Kotak arm targets 10 lakh users on investment products distribution platform

A Kotak Mahindra Bank arm on Thursday said it is targeting to have 10 lakh users on a newly launched investment products distribution platform.

Kotak Investment Advisors' one-stop investment solution provider 'Kotak Cherry' aims to be an open architecture platform, which will help investors in choosing from a wide array of offerings beyond the ones manufactured by Kotak group companies.

The bank's wholetime director KVS Manian said the platform is right now available for free with a 'do it yourself' offering for users, but it will eventually be looking at having a subscription fee-based model.

He said all the features will be unlocked by October this year and the group is targeting to have 10 lakh users in a year. At present, it is offering mutual funds, direct stock investing, New Pension Scheme, real estate investment trusts and Kotak Mahindra Bank's fixed deposits, while in the future it intends to add stock baskets and international equity investing. When asked about there being similar offerings already the platform's chief executive designate Srikanth Subramanian said the company's surveys pointed to vacuum areas, especially the dearth of holistic offerings that led it to the launch.