• Under the Front Foot Programme, the trailing 12-month active client count reached 613.2K in October 2020, breaking the previous month’s record of 600K.
• About 9.8K branch-mapped broking clients were reactivated as part of the Front Foot Programme in the last month.
• The Loan Against Securities (LAS) book grew by 12% in October this year.
• LAS disbursements reached an all-time high of Rs.80 crore in October 2020.
• The mutual fund assets under management rose by 2% month on month in October despite net outflows.
• Sharekhan celebrated Diversity & Inclusion Weeks from October 19 to 31, 2020.
• The COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 93.27% in India according to the Union Health Ministry.

According to the India Meteorological Department, October of 2020 was the third warmest since 1971 and the month witnessed the warmest nights in the last 50 years. It seems the heat took its toll on our broking business as the daily average revenue fell by 6%, the commodity market share dropped by 8%, client additions plunged by 23% and daily client activity slipped by 7% during October this year. Though the rise in market turnover helped a bit but the daily average brokerage fell mainly because of a drop in the market share, the delivery mix and the month-on-month yield. The commodity market share suffered as our average daily turnover dropped by 9% compared with only a 2% drop in the average daily commodity market turnover in the same period. On the other hand, a whopping fall of 35% in the new accounts acquired by the franchisees was mainly responsible for the decreased number of new client additions during the month. About one and a half months remain of 2020. Let us step up our efforts to achieve our targets and close the year on a satisfactory note.

The Front Foot Programme had another sound month. The trend of seeing new highs for the trailing 12-month (TTM) active client count continued in October as it touched 613.2K during the month. The count is 13.2K higher compared with the previous month’s close of 600K. The programme facilitated the reactivation of almost 9.8K branch-mapped clients in the same month. What’s more, the efforts of the franchisee network resulted in the reactivation of another 5K clients in the same period. I am happy to see the progress of the programme and congratulate the entire front-line team as well as our business partners for its continued success. Keep up the good work.

The mutual fund assets under management of the company grew by 2% month on month in October 2020 even though there was net outflow of about Rs.3 crore in the same period. The trend was in keeping with the larger domestic mutual fund industry trend of record outflows on account of mostly nervousness ahead of the US presidential elections.

Our Loan Against Securities (LAS) book continues to grow month on month on the back of the LAS team’s relentless efforts to target direct sales agents for sourcing new LAS accounts. In the last month, the book grew by 12% month on month as both disbursements and repayments increased compared with the previous month. In fact, the disbursements in the lending business reached an all-time high of Rs.80 crore last month. A pat on the back of the entire LAS team.

Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) at workplace is one of the key commitments of the BNP Paribas Group and to focus on this subject we celebrate Diversity and Inclusion Weeks across BNP Paribas entities annually. Every year, a few days are dedicated to activities designed to spread awareness about D&I among the staff and to strengthen their commitment to the cause. This year, the India Territory celebrated D&I Weeks during October 19-31. In Sharekhan, various events were organised around the three focus areas of the D&I agenda of the India Territory, ie Gender Diversity, Disability and LGBT. We also formally introduced all Sherus who have signed up to be Male Allies, a Group campaign aiming to engage men and boys as allies in the fight for gender equality and women’s rights. The campaign encourages Male Allies to speak out against inequality and exhibit behaviours that help women and girls to achieve their full potential. The Male Allies will lead by example so that they can help transform our work environment into a more equal playing field where all voices can be heard, irrespective of genders.

While the D&I Weeks are over, one activity that we can continue throughout the year is to raise awareness about the need to overcome our unconscious bias against certain social and identity groups. I urge every Sheru to log in to the My Development portal today and complete the “Unconscious Bias & Micro-Inequities” training, which is available for all to complete until February 2021. There are also workshops on the topic that are open to all hiring managers. It will be great if all hiring managers attend these workshops to become more aware of such unconscious biases that they may have and to learn to overcome them. As an organisation it is absolutely critical that we learn to address our unconscious biases in order to create and maintain an inclusive workforce and emerge as an employer of choice for one and all!

We have done tremendously well in the last couple of months on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front in terms of volunteering both time and money. In view of the enthusiastic response of Sherus to the CSR Week celebrated during August 31 to September 6, 2020 and the feedback received afterwards, I am happy to announce that we will organise CSR Week – V2 for all employees from November 23 to 27 this year. I encourage every Sheru to at least avail of a half-day CSR leave this year and experience the joy of making a difference in someone’s life.

Though new cases of COVID-19 infections continue to occur across India, the daily count of new positive cases has fallen. According to the Union Health Ministry, the COVID-19 recovery rate has also improved to 93.27% in the country. Be that as it may, until the war against the COVID-19 pandemic is fully won, we all must continue to strictly follow all COVID-19 protocols, including following social distancing, wearing face masks, washing hands frequently and using sanitisers, to stay safe. I am sure you know the protocols by heart but if you wish to take a relook, here is a quick link to the Unlockdown Dos and Don’ts.

Stay safe and take care of your loved ones.

Thank you.

Best regards,
Jaideep Arora