Waterfield Advisors Raising $250 Mn Fund of Funds

Waterfield Advisors, an independent SEBI-registered multi-family office and wealth-advisory firm, is raising a $250 million Fund-of-Funds and looking for the first close of this fund in the next 4-6 weeks, said the Founder & CEO of Waterfield Advisors, Soumya Rajan, in an interview to The BusinessLine.

Waterfield helps its clients plan, structure and manage their family wealth, working exclusively on their behalf as their dedicated family office. The firm advises over 100 family offices in India, overseeing financial assets surpassing $4 billion.

Waterfield Advisors is also aiming to open an office in Dubai by the first half of 2024, in order to establish itself as a global wealth management player,said Soumya Rajan.

Established in 2011, the Mumbai headquartered firm also has a presence in Gujarat’s GIFT City and intends to expand its global footprint into newer markets such as Singapore and London.

With offices across India in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Goa, Kochi, and Bangalore, Waterfield wants Gujarat’s GIFT City to be a hub for operating all its global businesses.

The firm intents to serve its domestic clients' offshore needs and intents to partner global investors, including NRIs, looking at India.

Last month, Waterfield launched its own philanthropic foundation to act as a platform for testing innovative philanthropic models creating impact, and potentially leading to groundbreaking strategies.

In March this year, the Advisory firm launched Heritage – a wealth advisory platform for high-net-worth women.

As an advisory firm on the Investment side, Waterfield has an open architecture platform working with all the leading product manufacturers across AMCs, PMS and AIF providers.

It is expected that the family offices in India will account for 30% of the total $100 billion of startup funding by 2025.

Currently the number of family offices in India is over 300, registering a growth rate of about 284% since 2018. It is to noted that there were only 45 formal family office structures in India in 2018 out of 5,300 globally.

Former Avendus Exec Kartik Kini Joins Waterfield Advisors as COO

Waterfield Advisors has announced the appointment of Kartik Kini as Chief Operating Officer for their Multi-Family Office Business.

Kartik has over 20 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry, mostly in the Wealth Management Space. Prior to joining Waterfield, Kartik was part of the Founding Team to set up the Wealth Management practice at Avendus. Kartik has also worked in leadership roles with Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch.

Commenting on the announcement, Ms. Soumya Rajan, Managing Director & CEO of Waterfield Advisors said, "We are delighted to have Kartik join the Waterfield Leadership team and wish him all success in his career with the firm. A highly organized, strategic, and result driven professional, Kartik is adept at improving processes, driving efficiencies, and implementing new technologies. He is very well regarded and well networked; and has strong collaborative relationships in the industry and with partner firms”

Waterfield has become one of the pre-eminent Multi Family Office in India and advises 32 families with total financial assets of over $2bn. It services clients from its offices in Mumbai, Delhi & Chennai and covers Bengaluru & Hyderabad as well. It will be opening a Bengaluru office soon.

Waterfield Advisors is an India-focused firm that provides advisory services to Entrepreneurs, UHNW Families, Trusts and Corporate Clients. Founded in 2011, the firm strives to offer a fresh approach to advisory services in India through a client-centric and no conflict of interest model.