IL&FS Investsmart Limited (IIL) was incorporated as Investsmart India Limited on September 1, 1997 , as a wholly owned subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited. The company is a financial services company engaged in intermediation of financial products and financial advisory services for retail, institutional investors and corporates. The company received the Certificate of Commencement of Business on October 7, 1997.

The promoter set up IL&FS Merchant Banking Services Limited (IMBSL) as a wholly owned subsidiary to provide full-fledged Merchant Banking services and the same was registered as a Category I Merchant Banker with SEBI. The Promoter also had a controlling interest in DebtonNet India Limited (DIL), which was set up to provide an automated and transparent platform, using the Internet tools for book built debt issuances.

In order to consolidate IL&FS’s interests in the capital markets, IMBSL and DIL were merged with the Company in 2002.

Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services is a non banking finance company, promoted by Central Bank of India (CBI), Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) and Unit Trust of India (UTI). Over the years IL&FS has broad-based its shareholding and inducted institutional shareholders including State Bank of India, ORIX Corporation, Japan, International Finance Corporation, Washington, Credit Commercial de France and Indivest Pte Ltd, an Affiliate of Government of Singapore.

The company is now held by HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations.

With a pan-India presence of over 300 offices, IIL is geared to meet all investment needs. It caters to transportation, area development, cluster development, finance, power, ports, water and waste water, urban infrastructure, environment, education and tourism sector. The infrastructure services offered by the company include project development, project implementation and cluster development and social, education, technology, logistics and facility management. The financial services provided are project finance, investment banking, capital markets, retail, private equity and trust and fiduciary. It presently employs over 600 dedicated and high-potential personnel. It gives opportunity for career enhancement by providing a professional, dynamic and supportive environment. It provides welfare facilities and organizes regular employee health check ups.

The company ventured into the area of distribution of insurance products through its wholly owned subsidiaries Investsmart Insurance Agency Private Limited (IIAPL) and IL&FS Investsmart Insurance and Risk Management Services Limited (formerly Investsmart Insurance Distribution Private Limited). The Company has ventured into commodity broking through its subsidiary IL&FS Investsmart Commodity Brokers Limited (IICBL). The company has also acquired IL&FS Academy for Insurance and Finance Limited (formerly SAIFA Training Academy Limited ) from IL&FS Education & Technology Services Limited (IETS) on March 31, 2004.

The key service offered by the company include the following

• Risk management solutions for all
• Comprehensive research for all policies available on a regular basis
• Recommendations on a comprehensive insurance cover based on clients needs
• Maintain proper records of client policies
• Continuous monitoring of client account

Presence of IIL can be felt in

1)Retail Business- Retail offerings of IIL seek to cover all financial planning requirements of individuals, which includeAdvisory Services:

• Portfolio Management Services, Mutual Funds, Insurance.Trading Services:
• Equities, Derivatives, Commodities, IPOs
• NRI Products services: NREquity-Complete control of equity investments in India, NRI PMS- Customised Solutions to meet NRI Investment needs

 2) Institutional Business- IIL’s Institutional business thrives on the strong relationships we have built among domestic mutual funds, banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and private sector funds.These can be can be broadly categorized as follows.

• Merchant Banking- It offer financial advisory and capital-raising services to corporates. Having successfully managed IPOs, Follow-on offerings, Open Offers, Mergers, etc,
• Institutional Equity & Debt- Combining the efforts of a top-drawer research team & dynamic sales professionals, they are committed to offer timely & proactive investing & trading strategies. they are presently empanelled with more than 100 institutions and service customers across geographies.

3) Insurance Broking- In June 2005 the company received the license for marketing insurance products from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).

The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd (HSBC) had acquired IL&FS Investsmart Ltd (IIL) through its group subsidiaries HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private Limited. In Sept.2008, HSBC completed the acquisition of 93.86% of IL&FS Investsmart Limited.

Awards/Achievements

• IL&FS has been awarded The Indian Innovation Award 2005 by President of India on March 7, 2005 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
• IIL has been recognized as Best Performing Financial Advisor by CNBC TV 18 for two years in a row 2006-07 and 2007-08.