Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) was an Indian private sector mortgage lender based in Mumbai. Apart from being the biggest housing finance company in India, it also had a presence in banking, life and general insurance, asset management, venture capital and deposits through its associate and subsidiary companies.
History
It was founded in 1977 with the support from India's business community, as the first specialised mortgage company in India and main company among HDFC group of companies. HDFC was promoted by the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI). Hasmukhbhai Parekh played a key role in the foundation of this company which started with the main aim of solving the housing shortage in India and started rising steadily thereafter.
In 2000, HDFC Asset Management Company launched its mutual fund schemes. In the same year, IRDA granted registration to HDFC Standard Life Insurance, as the first private sector life insurance company in India. Currently it operates in India, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.
Products and services
Mortgage
The company provides housing finance to individuals and corporates for purchase/construction of residential houses. The type of loans offered by company include loans for purchase and construction of a residential units, purchase of land, home improvement loans, home extension loans, non-residential premise loans for professionals and loan against property and repayment options include step-up repayment facility and flexible loan instalment plan. It is one of the largest providers of housing loans in India. In its Annual Report for financial year 2012–13, the company has disclosed that it has disbursed INR 456,000 crores in 35 years of its existence for a total of 4.4 million housing units.
The average loan profile amounts to INR 2.18 million (US$35,160) which lasts for about 13 years and covers approx. 65% of actual property value. From the year 2000,the company started offering housing loans on the Internet becoming first company to do so.
Life insurance
The company has been providing life insurance since the year 2000, through its subsidiary HDFC Standard Life Insurance company Limited. It offers 33 individual products and 8 group products. It uses the HDFC group network to cross sell by offering customized products. It operates out of 451 offices across India serving over 965 locations. It had a market share of 4.6% of life insurance business in India as of 30 September 2013. HDFC Life has over 15,000 employees.
General insurance
The company offers general insurance products such as: Motor, health, travel, home and personal accident in the retail segment which accounts for 47% of its total business and Property, marine, aviation and liability insurance in the corporate segment
Mutual funds
HDFC provides mutual fund services through its subsidiary HDFC Asset Management accountingy Limited. The average assets under management (AUM) of HDFC Mutual Fund for the quarter Jul-13 to Sep-13 was INR 1.03 trillion.
Operations
HDFC's distribution network spans 396 outlets (including 109 offices of HDFC's distribution company HDFC Sales Private Limited) which cater to approx. 2,400 towns and cities spread across India. To cater to Non-Resident Indians, HDFC has offices in London, Singapore and Dubai and service associates in Middle East countries.
The first overseas office was opened in Dubai in 1996 and in 2000's was expanded to London and Singapore.
In addition, HDFC covers over 90 locations through its outreach programmes. HDFC's marketing efforts continue to be concentrated on developing a stronger distribution network. Home loans are also sourced through HDFC Sales, HDFC Bank Limited and other third party Direct selling Agents (DSA). The corporation has 232 institutional owners and shareholders filing through 13D/G or 13F forms with the Securities Exchange Commission. Largest investor amongst them is Vanguard International Growth Fund.
Major subsidiaries and associates
HDFC's key associate and subsidiary companies include HDFC Bank, HDFC Life Insurance Company, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, HDFC Asset Management Company, and HDFC Capital Advisors.
HDFC Bank
HDFC holds 26.14% of shares in HDFC Bank. HDFC Bank sources home loans for HDFC for a fee. The key business areas of HDFC Bank are wholesale and retail banking and treasury operations. As of April 2023, its market capitalisation was , making it India's third largest publicly-traded company.