Wallfort Financial Services is a research-driven stock broker that has spent three decades connecting institutional investors to Indian equities - it was founded in Mumbai in 1994 to help institutions make informed investment decisions, and everything it does flows from the same approach: generate original investment ideas, provide access to company management, and find a reliable counterparty for every trade. The firm is led by Chairman and Managing Director Ashok Bharadia, who has more than 36 years of experience in the securities market, and operates from a single office in Mumbai’s Fort district with no manufacturing activity and minimal energy consumption. # Business segments A single engine - institutional equities broking - supported by depository and retail services that extend the same research and execution platform to a wider set of clients. ## 1. Institutional equities broking: where the research meets the trade **The company earns brokerage fees by executing equity trades for mutual funds, corporates and other institutions, but its real product is the differentiated research and market access that brings those clients to the table.** - **Research is the front door** - an in-house team generates original investment ideas and thought-provoking views, covering local and worldwide developments and balancing them with the discovery of intrinsic values, synergies and growth, so that institutional clients receive advice tailored to their specific needs. - **Execution and access complete the package** - beyond the research, the company provides trade execution, top-class market reports, and direct access to company management, forming what management calls a comprehensive institutional equities platform. - **A concentrated institutional client base** - the firm served 118 institutional clients in FY25, a roster that has ranged from 91 to 124 over the past six years, comprising mutual funds, corporates, banks and foreign institutional investors. - **Revenue follows volumes** - brokerage commissions are recognised on the day a trade is executed and depend on average daily volumes in the markets, which means the top line rises and falls with trading activity rather than with fixed fees. - **The licence is the entry ticket** - the company is registered with SEBI as a stock broker, a research analyst and an investment advisor, and holds memberships on both the BSE and the NSE, the two main Indian stock exchanges. ## 2. Depository participant services: holding securities in electronic form **A natural add-on to the broking relationship - clients who trade through Wallfort can also hold their shares and bonds in dematerialised form through the same firm.** - **One account, two jobs** - registered with Central Depository Services (India) Limited as a depository participant, the company lets clients convert physical share certificates into electronic holdings and settle trades without paper, which removes friction from the trading process. - **A dedicated team runs it** - the depository participant division has its own leadership under Bharat Mishra, with Sunil Bharadia as vice president, keeping the custody function separate from the trading desk. ## 3. Retail broking: the institutional engine, opened to individuals **The same research and execution platform that serves institutions is extended to individual investors, including high-net-worth clients, through a franchise-based distribution model.** - **Franchises built the retail reach** - the company entered retail broking by distributing franchises at a national level, so it could serve individual clients across the country without building a branch network of its own. - **One platform, two client types** - retail and institutional clients sit on the same infrastructure, with the company tailoring its offering and advice to the specific needs of each group, whether that means different research formats or different levels of execution support. # Group structure and partners **A family-led public company with a web of related financial entities, a newly acquired industrial stake, and a board built around the three promoter-directors who are cousins.** - **Promoter family at the centre** - the three executive directors - Ashok Bharadia (Managing Director), Deepak Lahoti (Whole-time Director and CFO) and Manoj Bharadia (Whole-time Director) - are cousins, and together with three independent directors they form an eight-member board. - **Related companies orbit the broker** - entities controlled by key managerial persons or their relatives include Wallfort Properties Private Limited, Wallfort Commodities Private Limited, Wallfort PMS & Advisory Services Limited and Chattisgarh Project India Private Limited, with which the company transacts on the same commercial terms it offers unrelated parties. - **A wholly-owned subsidiary** - Equipact Advisory LLP sits under Wallfort, and the parent records its share of the subsidiary’s loss in other expenses. - **A recent industrial investment** - in March 2025 the board approved the acquisition of a 10.24% stake in Jainam Ferro Alloys (I) Limited, a manufacturer of metal and metal products, for about INR 25.4 crore via a private placement of warrants, classified purely as an investment rather than a related-party transaction.