Broking firms back in hiring, expansion mode

AHMEDABAD: With buoyancy back in the equity markets following a decisive mandate to the UPA government, broking firms have started rolling up their sleeves for charting out expansion plans by hiring people and opening more branches.
As the stock markets witness bullish trends and hope for brighter prospects in the coming days on hopes that huge funds would flow into the markets, all leading national players such Angel Broking, Kotak Securities, Motilal Oswal and SMC are looking at recruiting more hands in area of business development, client relationship and research to take a larger pie of market share.
"If we see stability in the markets in coming weeks, we intend to get into a more aggressive expansion drive and set up at least 50 more offices this fiscal. We have a detailed plan laid out for our equity and distribution business and are looking to hire close to 1200 people on this vertical alone," said Dinesh Thakkar, managing director, Angel Broking.
Kotak Securities, which had frozen new recruitment due to meltdown in the markets last year, is planning to recruit around 250 people in next three months. "We would have said no to recruitments till a few months back. But considering the current market conditions, we are kick-starting new hiring," D Kannan, executive director, Kotak Securities said.
Motilal Oswal of Motilal Oswal Securities said that it is a favourable market condition for broking industry to expand their business. "Even in bad market conditions, we continued recruiting. Last quarter, we recruited 30 people but in the current quarter we are planning to hire 50 quality people considering our business model," said Motilal.
SMC Wealth Management, a Delhi-based firm, is opening 6 branches across the country by hiring 100 people, said DK Agarwal of SMC.
It is not only national players but Gujarat based large broking firms such as Khandwala Securities, Kunvarjee Finstock, Monarch Projects and Zaveri Securities who have also charted out plans for expanding their footprint.
"We are opening 20 branches in the state and outside Gujarat and are planning to recruit another 55 employees," Kamal Zaveri of Vadodara-based Zaveri Securities said.