News: India most preferred by private banks

(PTI 11/07/2006) New Delhi - India is emerging as one of the most preferred private banking destinations at a time when the global private banking and wealth management industry is witnessing a boom in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, says a KPMG report.

Global consultancy firm KPMG in its report titled 'Hungry for more - Acquisition appetite and strategy in the global private banking and wealth management industry', said with robust and liquid financial markets enabling exits on a timely basis to realise gains, India is a good resource deployment avenue.

"India's economy is growing at 8% per annum and is going through a transformation to the next level of maturity. This enables double digit returns on most asset classes, which is not so in a majority of countries, making India a preferred private banking destination," Abizer Diwanji, transaction services head (India) of KPMG, said.

Increased earning levels have resulted in a high savings rate, which is an emerging trend in India. "This has resulted in a robust private banking capital raising avenue. Indian private banking capital would soon fund deployments to a significant part of our capital needs," Diwanji said.

M&A activity in the global private banking and wealth management industry is booming, with 258 deals completed in 2005 alone, up 80% from the previous year, the report, based on interviews with 147 private banks across the world, said.