He also highlights a long runway in insurance and asset management driven by low penetration and product expansion. While investments in new businesses may keep costs high in the near term, operating leverage is expected to improve as these platforms grow.
Watch the entire conversation here or scroll down for edited excerpts.
For the January-March quarter of 2026 (Q4FY26), Jio Financial Services reported net interest income growth of 29% year-on-year to ₹345 crore compared to ₹268 crore. However, pre-provision operating profit fell 13% to ₹327 crore from ₹374 crore, while profit after tax fell 14% to ₹272 crore from ₹316 crore.
Mumbai-based Jio Financial has a market capitalization of about ₹1,51,967.15 crore, with the stock down about 3% in the last year.
These are edited excerpts of the interview.Question: Give an overview of what Jio Financial Services is doing in terms of business outlay.
Answer: At Jio Financial Services, there are four key consumer needs that we aim to address: borrowing, investing, transacting and security. The borrowing requirement is met through our lending business. Investment needs are met through asset management, wealth management and coming soon stockbroking. The need for protection is through insurance – currently, insurance broking and reinsurance, life and general insurance are upcoming. Transactions need to be done through our payment bank and payment solutions. It’s all housed on an agent marketplace that we launched a few weeks ago.
Q: What’s happening across all the segments and how are they expanding?
Answer: Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) have been our growth engine this year, with assets under management at ₹25,700 crore, up from about ₹10,000 crore a year ago and almost zero two years ago. The growth has mainly been in secured loans-mortgage, loans against securities and corporate loan solutions.
The payments services business has crossed ₹50,000 crore in transaction volumes, with a strong focus on unit economics and margins of around 12 basis points.
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The payments bank has grown to 3.7 million customers with deposits of more than ₹540 crore.
The asset management company (AMC) business, which started nine months ago, has seen average assets under management reach over ₹16,000 crore. These are the engines that are currently driving growth.
Q: Net interest income (NII) is up 29% year-on-year, but profits are down. When will expenses return to normal?
Answer: Expenditures are partly a function of changes accounting for future growth and investment. Jio Payments Bank was previously an associate and has now been consolidated, affecting comparability. If adjusted on a like-for-like basis, the growth would be around 29%. We remain conscious of operating profit and ensure that each business delivers minimum value at the unit level.
Q: What is the outlook for growth and profitability?
Answer: We have been cautious in giving forward guidance, but with assets under management (AUM) reaching ₹10,000 crore to ₹25,700 crore, we expect strong growth ahead. Capital is not a constraint, and our NBFC leverage, currently around 3x, can move towards 4-5x during the growth phase. We expect strong top-line growth as we continue to invest in the wealth, broking and insurance businesses.
Question: What is the strategy to grow AMC business?
Answer: Jio BlackRock AMC started about nine months ago with a suite of institutional products and has since expanded into retail with a strong product pipeline. The focus has been on expanding the product suite, strengthening distribution channels, entering Gift City and launching new offerings such as Special Investment Funds (SIFs). We expect the rapid growth to continue.
Also read: Why JioblackRock AMC considers largecaps important for investors today
Q: What is the roadmap for insurance?
Answer: Insurance penetration in India is around 4%, compared to around 7% in peer economies and double digits in developed markets, indicating a large runway for growth. We have already started reinsurance and insurance broking, offering more than 80 policies across all categories. We have also entered into a non-binding agreement with Allianz to undertake underwriting of both life and general insurance. Work is ongoing, and once milestones are achieved, we will share updates.
Q: What about the growth and asset quality of NBFCs?
Answer: We are currently focused on providing secured lending, which includes loans against property, shares, mutual funds, mortgages and corporate debt solutions. We are still in the early growth phase and expect to continue strong expansion. Given our conservative approach to risk, asset quality remains stable.
Q: How do you look at margins?
Answer: As a AAA-rated entity, our cost of funds is around 7%, which we consider to be one of the best in the industry. With high leverage, margins may be lower, but this is necessary to promote growth. Our objective is to grow absolute returns while maintaining strong asset quality.
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