Besides helping the company achieve business goals, Parikh will spearhead its strategy of combining face-to-face relationships with digital advisory, transactions and servicing, a press statement said.
In his previous stint at Aditya Birla Money, Parikh was leading MyUniverse, an online money management platform under Aditya Birla Financial Services. He has nearly 17 years' experience in the financial services space, and has worked with firms like Birla Sunlife Asset Management Co and ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co.
The company also elevated Anil Chopra from group CEO & director to group director – corporate affairs, where he will work with shareholders to develop new lines of business.
Parikh's appointment follows last week’s reports that Bajaj Capital was looking to raise capital from Hong Kong-based private equity firm Mosaic Capital Asia and two new investors.
The 52-year-old company, which is looking to raise its first round of external capital worth $40 million (around Rs 260 crore) in return for a significant minority stake, will use the funds to enhance its offline presence and accelerate growth through creating a digital platform.
Bajaj Capital will also use part of the funds to enter the asset management space and acquire smaller peers in the western and eastern regions.
It is working on a five-year roadmap, spanning FY2017-2021, to triple revenues to Rs 600 crore.
The firm is going through a restructuring to comply with regulations that require its fee structure to be changed from that of a direct-sale agency model to asset-accumulation model. Essentially, the upfront commission generated from the sale of mutual funds has now been treated as an annuity fee. So, the company’s revenue is dependent on the growth of assets under management (AUM).
Currently, it has an AUM of Rs 12,000 crore, with close to 60% revenue coming from from insurance and the balance from mutual funds and investment advisory services.
The company, which is owned by brothers Rajiv and Sanjiv Bajaj, and family, has 3,000 employees across 200 distribution centres.
Bajaj Capital’s subsidiaries and affiliate firms include Bajaj Capital Insurance Broking Ltd, International College of Financial Planning Ltd, Just Trade Securities Ltd, Bajaj Capital Art House and fashion accessories website Crafusion.
Bajaj Capital is not associated with Bajaj Group, which runs Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance besides flagship Bajaj Auto. However, the firm not just shares the mother brand but also promoters’ names (Rajiv and Sanjiv Bajaj, sons of Rahul Bajaj).
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