India

The 28th annual Asiamoney Brokers Poll invited chief investment officers, fund managers and investment analysts to take part. Nearly 6,700 valid responses were received from voters representing fund management houses, insurance companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds and wealth managers from around the world.

Singaporean bank adds to Indian franchise, but profitability of new ventures remains some way off.

India’s fifth-largest private-sector bank, Yes Bank, has been a clarion voice in India’s long drive to increase onshore financial inclusion since its formation in 2004. Later this year, its in-house business accelerator, aimed at boosting digital banking participation and unearthing the country’s next generation of great technology entrepreneurs, will open its doors in Mumbai.

Over the next few decades, this will be one of the most highly coveted awards in India – and perhaps the world. The number of high and ultra-high net-worth individuals is rising fast: India is now home to the fourth-highest number of HNWs in Asia, according to a 2016 Capgemini report.

Few lenders of global scale can claim to dominate their foreign peers in a big market quite like Citi does in India. HSBC and Standard Chartered are embedded veterans of Asia’s third-largest economy, with operations spanning most of the big urban centres, but none can touch Citi. The US lender is by far the largest foreign distributor of credit cards – 1.8 million and counting – and the leading overseas player in onshore wealth management, with assets under management of $4.6 billion. Citibank India posted pre-tax profits of $872 million in the financial year to the end of March 2016.

Kotak Mahindra Bank is an elite financial institution, but what often surprises people is the speed with which is has become such a mainstay across corporate and investment banking. Kotak is virtually ever-present in the corporate finance sector, banking India’s leading industrial groups, but also focusing heavily on the country’s army of future corporate stars.

No other private-sector bank in India lends more to micro or small and medium-sized enterprises. ICICI Bank has been a champion of SME lending since its formation in 1994, and it remains a consistent financial supporter of thriving young firms, which manufacture 40% of India’ exports and provide employment to 80 million people in south Asia’s largest economy.

Every lender in India now takes its digital banking services seriously. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s decision to effectively de-cash the economy in November 2016, which led to millions of unbanked citizens opening digital wallets and downloading mobile banking apps, made sure of that.

India has bigger banks than HDFC Bank, particularly in the state sector. It also has some extremely successful and powerful private banks that were strong candidates for this award. But no bank in India is better run than HDFC.