This August we will complete 17 years since incorporation and it is now 16 years since we got our SEBI portfolio management license. First, we would like to thank each of our existing and past clients who have placed their trust and savings with us, without whom we would not be here today. Many of you may not be updated about Banyan Tree (BT) as an organisation or may not have had the opportunity to interact with the wider team – hence we thought it may be a good idea to brief you on the same.
Some of you entrusted your savings with us in our early days and may be aware that BT was set up in Bangalore by Ravishankar & Sandeep Talwar. Over time, Shyam Prabhu, Jigar Shah and Vishal Thakkar joined the firm. These 5 partners/directors, own and manage the firm on a day-to-day basis. Most of the partners have known each other for a long time – have either studied together at college or worked together, prior to setting up of BT.
It is also important to note that the top management of BT have a significant part of their personal and family wealth, invested in exactly the same process as we do for our clients. We have only a single investment philosophy – Buy a good company, Buy it at a sensible price.
Our team comprises 31 people across Bangalore and Mumbai and we have consciously invested in our team to ensure high quality research, client servicing, operations, IT and compliance. The aim has been to build redundancies and ensure business continuity for the long term.
Today we manage assets of over Rs 3600 crores for over 1500 client accounts including over 220 NRIs. We have grown primarily from generous referrals from existing clients and their family and friends as also the consistent and above market portfolio performance over the years, with lower volatility. While we do feel happy about the growth in client base and AUM, what makes us particularly proud is that we have managed a very high client retention rate (95%) – so clients have stayed over the long term and have also referred their friends/family to us. The stability of our clients allows us the freedom to manage the money with a long-term orientation without worrying about short-term performance. We have been equally fortunate to have a very steady base of other important stakeholders and business partners – employees, distributors, brokers, custodian, tax and legal advisors all of whom have been part of this journey. Last but not the least, we must mention our family members who have been greats pillars of support in this journey together.
As we grow larger, our focus would to be build the firm to ensure the current investment process continues for a long time and we live up to the promise we have given our investors. We would like to thank all the clients who have trusted us over all these years. Some of the fond memories are the first meetings with many clients and we are delighted to see these relationships strengthen over time. We began this journey with the core belief that it is possible to generate superior returns over the long term by avoiding higher risk and sticking to one’s investment discipline. As we look ahead, we commit to remain steadfast to this discipline and look forward to many more years of a mutually rewarding journey with you.