Global Wealth Management Platform Kristal Reaches AUM $ 500 Million Milestone
Kristal, a wealth advisory and investment management platform, said today it has crossed the SGD 500 million ($ 370 million) mark in assets under management (AUM). The platform has thus experienced 5X annual growth in its assets under management since its launch in 2016 in Singapore.
Kristal aims to democratize private banking. A private wealth account at Kristal starts at $ 50,000, compared to $ 1,000,000 at global private banks. Much like a private bank, Kristal also offers a hands-off investment experience to its private clients. Investors, if they prefer, don’t have to spend time researching or monitoring their portfolio. They have a team of a relationship manager, an investment advisor and an award winning Algo who oversees their investments at all times. It was experiences like these that made Kristal the # 1 wealth manager in the mass and emerging HNI segment in Asia.
Kristal has also opened up new opportunities for Indian investors. Unlike most platforms which only offer fractional stocks and ETFs, Kristal offers pre-IPO deals, venture capital funds, private equity funds, hedge funds, equity funds. ‘arbitrage, life settlement funds, bond funds, structured notes, as well as immigration services. Beyond the benefit of choice, Indian investors can also diversify better with Kristal as he splits funds. For example, an institutional fund that has a declared minimum investment of $ 200,000 is available on the platform for as little as $ 25,000. It also allows investors to allocate the annual LRS limit of $ 250,000 set by RBI to multiple funds. Instead of investing in just one fund, they can potentially invest in ten funds and get better diversification.
Kristal’s top investor profiles include CXOs and senior executives, as well as second generation business owners and tech entrepreneurs, in the 25-45 age bracket. The key factors that push these investors to turn to Kristal are
- access to alpha generating opportunities such as pre-IPO trades, buyout funds, etc.
- ability to hedge currency risk by saving in dollars
- possibility of saving for higher education of children abroad.
The ability to create custom wallets using AI and own them together with family members is an added bonus.
Kristal has grown 5X every year since its inception in 2016. Today she has clients in 20 countries with a majority in Singapore and India. Occasionally Mr. Asheesh Chanda, Founder and CEO, Kristal, said: “A key success factor to our growth has been our ability to provide investors with premium global products and advice at a reasonable price. The fact that we help banks and asset managers expand their product offerings and customer base has also been a huge contributor to our success. We are here to increase the size of the wealth management industry, not to take market share away from existing players. Therefore, partnership is our mantra as we pursue our 20X growth target by 2025. ”
Singapore, Hong Kong, India and the United Arab Emirates are Kristal’s target markets for the next 12-18 months. He has strengthened his management team to drive growth. Ms. Aarthi Ramakrishnan, a seasoned investment banker and private investor with over 20 years of experience in several global banks, has joined Kristal India as Country Head – India and Middle East. Mr. Manmohan Mall, an experienced global investment banker with over 18 years of experience across asset classes and geographies, has joined Kristal Singapore as Head – Private Markets, a new vertical company offering solutions early and late stage equity / debt investment. IPO companies, which will be a key growth engine for the entire company.
The next step for Kristal is to “Shopify” wealth management. Kristal creates a complete wealth management suite for banks, advisers and distributors. It will not only offer wealth management, risk management and CRM functionalities, but will also allow the creation of partner websites and applications. It will provide a complete technological infrastructure in plug & play mode to asset managers. This vision has excited its partners because it allows them to focus more on wealth and less on technology.
“We are here to compliment Indian banks and wealth managers, not to compete with them. The industry is still small and if we join hands we all have enough room to grow. This is how Mr. Asheesh Chanda summed up the company’s strategy.