IIFL Finance Limited (formerly IIFL Holdings Limited) d/b/a IIFL and India Infoline Finance Limited, is an Indian diversified financial services company headquartered in Mumbai. The organisation was founded by Nirmal Jain. IIFL and its group companies are backed by Canadian investor Prem Watsa, private equity firm General Atlantic and CDC Group, the UK Government's private equity arm. IIFL is ranked among the top seven financial conglomerates in India and as the top independent financial services firm in India in terms of market capitalisation. Nirmal Jain is the chairman of the group, while R Venkataraman is the group managing director and co-promoter. History and overview - IIFL Group IIFL was founded on 18 October 1995, by Nirmal Jain, a 1986 graduate from University of Mumbai and an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Jain is among the few successful entrepreneurs post the economic liberalisation era in India ushered by PV Narasimha Rao. Jain was previously employed with Hindustan Unilever Limited. The company was founded as Probity Research and Services Private Limited which provided research on the Indian economy, businesses and corporates. The name was later changed to India Infoline Limited. A few years into the business, the organisation found itself with clients which included research organisations, banks and corporates. They then began launching their research products to become more noticeable in the market. In the meanwhile, the dotcom revolution was beginning to take place in India. The website was created in 1999. Taking the business one step ahead this group of consultants opened a trading portal – 5paisa –in 2000 thus moved into the business of being a full service broking agency. During this time they widened their distribution network. In 2001, the Indian dotcom industry saw a downfall. During this time, sustaining became tough. The organisation then decided to tie-up with leading Life Insurance company ICICI Prudential, thus putting to use its distribution network and becoming India's first corporate agent for insurance. Today, IIFL Holdings Limited (Bloomberg Code: IIFL IN, NSE: IIFL, BSE: 532636) is India's leading integrated financial services group with diverse operating businesses, mainly Non Banking and Housing Finance, Wealth and Asset Management, Broking, Financial Product Distribution, Investment Banking, Institutional Equities, Realty and Property Advisory Services. IIFL Holdings has a consolidated net-worth of over Rs 45 billion; global presence in Canada, United States, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Mauritius, and UAE; An employee workforce of over 10,500,