Mr Krishnamurthy said: "We are in talks with three insurance companies for both life and non-life products. However, we may start off with life insurance products."

As part of a plan to increase its focus in the southern states, the company has opened an office of JM Morgan Stanley Direct, the retail financial services arm of JM Morgan Stanley, in the city on Tuesday. To this end, JM Morgan Stanley Direct would launch operations in Hyderabad on Wednesday and in Chennai later this week. "Besides the high-networth individuals, we are also looking at the average retail investor with funds ranging between Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 through our business partners or sub-brokers," JM Morgan Stanley Direct's CEO Pallav Sinha said.

The company expects to increase its retail customer to 1.25 lakh in the next 18 months from the current 50,000 and private high net worth clients to 800 from 200 during the next one year.