Types of Financial Services

India’s diverse and comprehensive financial services industry is growing rapidly, owing to demand drivers (higher disposable incomes, customized financial solutions, etc.) and supply drivers (new service providers in existing markets, new financial solutions and products, etc.). The Indian financial services industry comprises several key subsegments. These include, but are not limited to- mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, stock-brokers, wealth managers, financial advisory companies, and commercial banks- ranging from small domestic players to large multinational companies. The services are provided to a diverse client base- including individuals, private businesses and public organizations.

10 Types of Financial Services:

• Banking
• Professional Advisory
• Wealth Management
• Mutual Funds
• Insurance
• Stock Market
• Treasury/Debt Instruments
• Tax/Audit Consulting
• Capital Restructuring
• Portfolio Management

These financial services are explained below:

1. Banking

The banking industry is the backbone of India’s financial services industry. The country has several public sector (27), private sector (21), foreign (49), regional rural (56) and urban/rural cooperative (95,000+) banks. The financial services offered in this segment include:

• Individual Banking (checking accounts, savings accounts, debit/credit cards, etc.)
• Business Banking (merchant services, checking accounts and savings accounts for businesses, treasury services, etc.)
• Loans (business loans, personal loans, home loans, automobile loans, working-capital loans, etc.)

The banking sector is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which monitors and maintains the segment’s liquidity, capitalization, and financial health.

2. Professional Advisory

India has a strong presence of professional financial advisory service providers, which offer individuals and businesses a wide portfolio of services, including investment due diligence, M&A advisory, valuation, real-estate consulting, risk consulting, taxation consulting. These offerings are made by a range of providers, including individual domestic consultants to large multi-national organizations.

3. Wealth Management

Financial services offered within this segment include managing and investing customers’ wealth across various financial instruments- including debt, equity, mutual funds, insurance products, derivatives, structured products, commodities, and real estate, based on the clients’ financial goals, risk profile and time horizons.

4. Mutual Funds

Mutual fund service providers offer professional investment services across funds that are composed of different asset classes, primarily debt and equity-linked assets. The buy-in for mutual fund solutions is generally lower compared to the stock market and debt products. These products are very popular in India as they generally have lower risks, tax benefits, stable returns and properties of diversification. The mutual funds segment has witnessed double-digit growth in assets under management over the last five years, owing to its popularity as a low-risk wealth multiplier.

5. Insurance

Financial services offerings in this segment are primarily offered across two categories:

• General Insurance (automotive, home, medical, fire, travel, etc.)
• Life Insurance (term-life, money-back, unit-linked, pension plans, etc.)

Insurance solutions enable individuals and organizations to safeguard against unforeseen circumstances and accidents. Payouts for these products vary across the nature of the product, time horizons, customer risk assessment, premiums, and several other key qualitative and quantitative aspects. In India, there is a strong presence of insurance providers across life insurance (24) and general insurance (39) categories. The insurance market is regulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

6. Stock Market

The stock market segment includes investment solutions for customers in Indian stock markets (National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange), across various equity-linked products. The returns for customers are based on capital appreciation growth in the value of the equity solution and/or dividends and payouts made by companies to its investors.

7. Treasury/Debt Instruments

Services offered in this segment include investments into government and private organization bonds (debt). The issuer of the bonds (borrower) offers fixed payments (interest) and principal repayment to the investor at the end of the investment period. The types of instruments in this segment include listed bonds, non-convertible debentures, capital-gain bonds, GoI savings bonds, tax-free bonds, etc.

8. Tax/Audit Consulting

This segment includes a large portfolio of financial services within the tax and auditing domain. This services domain can be segmented based on individual and business clients. They include:

• Tax: Individual (determining tax liability, filing tax-returns, tax-savings advisory, etc.)
• Tax: Business (determining tax liability, transfer pricing analysis and structuring, GST registrations, tax compliance advisory, etc.)

In the auditing segment, service providers offer solutions including statutory audits, internal audits, service tax audits, tax audits, process/transaction audits, risk audits, stock audits, etc. These services are essential to ensure the smooth operation of business entities from a qualitative and quantitative perspective, as well as to mitigate risk. You can read more about taxation in India.

9. Capital Restructuring

These services are offered primarily to organizations and involve the restructuring of capital structure (debt and equity) to bolster profitability or respond to crises such as bankruptcy, volatile markets, liquidity crunch or hostile takeovers. The types of financial solutions in this segment typically include structured transactions, lender negotiations, accelerated M&A and capital raising.

10. Portfolio Management

This segment includes a highly specialized and customized range of solutions that enables clients to reach their financial goals through portfolio managers who analyze and optimize investments for clients across a wide range of assets (debt, equity, insurance, real estate, etc.). These services are broadly targeted at HNIs and are discretionary (investment only at the discretion of fund manager with no client intervention) and non-discretionary (decisions made with client intervention).

Importance

It is the presence of financial services that enables a country to improve its economic condition whereby there is more production in all the sectors leading to economic growth.

The benefit of economic growth is reflected on the people in the form of economic prosperity wherein the individual enjoys higher standard of living. It is here the financial services enable an individual to acquire or obtain various consumer products through hire purchase. In the process, there are a number of financial institutions which also earn profits. The presence of these financial institutions promote investment, production, saving etc.

Hence, we can bring out the importance of financial services in the following points:

Importance of Financial Services

• Vibrant Capital Market.
• Expands activities of financial markets.
• Benefits of Government.
• Economic Development.
• Economic Growth.
• Ensures Greater Yield.
• Maximizes Returns.
• Minimizes Risks.
• Promotes Savings.
• Promotes Investments.
• Balanced Regional Development.
• Promotion of Domestic & Foreign Trade.

Ensures greater Yield

As seen already, there is a subtle difference between return and yield. It is the yield which attracts more producers to enter the market and increase their production to meet the demands of the consumer. The financial services enable the producer to not only earn more profits but also maximize their wealth.

Financial services enhance their goodwill and induce them to go in for diversification. The stock market and the different types of derivative market provide ample opportunities to get a higher yield for the investor.

Maximizing the Returns

The presence of financial services enables businessmen to maximize their returns. This is possible due to the availability of credit at a reasonable rate. Producers can avail various types of credit facilities for acquiring assets. In certain cases, they can even go for leasing of certain assets of very high value.

Factoring companies enable the seller as well as producer to increase their turnover which also increases the profit. Even under stiff competition, the producers will be in a position to sell their products at a low margin. With a higher turnover of stocks, they are able to maximize their return.

Minimizing the risks

The risks of both financial services as well as producers are minimized by the presence of insurance companies. Various types of risks are covered which not only offer protection from the fluctuating business conditions but also from risks caused by natural calamities.

Insurance is not only a source of finance but also a source of savings, besides minimizing the risks. Taking this aspect into account, the government has not only privatized the life insurance but also set up a regulatory authority for the insurance companies known as IRDA, 1999 (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority).

Promoting savings

Financial services such as mutual funds provide ample opportunity for different types of saving. In fact, different types of investment options are made available for the convenience of pensioners as well as aged people so that they can be assured of a reasonable return on investment without much risks.

Promoting investment

The presence of financial services creates more demand for products and the producer, in order to meet the demand from the consumer goes for more investment. At this stage, the financial services comes to the rescue of the investor such as merchant banker through the new issue market, enabling the producer to raise capital.

The stock market helps in mobilizing more funds by the investor. Investments from abroad is attracted. Factoring and leasing companies, both domestic and foreign enable the producer not only to sell the products but also to acquire modern machinery/technology for further production.

Expands activities of Financial Institutions

The presence of financial services enables financial institutions to not only raise finance but also get an opportunity to disburse their funds in the most profitable manner. Mutual funds, factoring, credit cards, hire purchase finance are some of the services which get financed by financial institutions.

The financial institutions are in a position to expand their activities and thus diversify the use of their funds for various activities. This ensures economic dynamism.

Benefit to Government

The presence of financial services enables the government to raise both short-term and long-term funds to meet both revenue and capital expenditure. Through the money market, government raises short term funds by the issue of Treasury Bills. These are purchased by commercial banks from out of their depositors’ money.

In addition to this, the government is able to raise long-term funds by the sale of government securities in the securities market which forms apart of financial market. Even foreign exchange requirements of the government can be met in the foreign exchange market.

Economic development

Financial services enable the consumers to obtain different types of products and services by which they can improve their standard of living. Purchase of car, house and other essential as well as luxurious items is made possible through hire purchase, leasing and housing finance companies.