- Rikhav Securities is fundamentally a proprietary trading firm that also runs a brokerage - the company deploys its own capital in algorithm-driven strategies to generate the vast majority of its income, while the client-facing broking and market-making arms serve as the customer-facing storefront. Incorporated in 1995 as Brijmohan Sagarmal Finance Limited and rebranded in 2006, the firm evolved from a traditional boutique brokerage into a technology-led platform after a pivotal 2012 appointment as a market maker for SME segments on both NSE and BSE, which now has a proven track record of supporting 46 Clients in SME listings. The recurring approach is to combine proprietary trading, market making, and client broking under one roof - using the same technology backbone and risk infrastructure to run all three engines, with the prop desk operating in an isolated environment that is walled off from client operations.
Business segments
Three engines that feed each other - a proprietary trading desk that generates nearly all the revenue, a market-making operation that builds relationships and deal flow, and a client broking business that provides the public face and depository relationships - all running on a shared technology and risk backbone.
1. Proprietary trading: where the firm's own money does the heavy lifting
The company's dominant revenue engine is not client brokerage but its own capital deployed in algorithm-driven arbitrage and hedging strategies, generating roughly 98% of total income while operating behind a wall of automated risk controls.
- Algorithm-driven, not directional bets - the prop desk runs arbitrage, delta hedging, and structured short-term strategies across equities and derivatives, aiming for consistent mid-teens annual returns regardless of which way the market moves.
- Walled off from the client business - the proprietary trading desk has its own dedicated risk management oversight, completely isolated from client broking operations, so that client positions and the firm's own bets never mix.
- Machines pull the plug, not people - the entire operation runs on an automated risk system powered by ODIN and N Prime RMS, which enforces minimum exposure limits and auto-stops trading on margin breaches without any human intervention.
- Stress-tested twice a day - the firm runs Value-at-Risk (VaR) based stress testing both intraday and at end-of-day to monitor positions, so risk is measured continuously rather than just at market close.
2. Market making: the liquidity engine that feeds the IPO pipeline
As a SEBI-registered market maker on both BSE and NSE since 2012 and 2016 respectively, the company provides two-way quotes on roughly 46 SME IPOs a year - earning from bid-ask spreads while building the relationships that bring more deals to the platform.
- The licence is the moat - the company holds market-maker registration on both major exchanges, a status that requires regulatory approval and is not easily replicated, giving it a steady flow of new-issue mandates.
- Picking winners is a hands-on process - before committing to market-make a new issue, the company evaluates who the merchant makers are and its own past experience, studies the issuer's financial projections, and conducts a physical company visit - it is a subjective, commercial call, not an automated screen.
- Distribution muscle de-risks the listing - the firm's network generates thousands of high-quality applications for each new issue, which boosts investor confidence and helps ensure the listing trades smoothly.
- Now moving into ETFs - during FY26, the company began market making for exchange-traded funds with Kotak Mutual Fund and plans to add two or three more mutual fund relationships, extending the same liquidity-provision model to a new asset class.
3. Equity and derivatives broking: the client-facing storefront
A full-service broking arm serving over 23,000 clients with a hybrid model - competitive online pricing that management claims can undercut larger discount brokers, combined with dedicated relationship support that pure-digital rivals cannot offer.
- Human connection as the differentiator - while the Rikhav Plus app handles online execution, clients also get personalized service and dedicated relationship support on demand, which management calls a key edge against purely digital discount brokers.
- Derivatives drive the volume - in FY26, equity broking generated ₹10,321.82 crore in trading volume, but derivatives trading volume reached ₹1,14,864.93 crore - more than ten times the cash market figure - with an average daily turnover of ₹463.17 crore.
- Brokerage is a sliver of total income - brokerage and commission income constituted just 1.15% of total income in FY26, with cash market trades contributing 94.22% of that brokerage and futures and options 5.47%, underscoring that client broking is the storefront, not the profit centre.
- Paperless onboarding in minutes - the digital account-opening infrastructure uses the Meon Aadhaar eKYC platform with instant verification and automated workflows, cutting account opening times from days to minutes.
- Ancillary services round out the offering - the broking arm also provides IPO application services, a Margin Trading Facility approved by both BSE and NSE that lets clients trade beyond their available capital, and mutual fund distribution spanning equity, debt, hybrid, and ELSS schemes.
Technology and risk infrastructure
A shared backbone of proprietary software, automated risk controls, and a mobile trading app runs across all three business engines - the prop desk, the market-making operation, and the client broking arm - with the firm investing roughly ₹5.40 crore in technology during FY26.
- Multi-layered, algorithm-based risk control - the core system is powered by N-Prime RMS integrated with ODIN, Greeksoft, Multitrade, and Symphony, providing centralized risk visibility through live dashboards and segment-specific exposure controls that differentiate between intraday and carry-forward positions.
- Auto-block on margin breaches - if a client exceeds margin by 10% over prescribed norms, the system automatically blocks further trades without human intervention, and a disaster-management fallback with N-Prime ensures continuity if the primary system fails.
- The Rikhav Plus app as the client gateway - the proprietary mobile app, carrying a 4.2-star rating on the Google Play Store, offers multi-asset trading across equities, derivatives, and commodities on NSE, BSE, and MCX, with one-tap order execution, real-time quotes, and bank-grade security with multi-factor authentication and end-to-end encryption.
Group structure and partners
Rikhav Securities operates as a single corporate entity with no subsidiaries, and the promoter group - holding a controlling stake - launched an open offer in April 2026 to acquire an additional 26% of the voting share capital without changing management or control.
- Standalone structure - the company has no subsidiaries, joint ventures, or non-controlling interests as of FY26, and holds trading memberships on BSE, NSE, and ICEX, along with depository participant registration with CDSL.
- Self-clearing across segments - the firm is a self-clearing member on MCX and a registered clearing member on NCL and ICCL (BSE), with self-clearing capability across equity, equity derivatives, and currency derivatives segments, so it does not depend on external clearing firms.
- A brief insurance detour that was abandoned - in September 2025, the Board approved acquiring 99.96% of a newly incorporated insurance broker that had not yet commenced business, but within the same month reversed the decision after an internal feasibility study concluded the acquisition was not in the business's interest.
- Promoter open offer underway - in April 2026, the promoter group announced an open offer to acquire up to 26% of the voting share capital at ₹47.75 per share for a total consideration of up to ₹47.54 crore, triggered by recent market purchases of approximately 8.48% of the voting share capital, with no resulting change in management or control.