In this Hubbis interview, Aman Kumar Rajoria, Head of Wealth & CMG at Aditya Birla, explains how the firm differentiates itself through a long-term, portfolio-led advisory model anchored in disciplined asset allocation, risk management, and outcome-focused solutions. He highlights how expectations across UHNW Individuals, HNW Individuals, retail and corporate clients are becoming more sophisticated, with rising demand for transparency, timely insights, and a seamless ‘phygital’ experience. He also outlines Aditya Birla’s priorities for the next 12–18 months, including sustainable AUM growth, accelerating digital adoption, and strengthening portfolio outcomes, alongside expansion into Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets and broader access to alternatives and global investments.
What is your USP? How would you describe your firm’s business model and how it differentiates itself from other private wealth management firms in India?
Our core differentiator lies in operating as a trusted long-term advisor rather than a product distributor. Our business model is client-centric & research-driven, with a strong emphasis on disciplined asset allocation, risk management, and outcome-oriented solutions instead of transactional product-led engagement.
We follow an open-architecture approach and remain portfolio-centric and relationship-led. The focus is on constructing, monitoring, and rebalancing client portfolios across market cycles, rather than making episodic product recommendations driven by short-term market movements.
A key aspect of our philosophy is developing a deep understanding of clients’ evolving life stages, priorities, and liquidity requirements, and aligning portfolios accordingly. Investment strategies are dynamically calibrated to reflect changes in goals, cash-flow needs, and risk tolerance, ensuring portfolios remain relevant and resilient over time.
This approach allows us to build enduring, multi-decadal client relationships, ensuring continuity in decision-making, disciplined portfolio construction, and consistent alignment with long-term client objectives, while consciously filtering out short-term market noises.
How do you segment your clients? How are client expectations evolving?
We broadly segment our clients into four core categories: Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals (UHNIs), High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNIs), Retail Clients, and Corporate Clients. While these segments differ in scale and complexity, client expectations across all categories are becoming increasingly sophisticated and outcome-oriented. Across segments, there is a clear shift from product-driven decisions to portfolio-based solutions, with greater emphasis on risk management, transparency, governance, and timely insights. Customization and proactive engagement are now central to client expectations rather than differentiators.
At a segment level, expectations vary meaningfully. Retail clients seek simplicity, ease of access, and a seamless phygital experience that combines intuitive digital platforms with relationship manager support. HNIs increasingly expect a broader product suite, tailored solutions, and proactive portfolio management to address evolving financial goals. UHNIs value a high-touch and personalised investment experience, with institutional-quality solutions, global access, and continuous engagement. Corporate Clients prioritize liquidity management & capital protection, alongside deeper portfolio analytics, risk reporting, and actionable insights. This segmented yet flexible approach allows us to align service models and solutions closely with evolving client expectations across the spectrum.
What range of services do you offer, and how do you tailor these services to meet the diverse needs of your clients?
We offer a comprehensive suite of investment, financing, and preservation solutions that are tailored to the varying needs, complexity, and sophistication of our client segments. Our investment offerings span traditional asset classes such as mutual funds, PMS’s and fixed income instruments including bonds and deposits, as well as alternative investments such as AIFs, including access to global investment opportunities.
Complementing investments, we deliver comprehensive financing solutions such as lending against securities, lending against property, housing finance, SME, corporate credit, and IPO funding, enabling clients to meet liquidity and leverage requirements without disrupting long-term strategies.
Service delivery is differentiated by client needs – goal-based solutions for retail clients, customized portfolios and broader access for HNIs, and bespoke structuring, alternatives, and global capabilities for UHNIs, ensuring consistent alignment with objectives across market cycles.
How do you identify and attract high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) as clients?
We identify and attract HNI and UHNI clients through a relationship driven approach, anchored by a strong on-the-ground RM presence and supported by the broader group ecosystem. Our relationship managers and Investment Counselors, together with cross-functional teams across the group, play a critical role in prospect identification, leveraging long-standing relationships with entrepreneurs, promoters, and business owners. This early identification of potential clients significantly shortens the conversion cycle and addresses a key part of the acquisition process.
Acquisition and engagement is driven by our brand credibility, strong track record across market cycles, and a comprehensive suite of offerings that extend beyond investments and financing. Relationship managers serve as the primary point of contact, building trust through consistent engagement, deep understanding of client needs, and long-term portfolio stewardship rather than transactional interactions.
What is your firm’s investment philosophy, and how has it evolved in response to market changes?
Our investment philosophy is anchored in disciplined asset allocation rather than individual product selection, with risk management as the foremost priority. The objective is to preserve capital, manage drawdowns, and enable long-term, sustainable compounding across market cycles, rather than pursuing short-term performance.
We approach our role with a strong fiduciary mindset, recognizing our responsibility to act in the best interests of clients at all times. In this context, we see ourselves not only as enablers of long-term wealth creation but also as course correctors, providing objective, disciplined guidance during periods of market exuberance or stress. This helps clients avoid behavioral pitfalls and remain aligned with their long-term financial objectives.
As market dynamics have evolved, marked by higher volatility, rapid shifts in liquidity, and changing correlations across asset classes, our philosophy has further strengthened its emphasis on diversification, liquidity management, and drawdowns. This ensures portfolios remain resilient, adaptable, and positioned to navigate uncertainty while staying focused on long-term outcomes.
What are the needs of clients onshore and global Indians managing their wealth internationally?
The needs of onshore clients in India and global Indians managing wealth internationally differ in several ways, though both segments increasingly seek holistic, outcome-oriented wealth management. For onshore clients, the primary focus is on access to a diverse range of product classes including equities, fixed income, alternative investments, and private markets. They value ongoing portfolio guidance and timely rebalancing, especially in an environment marked by market volatility and shifting interest-rate cycles. Regular portfolio reviews, supported by performance attribution and risk monitoring, are critical to ensure alignment with long-term life goals. Strong in-house portfolio review and research capabilities play an important role here, enabling objective, data-driven insights and proactive recommendations rather than reactive decision-making. To support global diversification needs, we offer outbound investment platforms and global fund structures, allowing clients to seamlessly balance domestic and offshore exposure.
For global Indians and international families, a key requirement is an holistically efficient access to India-focused investment opportunities. Through inbound fund offerings via GIFT City, we provide a platform that enables global clients to invest into Indian markets across a wide range of strategies.
Key Priorities
What are your top 3 priorities over the next 12–18 months?
- Sustainable AUM Growth and Client Acquisition: A key priority is driving high-quality, sustainable AUM growth by deepening relationships with existing clients while acquiring new HNW and UHNW clients. Our focus is on expanding wallet share through holistic solutions and personalized engagement rather than product-led selling. We are also strengthening referral-led growth and partnerships to access new client segments.
- Accelerating Digital Adoption for Clients and Relationship Managers: Technology is a critical enabler for scale and consistency. Over the next 12–18 months, we are focused on increasing digital adoption across both clients and relationship managers. This includes enhanced digital onboarding, consolidated portfolio views, and analytics-driven insights to support better client conversations. For RMs, digital tools are being embedded into daily workflows to improve productivity, responsiveness, and compliance, allowing them to spend more time on client engagement and relationship building.
- Optimizing Asset Allocation and Portfolio Outcomes: In a volatile and ever evolving market environment, optimising asset allocation remains central to client outcomes. We are prioritizing goal-oriented portfolio construction, with a strong emphasis on diversification across asset classes, geographies, and strategies. Regular portfolio reviews, dynamic rebalancing, and sharper risk management frameworks would ensure client portfolios remain aligned with long-term objectives while navigating near-term market cycles.
Are you expanding into new markets or launching new services?
We are expanding into new markets and capabilities to align with the evolving sources of wealth creation in India. As India continues to emerge as a global hub of entrepreneurship, we are increasingly focused on serving first-generation entrepreneurs and professionals in addition to legacy clients, whose wealth profiles and financial needs differ meaningfully from traditional segments.
Geographically, we see significant long-term potential in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, where economic activity, enterprise formation, and wealth creation are accelerating but remain relatively under-served by sophisticated wealth solutions. These markets represent a large, untapped opportunity, particularly among emerging business owners and next-generation leaders.
Alongside geographic expansion, we are broadening our suite of alternative investment solutions to meet the evolving preferences of these clients. This includes enhanced access to unlisted equities and private credit, which offer diversification beyond traditional equities and fixed income and align well with the longer investment horizons and entrepreneurial risk profiles of this segment.
Together, this twin focus on emerging geographies and differentiated investment solutions supports our long-term growth strategy while remaining aligned with client needs and market realities.
Are there any digital or operational upgrades underway?
Yes, we are currently undertaking a significant digital and operational upgrade through the migration of our wealth management system to a new, integrated platform. This transition is a strategic initiative aimed at enhancing scalability, data integrity, and overall operational efficiency across the organization.
In parallel, we are upgrading our wealth platform to deliver deeper data insights and a more seamless experience for both clients and relationship managers. Enhanced analytics, improved portfolio visibility, and faster, more accurate reporting shall enable better-informed decision-making and more meaningful client interactions.
For clients, these upgrades translate into greater transparency, easier access to portfolio information, and a more intuitive digital interface. For relationship managers, streamlined workflows, integrated data, and improved automation are reducing operational friction and allowing greater focus on client engagement.
Together, these digital and operational enhancements are strengthening our ability to scale efficiently while delivering a consistently high-quality client experience.
What enhancements are you planning in your value proposition, products and service offering?
A key focus area is broadening our product platform to enable greater international exposure. We are expanding access to global equities and international funds through compliant and efficient routes, allowing clients to diversify geographically.
We are also dialing up alternative investments within client portfolios. This includes a calibrated increase in allocations to alternates such as InvITs and REITs, alongside other innovative products. These are integrated thoughtfully based on client risk profiles, liquidity preferences, and long-term objectives.
Finally, we are strengthening our use of advanced portfolio analytics. Enhanced analytics provide deeper insights into asset allocation, risk concentrations, performance drivers, and portfolio resilience enabling more proactive, outcome-focused discussion between Clients and RMs.
How are you approaching talent acquisition or retention?
A key pillar is grooming and upskilling internal talent. We invest in continuous learning through structured training, mentoring, and exposure to complex client requirements across asset classes. This focus on capability building not only enhances advisory quality but also increases motivation by providing clear career progression, higher role ownership, and opportunities to evolve within the organization, making internal development a powerful driver of retention.
We are enabling greater face time with clients. By simplifying processes and leveraging digital tools, relationship managers spend less time on operational tasks and more time on high-quality client engagement, strengthening relationships and improving job satisfaction.
Selectively hire from the market to add specialised skills, new perspectives, or access to emerging client segments. External hiring is disciplined and aligned with cultural fit and long-term value creation, rather than short-term AUM portability.
Into the Future
How do you see the industry evolving in the next 5–10 years?
The Indian wealth management industry is poised for strong structural growth over the next 5–10 years, supported by clear empirical trends. Over the past four years, industry AUM has expanded from approximately ₹46.15 lakh crore to ₹99.04 lakh crore, translating into a CAGR of around 21%.
At the same time, the industry’s high growth trajectory is attracting newer players and increasing competitive intensity, which is likely to exert pressure on margins, particularly in commoditized product segments. However, regulatory standards, rising technology costs, and the growing complexity of client requirements will lead to consolidation as well. Navigating this environment will require scale, strong client relationships, differentiated capabilities, and a focus on long-term value creation rather than short-term volume-driven growth. Firms that can balance growth with disciplined execution and operational efficiency are likely to emerge as long-term winners.
In what ways has technology impacted your wealth management services, and how are you leveraging technology & AI to innovate and also to enhance client experiences?
Technology has become a critical enabler for scaling wealth management services while maintaining a high-quality client experience. With rapid growth across asset classes, digital platforms are essential for efficient portfolio management, reporting, and compliance. We have in place digital onboarding platforms and consolidated portfolio views. AI and advanced analytics to assist RMs with client expectations
What kind of consolidation do you foresee in the wealth management industry space?
The wealth management industry is likely to witness increased consolidation over the next decade, driven by higher regulatory standards, rising technology costs, and the growing complexity of client requirements. Smaller, product-centric firms may find it challenging to keep pace with the investments required in research, compliance, and digital infrastructure.
As a result, larger, well-capitalized platforms with centralized investment capabilities, robust governance, and access to a broad product suite including alternatives and global investments are likely to gain market share. Consolidation will also be driven by client preference for integrated, end-to-end wealth solutions rather than fragmented advisory offerings.
What shifts in client needs or demographics do you anticipate?
Client expectations are evolving toward a more sophisticated and advisory-led engagement model. There is a clear shift from return-focused investing to goal-based, risk-managed portfolios, with greater emphasis on diversification, capital preservation, and long-term outcomes. Clients increasingly expect regular portfolio reviews, transparency in performance reporting, and institutional-quality advice, regardless of portfolio size. Additionally, a younger and next generation entrepreneur, a more globally connected client base is driving demand for alternative investments, global exposure, and tax-efficient cross-border solutions. Global Indians and internationally mobile families, in particular, require seamless access to both domestic and offshore opportunities, supported by strong structuring, governance, and advisory oversight. Overall, the future client seeks a trusted partner who combines investment expertise with technology-enabled delivery and global access.
Getting Personal
Where were you born and educated?
I was born & brought up in Agra (city of Taj)
What moments or milestones in your career have shaped you the most?
Evolution of financial markets in last three decades along with the enormous wealth creation which Indian clients has seen is unbelievable, we are the fourth largest economy touted to be in top three in two years’ time.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Playing cricket & riding a bike
What advice would you give to younger professionals in this industry?
Economic growth in India throws a lot of opportunity for all the finance professionals at the same time understanding of investment products & associated risk attached with them is very low amongst investors. This throws a challenge for Finance professionals to keep their investors in having patience, discipline & trust during volatile markets.
