Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd (BCCL) has picked up equity in SMC Group companies, which holds SMC Global Securities Ltd and SAM Global Securities Ltd under its banner.
Founded in 1990 by Subhash Chand Aggarwal and Mahesh Chand Gupta, SMC is a full financial services firm catering to all classes of investors. SMC offers services in brokerage, arbitrage, merchant banking, wealth management and is also involved in the distribution of retail products, such as insurance, IPO and mutual funds. It also offers special advisory services to HNIs and corporates.
With a 2% stake in SMC Group, BCCL would now be invested in one of the largest retail investor networks in the country, serving over 450,000 investors, having added 150,000 customers last fiscal. The SMC Group has a network of more than 1,350 offices across 350 locations in India and an overseas office in Dubai. The company deploys a workforce of over 2,000 employees and 7,500 financial advisers. “The association with BCCL will help us build a stronger brand and reach out to our consumers through the extensive penetration of the media giant,” says Subhash Chand Aggarwal, chairman of SMC Group.
SMC is a trading member of NSE, BSE, NCDEX and MCX. It also has the trading and clearing membership of Dubai Gold and Commodity Exchange (DGCX) for over two years now. The company commands more than 3% of the total market share in the Indian equities and derivatives market, over 4% in the Indian commodities market and more than 10% in Dubai gold and commodities exchange.
Recently rated as the fastest growing retail distribution network in the country by Business Sphere, SMC also offers wide range of Internet-based trading services, including fund transfer; trading in NSE, BSE and F&O on a single screen; real time streaming quotes; instant order/trade confirmation on single window; IPO facility and back-up facility to place trades through the trading call centre. “We handle more than 250,000 trades of over 150,000 DP clients with a trading volume as high as Rs 3,000 crore per day,” confirms Mr Aggarwal.
Source: Economic Times