolio for investors and has the potential to improve their risk adjusted returns.

 

On the launch of the NFO, Mr. Chandresh Kumar Nigam, MD & CEO, Axis AMC, said “At Axis AMC, we have successfully been at the forefront of developing product innovations and creating diversified solutions that offer long-term wealth creation options for our investors. Thematic products allow investors to participate in important structural themes in a targeted manner. In that context, we are extremely excited to offer investors a product that captures one of the most significant themes of the current age – disruptive innovation precipitated by technological advancements and changes to the business environment. Companies that are bringing about and benefiting from these changes have the potential to generate high growth. The Schroders fund is able to scout for such companies on a global basis, giving us access to the best such ideas from around the world.”

 

Alex Tedder, CIO, Head of Global & Thematic Equities, Schroders Investment Management said, “We are truly pleased to extend our partnership with Axis AMC to another global fund. With our goals completely aligned, we wish to provide investors in India with best in class global products and Axis Global Innovation Fund of Fund is an important part of that objective.”

 

You can visit our website www.axismf.com or download mobile app ‘Axis Mutual Fund’ (Android/IOS) and start your investment journey now.

 

 

Madhu Malhotra joins Edelweiss General Insurance as

Madhu Malhotra joins Edelweiss General Insurance as Chief Technology Officer

Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI), one of the fastest growing digital insurance companies in India, has appointed Madhu Malhotra, as its Chief Technology Officer. 

Madhu will spearhead the Technology function at EGI and drive digital innovation in line with the brand’s strategy of transforming the insurance landscape in India through tech driven solutions and offerings.

Madhu is an eminent Technology leader who brings with her two decades of rich experience across FinTech and Telecom domains. She has a proven track-record in leading digital innovations, engineering modernisations & transformations and streamlining cloud initiatives. Madhu most recently served as head of Technology at Spectra. She was also associated with Airtel for 10 years and held many leadership positions there. While at Airtel Bank, she led the launch of the first payments bank of India, headed the financial inclusion vertical to deliver large scale customer impact and drove Agile adoption and transformation. 

 Welcoming Madhu, Shanai Ghosh, Executive Director & CEO, Edelweiss General Insurance, said, “Technology has proved to be a game changer for the Insurance industry, with the potential to transform the entire service ecosystem and enhance customer experience. At EGI, we are well placed to leverage this transformation, given our digital operating model. I am excited to welcome Madhu to be part of our digital journey and lead this strategic business function for us. Her experience and expertise will help build a robust technology function that will help drive our business strategy. I wish her the very best for an enriching career with us.”

Taking charge as CTO, Madhu Malhotra said, “Edelweiss General Insurance is one of India’s emerging technology-led non-life Insurance organisations which keeps customers at its core. Digital technology has a pivotal role to play in deepening of this relationship between the insurer and its customer. Thereby as CTO my focus will be to create future ready digital platform and products offering state of the art digital experience and capabilities to our customers. I will strive for a culture of innovation to make the customer experience simple and transparent. I am incredibly excited to play a key role in accelerating this digital journey in the growth of EGI that Shanai has envisioned.”

Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI) is India’s first cloud native insurer, which started operations in February 2018, with a digital operating model and a vision to help people lead happier, safer and healthier lives. The company aims to deliver innovative solutions to customers through a digital operating model leveraging data and analytics. EGI is creating an ‘Insurance as a service’ platform with a plug and play API gateway that enables easy integration with third parties. It provides customer insights and paperless experience with technology-powered execution and AI & ML driven processes. This is what differentiates EGI in the Indian Insurance Market.

Visit us: www.edelweissinsurance.com

Social handles: @EdelweissGI |  EdelweissGeneralInsurance |Linkedin.com/company/edelweiss-general-insurance/

 

ICICI Lombard partners with Flipkart to offer

 ICICI Lombard partners with Flipkart to offer Hospicash benefit to its consumers

With daily cash benefits starting from Rs. 500, Hospicash benefit under Group SafeGuard insurance will provide cover to Flipkart consumers

Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, has partnered with ICICI Lombard to offer Group SafeGuard insurance, a group insurance policy to its consumers. Compared to the standard indemnity health insurance policies, Group SafeGuard is a benefit offering that allows consumers to avail a payout for each day of hospitalization. The fixed daily amount enables consumers to pay for incidental medical or emergency expenses. The insurance is affordably priced, paperless, and flexible; covering both accidental hospitalizations or planned surgeries/treatment.

Indians incur significant expenses during hospitalization. According to a report^[1] by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the direct average out-of-pocket expenditure for hospitalization in India ranges between Rs 4,452 to Rs 31,845 for a person, whereas the average loss of income due to hospitalization is estimated to be around Rs 8,164 per day. The Hospicash benefit offered by ICICI Lombard provides consumers an extra allowance to cover any out of pocket expenses - be it emergency medical expenses, travel,  post-discharge costs or compensation for loss of income during hospitalization.

Ranjith Boyanapalli, Head – Fintech and Payments Group, Flipkart, said, “We are consistently striving to offer value-driven solutions to our consumers. As consumers increasingly understand the importance of health insurance, we want to ensure that Flipkart is their one-stop solution to provide them services for a holistic health protection plan. With hospicash benefit, consumers can now safeguard themselves against overhead charges which can often result in an unnecessary drain of savings. We aim to keep offering industry-best insurance options on our platform to make our consumers’ journey simplified, and keep them better informed.”

Sanjeev Mantri, Executive Director, ICICI Lombard said, “At ICICI Lombard, our endeavour is to offer innovative and contactless insurance solutions to consumers. We are excited to partner with Flipkart, one of India’s leading e-commerce portals to reach online savvy consumers and meet their needs towards securing themselves and their loved ones during exigencies. Our Hospicash benefit under the Group Safeguard insurance is an affordable and convenient offering that can help consumers meet their daily incidental expenses during hospitalization. This is in line with our brand ethos of Nibhaye Vaade to go the extra mile to handhold customers during their hour of need.”

 Feature

	Provisions
Daily Cash Benefit	Rs. 500 to Rs. 2,000 per day
Inclusions	Accident and illness related hospitalization
Sum insured	Rs 500, Rs 1000, Rs 1500, Rs 2000 per day (lump sum benefit on hospitalization - cover for up to 90 days of hospitalization)
Hospital network	More than 6,500
Health Claim Ratio	99.87%*
Waiting Period	30 Days
Minimum hospitalization	hours

*as on date. Provided by ICICI Lombard

Guided by a strong understanding of the needs and preferences of Indian consumers, Flipkart has, over the past year, branched out into insurance services for life, health, motor and cyber, through partnerships with some of the country’s leading insurance service providers. Flipkart aims to provide millions of customers with access to customized and simplified insurance plans based on their diverse needs.  

ICICI Lombard has been at the forefront of introducing innovative and technology-enabled non-life insurance solutions. Further, it has been deploying the latest technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for seamless customer service, policy purchase/ renewal, claim settlement etc. thereby empowering customers and making it possible for them to enjoy one of the best-in-class insurance solutions conveniently from anywhere and at any time.

Flipkart ramps up Fintech reach by 3x ahead of festive season

• Focus on driving affordability in Tier II and beyond markets

• Massively scaled constructs like Flipkart Pay Later and Cardless Credit to help new to credit customers tap credit options in festive season

Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce marketplace, has massively ramped up the distribution reach of its Fintech offerings ahead of the festive season, in order to increase access to credit and affordability options for shoppers across the country. Services such as Flipkart Pay later and Cardless Credit, have increased their reach by 3X from the last festive season, to become an important growth lever for a host of categories such as fashion, grocery, and electronic accessories, among others.

Through this expansion, Flipkart aims to tap into the new-to-credit audience across different geographies and pin codes and offer them access to its 150 million+ product offerings.

Flipkart Pay later and Cardless Credit are in-house fintech innovations, introduced to make the online shopping experience more seamless and affordable for Flipkart’s 160 million customers. Flipkart Pay later enables a customer to shop through the month, upto a predefined credit limit, and pay a consolidated bill after it is generated at the end of the month. Buy Now Pay Later offers credit up to Rs. 5000 at no extra cost.  It drives convenience of shopping through one-click instant checkout and refund, up to 40 days of credit at no extra cost and a consolidated bill generated for the entire month.

Cardless Credit extends credit of up to Rs. 1,00,000 to shop and pay in easy EMIs, for a maximum period of 12 months. The initiative has also been adopted by top brands on the platform, for them to provide easy credit access to their consumers through no cost EMIs. Consumers can easily avail the service through a seamless KYC application process, which is completely digital. The program is run in partnership with financial institutions.

Flipkart also recently announced its own co-branded credit card in partnership with Axis Bank. Being one of the industry-best offerings for Flipkart consumers in the festive period, the partnership lets them avail 10% instant discount and 5% cashback during the upcoming Big Billion Days. Through these initiatives, Flipkart aims to extend access to credit and offer more purchasing power to its customers.

Commenting on this, Ranjith Boyanapalli, Head - Fintech and Payments Group at Flipkart, said, “At Flipkart, we put the customer at the centre of all our endeavours, while generating increased shared value for all our stakeholders in the ecosystem. By facilitating credit access to even the remotest areas of the country, we are reiterating our commitment to help millions of Indians fulfill their aspirations without the burden of financial constraints. Through these initiatives and their expansion, we hope to take the promise of The Big Billion Days to more customers to enable meaningful growth, with a special focus on Bharat.”

The credit ecosystem in India is growing speedily and holds immense potential with regards to penetration and acceptance. Estimates from CIBIL suggest that while there are some 220 million credit-worthy Indians, a full one third of them have not yet been tapped by formal institutions. Moreover, only 72 million of this base are deemed ‘credit active’, having a live account with a bank or lending body. Flipkart aims to step in here by facilitating their growth and aspirations, bridging the gap between India and Bharat.