HSBC's India chief Stuart Milne is looking to provide a wider array of products for a growing affluent retail segment as the Asia-focused UK-based bank seeks to reach $1bn in profits from its Indian operations.
"We don't have the network (HSBC has 50 branches in India) or the cost structure to compete in the mass market," said Milne. "Our target is the mass affluent segment and we want to provide the entire suite of products they need," Milne told local media, barely two months into his new tenure.
Milne said that competitors in the market had a product-first focus where origination was the starting point, while HSBC's strategy would be to profile target clients and then offer services which suited their needs.
"We are not here just to build market share; our focus is profitable market share," he said. "We want to be relevant to only certain sections."
The firm cleared $814m in pre-tax profits last year, a record for the market which is the bank's sixth most profitable after Hong Kong, China, the UK, Brazil and Canada.
A near 20% growth in profits compared to 2010 was fueled by reduction in retail and wealth management operation losses as well as higher earnings on the commercial banking end.
"Our retail business has become profitable and the task now is to build scale in the mass affluent segment," Milne said.
According to SRP data, HSBC is the leading structured products provider across the Asia Pacific region with over 20% market share. In 2011, HSBC took the lion's share in the region with 24% and €75bn in sales, substantially ahead of the other two big players in the region - Standard Chartered (7% and $20.5bn) and Bank of China (4% and $12.5bn).
So far this year, HSBC is on track to match last year's performance as it has already achieved a 22% market share across the region and a sales volume of over $39bn.