The banking, financial services, mutual fund and insurance sectors (BFSI) have been four pillars of the Indian economy in last decade and are the critical constituents for the consistent growth, going forward. During the recent financial meltdown, where the big guns failed to fire, Indian BFSI sector demonstrated resilience. With consistent impetus on reforms and fast-paced liberalisation process, and with improving economic scene, the sector promises sustainable growth in the years to come.

Dun & Bradstreet, through second edition of its publication ‘India’s Leading BFSI Companies 2009’, has attempted to highlight the growth and performance of the companies in the BFSI segment of India. The publication provides a brief overview on the trends and progress in the sector, apart from profiling the leading players that had total income of over Rs 250 mn in FY08. The publication profiles 248 companies, of which 69 banks, 34 broking and 91 non banking financial services companies, 22 mutual fund and 32 are insurance companies.

The publication also provides an overview of the current trends and future prospects of the BFSI sector, which is divided into four sub segments, viz., banking, financial services, mutual funds and insurance. Some of the important insights revealed are as follows:

Among the categories of bank, foreign banks are making rapid inroads in the Indian markets. During FY08, total business growth of foreign banks was around 29%. The total amount disbursed during FY08 by 34 NBFC, profiled in the publication, stands at Rs 2.17 tn.

The run up in equity markets led growth in the mutual fund industry, AAUM for the month of March 2008 stood at Rs. 5,176.6 bn as against Rs. 3,203.2 bn in previous year, reporting yearly growth of more than 60%. Total income and PAT grew by 49% and 69% respectively.

With liberalisation of the sector coupled with the increase in the awareness of insurance products, sector is evenly poised to achieve sustainable long term growth. During FY08, first year premium grew at 24%. Among the insurance companies, private sector insurance companies recorded significant growth of more than 70% in first year premium.

The study also revealed that network expansion and new product launches are the priority for the mutual fund and insurance sector. Besides this, increase in the need based awareness of products will be key growth drivers for the insurance and broking sectors in years to come.

With the continuous impetus on the reforms and strong regulatory environment, the BFSI sector promises sustainable growth and profitability in the future. D&B will endeavor to keep track of various developments in this sector to make this publication emerge as an important and reliable source of reference.

Kaushal Sampat
Chief Operating Officer
Dun & Bradstreet India