Evolution of Angel One: How is Dinesh Thakkar thinking beyond broking?

Angel One isn’t chasing a fixed revenue mix but expanding into wealth was a natural step, Thakkar told Mint in an interview.

“Broking is volume-driven, while wealth and asset management are relationship-led. They’re anchored in client trust and continuity—resulting in stable, predictable revenue streams with annuity-like characteristics."

This comes at a time when major players like the Shriram-Sanlam joint venture, the Jio-BlackRock AMC partnership, and Groww are making significant inroads into the wealth management space.

Thakkar’s firm recently appointed former Google tech leader Ambarish Kenghe as Group CEO and brought in ex-Kotak Cherry head Srikanth Subramanian to lead its wealth management vertical, Ionic Wealth by Angel One.

Thakkar’s goal is to build a "multi-engine, full-stack FinTech platform" that supports investors at every stage of their journey and earns their trust along the way.

Ionic Wealth is aimed at India’s “emerging affluent"—investors with a net worth between ₹1 crore and ₹50 crore.

“This segment is long overlooked by traditional wealth managers and is one of the most under-served in India’s wealth landscape," said Subramanian, the co-founder and CEO of Ionic Wealth by Angel One.

“We focus on quant-based strategies, global allocation, high-yield portfolios for second income, PIPE (public investment with private equity style) for long-term India exposure, and pre-IPO opportunities for short-term gains."

Ionic Wealth has also secured the GIFT City Fund Management Entity license, furthering its ambitions in offshore and alternative investments.

Neither Thakkar nor Subramanian shared any specific targets for Ionic Wealth.

Revenue playbook

The broking major’s revenue playbook is shifting gears. That shift is about better margins, stronger client retention, and higher lifetime value.

“Our revenue model is fundamentally evolving. It is becoming more stable, recurring, and better aligned with how people actually plan and invest over time," says Thakkar.

Total revenue from operations rose to ₹5,238 crore in FY25, up from ₹4,272 crore in FY24. Angel One’s annual report FY24-25 highlighted that clients who have been with the broking firm for over five years continued to generate stable revenues.

Angel One’s stock has risen 25% in the past year. Analysts say a sustained market recovery will be important for the company to meet its target of 40–45% operating margin. However, growth in new areas like loan and fixed deposit distribution, wealth management, and asset management business could also help support its long-term performance.

On Wednesday, the stock is down nearly 1% at ₹2,940.10 apiece on NSE.

The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs3,503.15 on 9 December 2024.

Angel One, which had just 1.8 million customers over 25 years in its physical avatar, transformed radically post-2019 when it went fully digital.

“That year alone, we added nearly 2.5 million customers," said Thakkar. Today, Angel One boasts 31 million clients and a 15.4% share of active clients on the NSE, with ₹1.2 trillion in assets under custody.

Angel One has seen a huge expansion in its client base over the years—adding just 600,000 clients in FY20, but surging to 9.3 million new additions by FY25, according to its March quarter investor presentation.

As Subramanian put it, “We’ve already seen 50% of transactions—like SIP mandates or portfolio reports—move to the app in the wealth business."

Meanwhile, Angel One is also doubling down on brand muscle.

“During this year’s IPL, Angel One was among the top three most visible brands. That kind of visibility matters; it builds awareness, trust, and preference, especially among younger, digital-first investors," Thakkar added.

Also read: IPO street is lighting up as hopes swell, global worries fade

The wealth playbook

As competition heats up in the broking and wealth space with several players offering low cost products, Group CEO Kenghe said the idea isn’t to push products, but to empower investors to make their own informed choices.

“We’ve created a variety of instruments, but we don’t tell clients what to pick," he said. He explained that Angel One is focussed on educating them so investors can decide what works best, and that, he believes, is what helps them stick to the platform.

Are you reliable? You are up all the time? Are you fast? Are you safe? Are you simple? - that people often ignore and this is what matters the most for customers’ stickiness, Kenghe added.

Quoting the famous Ford anecdote, Kenghe said: “If Ford had asked people what they wanted, they’d have said faster horses. By that they meant something that was easier to maintain, didn’t get sick, didn’t need feeding all the time, and didn’t smell bad. So, instead, he gave them cars. We aim to understand what users truly need—not just what they say. Then we simplify things, stay transparent, and do right by them. When you do that, people naturally stick around."

Headwinds from F&O volatility

While Angel One is diversifying, broking—particularly futures & options (F&O) trading—remains central to its business. In Q4 FY25, F&O made up 77% of gross broking revenue.

But it’s not been smooth sailing. With Sebi proposing curbs on derivatives trading, retail-heavy brokers like Angel One have felt the heat.

The group’s average daily turnover (ADTO) for both cash and F&O fell from ₹40 trillion in Q3 FY25 to ₹32 trillion in Q4—a 20% drop. Industry-wide, combined ADTO on NSE and BSE declined 26%. Broking revenue growth moderated to ~13% in FY25 from 40% the previous year, according to a CRISIL report dated 29 April.

Still, Thakkar remains optimistic: “Volumes are recovering. We’ve crossed 5 million daily trades again."

Despite the dip in trading volumes during Q3 and Q4 of FY25, the group has held its strong position in the equity broking space and is among the top three players in terms of active client base and second largest in terms of incremental active client additions as on 31 March, 2025, the report highlighted.

Also read: Angel One’s March quarter hit by new Sebi curbs on F&O trading

Road ahead

Thakkar said he’s not chasing global expansion yet: “India is a massive opportunity. We want to go deeper here first."

That said, Angel One is looking at bringing international products to Indian investors and is open to joint ventures.

Whatever helps serve the retail customer better, whether it is a fully digital license or even a banking license, if the RBI allows it; would be interesting, Thakkar remarked.

“Of course, a banking license is tough to get, but we’re keen to explore any license that enables us to offer our services in a more seamless, digital-first way."

The real challenge, he said, is not spotting big opportunities—but finding the right people who share the vision.

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