MUMBAI, October 18, 2022 (GNI): Leading stock brokerage firm, HDFC Securities, announced the opening of the first-ever Women-Only Digital Centre (DC) in India. This pioneering centre, staffed with a team of women, will serve both male and female investors. The centre will be based in Bengaluru and cater to customers from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This closely follows the company’s announcement regarding the opening of multiple DCs across India to ease access to services and promote digital adoption.

“The Women-Only DC is another step in HDFC Securities’ aim to foster diversity within the organization, while also empowering its customers with technology that eases their journey to financial freedom. The company’s digital focus is also driven by the fact that India has among the largest populations of young adults in the world, with Gen Z making up 27% of them. This is why the company intends to hire women aged below 30 years for this revolutionary digital centre. HDFC Securities plans to hire more than 100+ relationship managers for the Women-Only DC in Bengaluru.

“We are already in the process of hiring 600 relationship managers for our pan-India Digital Centres. We are very aware that the largest percentage of our customers consists of young Indians. So, our solutions need to cater to the unique needs and expectations of these digital natives. Also, the relationship managers at our DCs are aged less than 30 years, which gives them unique insights into the needs of our largest customer demographic.

We wanted to make it easier for women investors to access our services also, as only 7% of Indian women invest independently in the financial markets, and 33% of women don’t have any financial investments. We aim to encourage these women to take charge of their finances with a women-only team at the new DC. Although our team will serve every type of investor, male or female, having a women-only team could attract more women to discover investment opportunities and support for taking informed investment decisions,” said Dhiraj Relli, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer at HDFC Securities.

HDFC Securities also understands that the youth, while taking charge of their finances, need a better understanding of the investment process to make the most of the financial markets. The pan-India Digital Centres have been launched to support customers in getting the best results from the HSL platforms with the help of knowledgeable relationship managers. With the DCs, customers will be able to access support as and when they need it, without needing to search for a physical branch.

“We take great pride in being connected with the dreams and aspirations of young India. This helps us tailor our services and expansion roadmaps to best meet the needs of our customers and give them the right tools to take charge of their finances. Our Women-Only Digital Centre is the first step in supporting Indian women to become self-directed. We believe that when women run the centre, it will encourage other women to manage their own investment portfolios, make informed decisions and gain financial security. We believe that hiring women as relationship managers for the DC will further our efforts to ensure diversity and empower women to take charge of their finances. We will monitor this DC and apply the learnings to fuel our future growth plan,” added Mufaddal Matcheswala, Chief Growth Officer at HDFC Securities.ends GNI SG