Paytm Money CEO Varun Sridhar, who made platform profitable, steps down; Rakesh Singh to…



Rakesh Singh has been appointed as the new CEO of Paytm Money, the wealth management platform of One 97 Communications Ltd, replacing Varun Sridhar, according to people familiar with the matter. Singh, who previously served as the CEO of broking services at Fisdom, a company backed by PayU, is said to have joined Paytm Money last month.
According to an ET report by Pranav Mukul, Sridhar, who had been the chief executive since 2020, has been reassigned to a different role within the group.
During Sridhar’s tenure, Paytm Money, which competes with platforms such as Zerodha, Groww, Upstox, and Angel One, achieved profitability. The wealthtech platform reported a net profit of Rs 42.8 crore on revenue of Rs 132.8 crore for the fiscal year 2023.
In addition to Singh’s appointment, Paytm Money recently hired Vipul Mewada as its chief financial officer in February. Mewada previously held the position of deputy CFO at ICICI Securities.
The digital wealth management industry has experienced changes in its top leadership in recent months. Earlier this year, it was reported by the financial daily that at least four senior executives from Kotak Cherry, the digital wealth management app operated by Kotak Mahindra Bank, including its chief executive Srikanth Subramanian, are expected to join competitor Angel One.
Paytm Money, based in Bengaluru, concentrates on stock markets and mutual fund investments, and is a significant player in the direct mutual funds space, offering schemes without the involvement of third-party distributors.
However, the platform has trailed its competitors in the stockbroking market. According to data from the National Stock Exchange, Paytm Money’s active trading client base is approximately 760,000, while the number of systematic investment plans (SIPs) run through the platform is around 860,000.
In comparison, its largest rival, Groww, has nearly 7.6 million clients, and Zerodha’s user base stands at 6.7 million customers.




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