Stock Analyst Hiring Boom in India Defies Wall Street’s Pullback Alex Gabriel Simon A rare hiring boom for equity analysts is emerging in India as brokerages race to increase coverage of soaring small-cap stocks. While regulatory changes and the shift to passive investing have pummeled the research industry in developed markets, brokerages are expanding coverage in India as investors venture beyond the nation’s biggest tech and consumer companies. The NSE Nifty Smallcap 250 Index has gained 45% over the past three years, compared with a 16% advance in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index.

Some 723 Indian stocks are now rated by at least three brokerages, up from 541 in 2023, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. The number of rated US stocks, by contrast, has dropped by 218 even as the total number of listings increased. Analyst coverage is also shrinking in the UK, France, Canada and Japan.

The expansion in India is explained in part by an initial public offering boom that has added more than 1,000 new listings since 2023. But it also represents a bet that the $5 trillion market is becoming one of the last major bastions for active investors, especially for smaller companies where on-the-ground research is more likely to give stock pickers an edge. UBS Group AG is among global firms that have boosted coverage of Indian stocks in recent months, alongside local brokerages such as Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers Ltd. and IIFL Capital, which also added headcount.

The buy-side is also expanding: HDFC Asset Management Co., which oversees about $100 billion, is one of multiple local money managers that have recently beefed up analyst ranks.