Mumbai, Oct 14 (IANS): Even amid the pandemic, stock markets have had a bull run in the past few months. It is not just the investment, but even the number of investors have added up as the brokerage industry has witnessed a surge in their NSE active clients in the current financial year (2020-21).

A report by Spark Capital said that the industry has witnessed highest growth in NSE active clients which is reflected in strong growth in average daily turnover in cash and F&O.

Further, the number of active Demat accounts have also increased in the current fiscal.

"Addition to NSE active client base has been highest in till date in FY21. In 5MFY21 it increased by 2.7 mn which is higher than 2.5 mn addition witnessed during FY18-20. Strong growth trends are witnessed in no of active Demat accounts," it said.

It noted that market cap and cash turnover to GDP of India is lower than world average, but it has a very active equity derivative market which has grown sharply over last decade.

Another major trend in the brokerage industry is that there has been an increase in contribution of options, which is a low margin product. Introduction of weekly options since February this year further accelerated the contribution of options to the market turnover.

The report noted that given the surge in option volumes in comparison to cash and futures, getting broking price right for the 'Option' segment is crucial for retail brokers.

The report, which in specific analyses ICICI Securities, said that the contribution of distribution income is higher than peers.

It estimated ICICI Securities' earnings CAGR to be at 16 per cent with revenue CAGR of 14 per cent during FY20-23.