Consolidation in the broking industry continued in the third quarter, with retail investors fleeing Karvy Stock Broking to join other brokers after Sebi barred Karvy from adding new clients and restricted clients’ trade.

Mumbai: Consolidation in the broking industry continued in the third quarter, with retail investors fleeing Karvy Stock Broking to join other brokers after Sebi barred Karvy from adding new clients and restricted clients’ trade.

Competitive intensity remained strong, as the quarter saw default by Karvy and launch of broking services by PayTM, says an HDFC Securities report.

Zerodha remained the top broker in India with 11. 13 lakh clients, followed by ICICI Securi-ties (9.35 lakh), HDFC Securities (6.47 lakh), Sharekhan (4.86 lakh) and Kotak Securities (4.84 lakh ).

ICICI Securities, Zero-dha, Upstoxx and 5 Pai-sa added clients during the Oct.-Dec. quarter.

Discount brokers Zerodha and Upstoxx added 68,000 and 99,000 new clients while ICICI added 29,000. Upstoxx became the fastest growing broker in the eight month of FY20, with its active client base rising 3.8 times. It ranked 8th among the top 10 brokers, just behind Angel Broking and Kotak Securities.

IIFL group-owned 5 Paisa added 18,9000 clients in April-December.

“In the medium term, tailwinds exist for brokers in the form of better markets, increased retail participation, and risk aversion owing default of Karvy,” HDFC Securities said.