Morgan Stanley eyes $100 mn from India biz sale

Morgan Stanley is looking to raise up to $100 million from the sale of its wealth management business in India which focuses on high net worth individuals (HNIs) and other wealthy clients.

The global investment banking major has begun the process to explore the sale of its wealth management operations in India, a senior bank executive said.

While the bank is yet to get this business valued independently, it is looking to raise $100 million from the sale, the executive added.

An email sent to the company for response remained unanswered.

Wealth management business in India is facing

tough market conditions as a significant fall in the country's equity market has taken a toll on the number of high net worth individuals.

According to the a recent Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management report, India has fallen out of the list of top 12 countries with largest HNI population as assets and investable wealth of the billionaires has got affected due to a significant fall in the equity market.

Indian equity market capitalisation had dropped by a whopping 33.4 per cent in 2011, after a gain of 24.9 per cent in 2010. Accordingly, the size of the country's HNI population was reduced by as much as 18 per cent.

The report noted that factors such as increasing budget/fiscal deficit also contributed to India losing its ranking.