Banking On The Best

“Everyday is a bank account, and time is our currency. No one is rich, no one is poor, we’ve got 24 hours each”
—  Christopher Rice 

It’s been a decade since we started out on our annual survey of Best Banks’ in association with PwC. At the outset, we decided it can’t be premised solely on numbers, and will have an external jury that weighed the variables — uniformity of credit and deposit growth, market perception, management and corporate governance, the base-effect of size on growth parameters, growth versus risk, and efficiency in the use of capital.

We have Best Banks as the first Cover in this issue.

The jurors for the 10th Edition of the Survey were Sir Richard Stagg, Chairman-Rothschild (India); Sunil Sanghai, Founder & CEO-Nova Dhruva; V. S. Parthasarathy, Group Chief Financial Officer & CIO-Mahindra & Mahindra; Rahul Bhasin, Founder & Managing Partner-Baring Private Equity Partners (India); Madan Sabnavis Chief Economist-Care Ratings; Nikhil Shah, Managing Director-Alvarez & Marsal; and Tarun Bhatia, Managing Director-Kroll (India).

What we have observed over a period is that the winner-pool is getting to be smaller. Of the eight awards up for judgement, we have seen banks win multiple awards — both in the best and fastest growing categories. Three stand out — HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and, Kotak Mahindra Bank. The heads of these banks, namely Aditya Puri, Romesh Sobti, and Uday Kotak have between them cornered the ‘Banker of the Year’ award over the last few years; Puri won the Lifetime Achievement Award in this year’s edition of the Survey.

Collectively, the winning banks account for no more than a quarter of the systems assets, but in market capitalisation they corner the lion’s share. It clearly suggests that as capital quotes increasingly at a premium many down the line will have no space at all. From a survey point of view, given that it is the usual suspects who win, should we then rejig the award categories to recognise state-run banks? There are no clear answers as any such move brings its own headaches. What we can tell you is that the survey will evolve to capture the system’s realities as we go ahead.

In our second Cover, we look at the the 143-year old BSE, and its evolution under CEO and MD Ashishkumar Chauhan.

When Chauhan joined back in 2009, the exchange was grappling with multiple issues such as data leaks amid reports of transparency. Members were running the exchange, or constituted a part of its board, and it created a lacuna in the reputation of the exchange.

Today, the exchange enjoys over 70 per cent market share in mutual-fund distribution. It covers 75-80 per cent of the SME market, and 65-70 per cent of bond distribution.

In our third Cover, which is on the Union Budget, we look at how the Modi government is readying a template for its general election manifesto. We also look at how various sectors have fared, not just this year, but over the last few years, and how do they compare with the BJP 2014 poll manifesto.
The issue comes with other regular features, and it promises to be a treat for you, dear readers.
Do keep writing in.