In a move aimed at promoting retail investor participation in equity and commodity markets, Apollo Sindhoori Capital Investments, a stock broking firm based in Chennai, has come up with a scheme for the public to become brokers and sub-brokers from the start of this month.
The company plans to work on a franchisee basis with the public, by offering free support and training in trading formalities to enable them to become its brokers and sub-brokers. However, a deposit of Rs 50,000 will have to be paid initially to the company. After the trading operations take off, the investors will work on a 50:50 commission basis with the company.
“All that one needs is a PC and internet connection and the interest in the subject. This scheme is the most ideal one for people who are at home – housewives, elderly men or people who have taken VRS,” said R. Pattabiraman, General Manager (Chief of Commodities), Apollo Sindhoori Commodities Trading Ltd, another subsidiary of Apollo.
This scheme is meant to generate interest in equity and commodities market among the general public and involve a large number of retail investors into the booming market, he added. Commodity exchanges in the country clock 6-8 times higher revenue than domestic stock exchanges owing to extensive trading.
The company had taken up this retail experiment on a pilot-basis in Gujarat and seems to have got good response. “We formally launched the scheme in Tamil Nadu on November 1 and we will be expanding it all over India soon,” said Pattabiraman. On the first day of the announcement of the scheme, the company claims to have got 100 queries.
