InCred's Assets Management Arm Ropes In Mrinal Singh, Ex-Dy.CIO ICICI Prudential, to Spearhead InCred AMC

InCred Asset Management, the fund management arm of the InCred group, has announced the appointment of Mrinal Singh as its CIO & CEO. Mrinal was presently the Deputy CIO at ICICI Prudential AMC. He has been with ICICI Prudential for more than 12 years and proved instrumental in setting up its research processes, product strategy, as well as business & talent development during his journey.

 

Mrinal Singh

Mrinal spearheaded ICICI Prudential’s equities investment across multiple funds. It generated industry-leading performances with the AUM of the flagship fund directly managed by him growing from $200mn to $2.5bn in a span of 10 years. He has a strong reputation in the market for his research-based stock picking approach and his long-term investment philosophy.

InCred Asset Management was previously in the news for the appointment of globally renowned fund manager Punita Kumar Sinha as Chairperson, and the acquisition of midcap equity AIF/PMS Vishuddha Capital.

With Mrinal coming on board, InCred Asset Management will aim to provide differentiated investment ideas across asset classes to establish itself in the rapidly growing Indian fund management industry. The aim is to cater to the investment needs of Indian investors both for onshore and offshore products, as well as that of a global audience looking to invest in the India growth story.

Talking about the appointment, Bhupinder Singh, Founder & CEO of InCred Group, said “Mrinal has a phenomenal reputation in the Indian Asset Management industry. I am confident that with his long-term investment philosophy, focus on delivering sustainable returns over cycles, and passion for business building, we will see InCred Asset Management establish itself as a force to reckon with in the asset management market.“

Following the merger of InCred’s investment banking business with MAPE, and the acquisition of CGS-CIMB securities to create InCred equities, this appointment marks the next major step forward in establishing InCred as a full-service financial platform in India.

InCred Acquires Vishuddha Capital Management LLP

InCred forays into asset management with the acquisition of an equity focussed AIF

InCred Asset Management, part of InCred Capital, is acquiring VishuddhaCapital Management LLP – an equity focussed AIF, founded by fund manager Aditya Sood. This is the first acquisition made by InCred Asset Management following the previous announcement of the globally renowned fund manager Punita Kumar Sinha joining InCred to spearhead the asset management business.

InCred Asset Management will aim to provide differentiated investment ideas across equity, debt and alternatives in order to establish itself in the rapidly growing Indian fund management industry. The aim is to cater to the investment needs of Indian investors both for onshore and offshore products, as well as to a global audience looking to invest in the India growth story.

Vishuddha Capital was founded in 2018 by Aditya Sood, previously the fund manager for ICICI Prudential AMC Portfolio Management Services (PMS) where he was managing a portfolio of more than Rs 4,000 crores. The company provides investment management services to a variety of clients through an equity AIF - ‘The India Value and Growth Fund I”, which has a proven track managing a multi-cap investment strategy. Aditya has over 17 years of experience in investing, across India and the UK.

Talking about the acquisition, Bhupinder Singh, Founder & CEO of InCred Group said “The acquisition of Vishuddha adds an important element to the Wealth and Asset Management product suite within InCred Capital. I have been impressed by Aditya’s passion and vision for the business and I am looking forward to working with him and his team to take this business to new heights.”

Aditya Sood, Founder of Vishuddha, said “We are looking forward to joining the broad-based InCred Capital platform which will provide significant synergies for Vishuddha’s business. The Indian asset management landscape will see massive growth in the years to come and InCred is very well positioned to take advantage of that.”

InCred Capital - the institutional and Asset / Wealth Management arm of the InCred group kickstarted operations with its wealth, investment banking and capital markets businesses in 2019.

The acquisition of Vishuddha is subject to regulatory approvals.

InCred is a new-age tech and analytics-driven financial services group.

InCred Raises ₹ 500 Cr, Looking to Boost Lending Across Segments

InCred, the new-age financial services platform that provides Consumer and MSME loans, has raised Rs. 500 crores debt funding from various public sector banks and public financial institutions. The debt issuance took the form of Term Loans, NCDs (under LTRO and PCG scheme) and Market Linked Debentures. This round of debt financing will boost InCred’s lending expansion across select segments in the Consumer, Education and MSME markets.

This funding comes within a month of the news of the fintech lender acquiring fintech platform Qbera to augment its digital distribution capabilities.

Speaking on the development, Mr. Vivek Bansal, Group CFO of InCred said “InCred is strengthening its funding base to support its growth vision. The recently concluded debt issuance is an endorsement of our business model, risk and analytics philosophy, and our prudent ALM policies.”

InCred had earlier raised Rs 600 crore equity Series A funding round which was led by Dutch

development finance institution FMO, the round also saw participation from US-based asset

manager Moore Capital, India/Latin America-focused PE fund Elevar, and Alpha Capital (an early- stage investor of InCred). InCred has an equity base of over 1,000 crores with a marquee investor roster including the Dutch development bank FMO, Moore Capital from the USA, Investcorp Bahrain, Oaks Capital and others including Dr. Ranjan Pai of Manipal and Anshu Jain, Ex CEO of Deutsche Bank.

Since its inception in 2016, InCred has added over 500,000 customers in 20 plus cities across India and has established a strong reputation in the market for its risk management capabilities and cutting edge tech backbone.

About InCred:
InCred is a new-age financial services group founded with the vision of providing credit to Incredible India and thus, furthering financial inclusion in the country. The company endeavors to disrupt the status quo in traditional lending that seems to exclude those most in need of credit, due to outdated, rigid, and often inefficient processes. The company has designed its products with a razor-sharp focus on serving the unique needs of these under-served segments of customers and leverages technology and data-science to make lending quick, simple, and hassle-free. It aspires to be the key partner for all financial requirements of an Indian family. 

Founded in the year 2016 by Bhupinder Singh, former head of Investment Banking Deutsche Bank Asia-Pacific, the company launched market operations in January 2017.

InCred offers a broad portfolio of products that cut across key categories such as Personal Loans, SME Loans & Education Loans

Fintech Firm InCred Acquires Loans Platform Qbera

InCred Management & Technology Services Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of InCred Financial Services Limited announced that it has acquired Qbera, a leading fintech platform, from Ant Creditex Technologies Pvt. Ltd., for an undisclosed amount.

Qbera has built a strong lending platform for personal loans which offers loans to middle income salaried individuals who are typically underserved by incumbent banks & NBFCs on account of their employment with a wide range of smaller employers. These loans were offered in partnership with a range of leading financial institutions such as IndusInd Bank, RBL Bank and Fullerton, allowing the platform to offer best-in-class pricing to customers, combined with a superior customer experience.

InCred, in its own personal loan business, has developed deep capabilities across risk, analytics, technology and collections. InCred’s sharp focus on process and risk management has allowed the company to build a high-quality loan book with superior risk-reward ratios - something the institution is sharply focused on growing in the coming years. Promoting financial inclusion has also been of prime importance to InCred since its inception, through initiatives such as the provision of loans to ‘new to credit’ customers.

Through its acquisition of Qbera, InCred will look to augment its digital distribution strengths. Conversely, the platform business will also benefit from InCred’s legacy personal loans expertise and provide full-stack loan origination capabilities in risk-sharing partnerships with other leading financial institutions.  

Bhupinder Singh, Founder & CEO of InCred said that, “The Qbera acquisition importantly marks the launch of InCred’s platform business - a first of its kind for an NBFC of our size in India. We have built best-in-class risk management, technology and analytics capabilities across different asset classes like education, MSME and Consumer loans. We look to leverage them in strong partnerships with leading financial institutions in India, and abroad. We are confident of the significant value that the Qbera platform will generate as a part of the InCred Group.”

Aditya Kumar, Founder & CEO of Qbera commented on the same that, “Being a part of InCred provides Qbera critical cross-functional expertise that are essential in taking the Qbera platform to new heights. Having access to superior risk and technology capabilities will play a vital role in scaling the business, especially in a post-Covid world. We strive to achieve our common vision of building the best platform business in the coming years."

Market buzz had previously pegged the deal value at USD10-15 million.

As part of the transaction, Founder & CEO of Qbera, Aditya Kumar, has joined InCred and will continue to head the Platform business, as well as the InCred personal loan business.  Co-Founder and VP Product, Anuj Sachdev, has taken an advisory role.

About InCred

InCred is a new-age financial services group founded with the vision of providing credit to Incredible India and thus, furthering financial inclusion in the country. The company endeavours to disrupt the status quo in traditional lending that seems to exclude those most in need of credit, due to outdated, rigid and often inefficient processes. The company has designed its products with a razor-sharp focus on serving the unique needs of these under-served segments of customers and leverages technology and data-science to make lending quick, simple and hassle-free. It aspires to be the key partner for all financial requirements of an Indian family.  

About Qbera

Qbera is an online lending platform providing fast, frictionless, and fair personal loans to professionals. Launched in January 2017, the company is headquartered in and operates out of Bangalore and provides lending services through an end-to-end digital platform, enabling transfer of funds to the borrower within 24 hours of receiving the online application.It is a product of Credit Exchange, a Bangalore-based fintech startup in the consumer lending space.

With its online platform based on LendFoundry, a state-of-the-art fintech lending solution, Qbera was launched with the chief objective of addressing the growing need in the market for quick and convenient delivery of personal finance services. One of the company’s main areas of focus is providing loans to potential borrowers who are largely overlooked by banks and financial institutions.

Fintech Startup InCred Raising Funds by Issuing Market-Linked Debenture Worth Rs. 100 Cr

InCred Financial Services closed its debut Market Linked Debenture (MLD) issuance yesterday. The issue is part of InCred's ongoing Rs 100 crore MLD programme, and was arranged in partnership with Sanctum Wealth Management. MLDs are issued by non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to meet their credit requirements.

Market Linked Debenture (MLD) is a structured product that constitutes a loan taken by a firm from the market that bears no fixed rate of interest. However, the return to the investor is linked to a specific market index like S&P.

The issue was fully subscribed despite the tough market backdrop, and it highlights the appetite in the investor community for Consumer and MSME focused small ticket lending models. The innovative fundraising gives investors access to a higher yielding asset class, and it provides InCred an alternative source of funding to the traditional Bank and Capital Markets channels.

InCred CFO Vivek Bansal said, “We are very pleased with the issuance of our debut MLD and its over-subscription in this market indicates the confidence that investors have in our diversified business model, our risk management philosophy and practices, our technology infrastructure, and the quality of our talent pool. We were pleased with the arranger services provided by Sanctum and will look to issue additional tranches under our MLD Programme in future.”

Mumbai-headquartered tech-enabled new age NBFC InCred provides Personal loans, Education Loans, and SME loans that are tailor-made to the unique needs of its customers. InCred, promoted by former Deutsche Bank executive Bhupinder Singh, has previously closed 2 successful rounds of equity raising and has a diversified pool of debt providers across the Indian banking and capital markets ecosystem.

~ With inputs from Business Wire India