REPORT

ON
ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE
EPIC RESEARCH

Submitted to:
Prof. N. M. K. Bhatta

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, INDORE

INDORE 453556 (INDIA)
18st January, 2016

Submitted By
GROUP-89, SECTION-C, PGP 2015-17
ANISH KUMAR YADAV (2015PGP030)
ANSHIK YADAV (2012IPM014)
MAGESH (2015PGP188)
SHIJIN T. N. (2015PGP343)
SOWMYA M. RAJ (2015PGP371)

EPIC RESEARCH
ORGANISATION DESCRIPTION
Epic Research is an investment Adviser is a leading financial services provider
with presence in Indian and other global capital markets. Epic Research since its
inception has a strong hold in the market through its Direct Force. It also has
strong hold on the corporate channel - it now wants to have a greater reach to its
clients which it has already developed through its wide certified sales force that
will grow in leaps and bounds. With its full-fledged research operations, Epic
Research - Investment Adviser has proven itself as company that produces and
delivers high accuracy tips and recommendations for
Equities For stocks listed on BSE and NSE
Derivatives BSE, NSE and Nifty Futures and Options
Commodity MCX, NCDEX and COMEX
Forex Domestic and International Currencies.
In addition to the retail services above, Epic also caters to institutional clients like
brokers, mutual funds and banks and fulfils their custom research needs.
Epic also believes that an educated customer is an empowered customer. To help
our customers and non-customers understand the financial markets better, we
conduct regular webinars and seminars. A team of professionals is dedicated to
this cause which is 100% free for all.
As an extension to the retail services, Epic invites people from all over India to
become Epic Associates and make a living by connecting potential customers
with Epic. Epic Research is also trying to diversifying its business by venturing
into housing sector and providing IT services.

 ORGANISATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Established and Ownership details
EPIC Research was established in 2011 by Nooruddin Bombaywala & Mustafa
Nadeem. Nooruddin Bombaywala is the Director of the firm while Mustafa
Nadeem is serving as a CEO. It is an employer to over 450 associates primarily in
its Indore, India office. Over 250 professional sales & support analysts provide
customer support to 10,000+ satisfied Epic subscribers across India and abroad.
The research team is comprised of 14+ highly qualified analysts.
Vision and Values

VISION:To consistently develop and deliver high quality and high precision
financial products and services to our customers and create Wealth for our
clients, employees and shareholders

VALUES:
1. Driven by customer satisfaction
2. To develop financial products which will add more value to customers and
company. It also seeks to provide a complete set of financial solutions like
mutual funds, insurance etc.
Main Products and Services
They operate on the following segments:
1. Equity Segments
2. Derivatives Segment
3. Commodities Segment
4. Forex Segment
Geography of Operation
It is located in Indore. Indore had lower setup costs than the financial hubs like
Mumbai and Delhi It is planning to expand in new areas such as Bangalore and

Coimbatore. Also it deals with many international market like Hong-Kong and
Singapore.
Employee Profile
Epic Research has great gender diversity in its employees. Its employee profile
consists of 60% females. They usually hire B.E, B.Techs and MBA's financial
consultant profile. Employees are mainly hired in these three major segments:
1. Market research- Functions include properly analyzing and deriving
important profit generating information from the financial market. The
specifics of the job include giving buying price and amount to invest with
current time of entering in the market to the customers.
2. Sales force- Functions include selling different packages and products to
the customers.
3. Human Resource- Functions include employee engagement, setting
appropriate rewards system and keeping the employee fore productive by
making policies to improve and analyse their performance.
Employee Engagement and improvement initiatives
Epic Research conducts an Induction Planner for the new hires to facilitate
smooth transition from campus to corporate life. It also conducts training planner
for new employees to introduce them to financial markets. These sessions are
taken by both external and internal trainers depending on the requirement
Major Technologies, Equipment, Facilities
It has newly developed an Epic Tech team that looks into the IT backbone
services. Company uses Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for
streamlining all its operations.
Core Competencies
They regularly advertise on CNBC Awaz and Zee Business. They also have a
dedicated Customer Care team to handle all queries and complaints from its
consumers.
Regulatory Environment
Epic is currently registered with SEBI and have to abide by the norms and
guidelines setup by SEBI.

 ORGANISATIONAL RELATIONSHIP
Organization Structure and Governance System
The organizational hierarchy is shown in the diagram below:

R
M
Gr
ad
e
1
Manager
Grade 2

Manager Grade 1

Assistant Manager Grade 2

Assistant Manager Grade 1

SFC

FC Grade 2

FC Grade 1

AFC

EPIC RESERCH TEAMS:

Epic Research - Investment Adviser is a proud employer to over 400 associates in
India. It has it Head Quarters in Indore city with over 230 employees. Over 170
professional sales analysts provide customer support to 10,000+ satisfied Epic
subscribers across India and abroad.

Its main customers in India are Institutional firms and independent investors,
geographically located in the states of Tamilnadu and Maharashtra. In order to
serve its local market, it has branch office in Coimbatore the commercial hub of
Tamilnadu. As far as foreign market is concerned, it mainly serves Asia-Pacific
region.
The research team - Investment Adviser is comprised of 12+ highly qualified
analysts. Most analysts have over 5 years of market and research
experience, hold MBA's/CFA's and are NCFM/NISM certified.
Core team: The core research department comprises of 4 segment specific
team - equities, commodities, FOREX and International markets. Each
segment team focuses on the nuances of their respective markets. The teams
also consult each other at times when the calls are dependent on intersegment dependencies. For example, the commodities team frequently
consults with the currency team before delivering an Oil or Blue Chips call
which may be highly dependent upon the USD/INR movement that day. This is
the kind of inter-dependence of segments which helps Epic analysts deliver
high
quality
advice
to
its
clients.
The core team is equipped with high configuration computers fitted with twin
panels to augment their efficiencies. They also work with premium software
and data feeds, like Thomson Reuters. Working in the core team at Epic
requires an analyst to possess skills, certifications as well as a lot of
experience. The turnover within the core team is almost nil as compared with
other departments of the company. This is attributed to the rigorous interview
and selection process an analyst has to go through before getting hired and a
number of months of probation before getting confirmed.
Research Operations Team: A separate team of operations analysts helps
the core analysts with data analysis, preparing reports and validating
fundamental elements that affect technical patterns.
Compliance and Audit Team: A Compliance team oversees the quality and
accuracy of the core team on a constant basis. This team also acts as an
auditor for the research department and ensures that track sheets are
accurate and the calls given during the day meet the timeliness and accuracy
parameters set by the Epic Board of Directors.
Suppliers, Distributors relationship : In the initial phase Company
provides a 2 day free trial of its services to the customers. The USP of the
company is its Points Plan. In this plan company assigns certain points to its
customers. If the customer earns profit based on company's
recommendations the points are deducted. If the customer suffers losses then
the required no. of points are reimbursed. These plan guarantees customer
retention.

 COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT
Competitive Advantage:
The Credibility
ISO 9001-2008 certified: NSIC (National Small Industries
Corporation) National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC) is an ISO
9001-2008 certified Government of India Enterprise under Ministry of
Micro,
Small
and
Medium
Enterprises
(MSME).
CRISIL (Formerly Credit Rating Information Services of India
Limited): Epic Research has received A Credit Rating, which symbolizes
the
trust-worthiness
of
the
company.
CRISIL Ratings is India's leading SEBI registered rating agency. It is a global
analytical company providing ratings, research, and risk and policy
advisory services. CRISIL's majority shareholder is Standard & Poor's, a
division of McGraw-Hill Financial and provider of financial market
intelligence. CRISIL's primary objective is to provide Ratings that are
comprehensive, transparent and reliable.
Awards and Recognitions:

May 2015 - Most Innovative Product Award - Financial Services

August 2015 - Best for Financial Research Services Asia

August 2015 - International Quality Crown Award

Competitors:
Apart from Big Broking firms such as Motilal Oswal & Edelweiss which provide
financial advice to its customers as well, there are more than 100 competitors
operating in Indore itself.

 HR POLICIES

Timings

Monday to Friday : 8:55 AM to 6:30 PM

Saturday : 10 AM to 3:30 PM(Half-day)

Every 2nd Saturday of the month is off

4th and 5th Saturday will be full working day for Sales(if required)

Formals

Monday to Friday : Formals

Saturday : Casuals

Late Coming Policy

Monday to Friday : Till 9:05 AM

Saturday : Till 10:10 AM

2 late coming in a month are allowed

The next 2 late entries (3 rd and 4th ) can be considered if approved by

managers

From 5th late coming onwards,0.5 LOP will be deducted

Leaves Policy
1. Birthdays

After 3-months joining period, a leave of half a day can be availed on the
birthday or can be taken within the next 10-days with managers approval.

Provided with two dinner coupons

2. Sandwich Policy

A leave on 1st Saturday can be availed if the employee has worked on any
Sunday or a National holiday.

A leave taken on consecutive Saturday and Monday is considered as a 3day leave.

No leave carry forwarding

Performance Tracking and Appraisals

Key Performance Indicator/Index (KPI): Variable and depends on your

depends on your performance
Attendance Allowance (AA): If you take more than 2 leaves in a month then,
AA = 0 irrespective of Leave Balance
Yearly Performance Allowance: You would be eligible for YPA of Rupees
11000/- on completion of one year(Provided that there are not more than 15
leaves in a month) under the performance remark by Manager
Employee of the Month: Rewards and achievements announced on every 1 st
Saturday.

 ORGANISATIONAL CHALLENGES
Key Business and Operational Challenges
The main driving factors of Epic Research include:
Innovation: Company has rapidly expanded its product base from 8 to 98
products from 2011 to 2015
Creativeness: It has an extremely creative team that constantly works to
enhance its existing functionalities and technologies.
IT Service: Due to its excellent IT Capabilities it is able to monitor all the sales &
employee data efficiently.
Organisational culture:
Key Human resource Challenges
The main challenges faced by the company are:

Very high attrition rate.

Scaling up of operations and entering into countries in other regions apart

from APAC.

The market is highly competitive with more than 100 firms in Indore itself.

 PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT SYSTEMS

Key Improvement Initiatives
Sales performance, service delivery and operational efficiency all rely upon a
well-executed channel strategy. Sales team needs continuous evaluation and
hence appraisal cycle for sales person is twice a year. For other employees the
appraisal cycle is 1 year. Depending on the targets achieved the company
forecasts its sales & set new targets for its sales team.
Epic research needs to create its own brand equity with the customers to gain
customer trust. Strong brands have the power to differentiate an organization from
its competition, and to connect with customers at a deeper level. A clear strategy
and watchful eye on consumer opinion are vital to brand health and effective
communications.
Also some of the senior analysts of the company face serious efficiency problems.
Declining efficiency of the senior employees acts as a demotivating factor for other
employees also. A new comprehensive training program which also focuses on
common problems faced in the industry for the new recruits is necessary.
Customer opinion is everywhere, whether you ask for it or not, and collecting it is no
longer the challenge. The challenges now lie in identifying your most valuable
customers, understanding their needs, the drivers of loyalty and how any changes
will affect the bottom line. Thus a comprehensive customer base should be firmed
which studies the customer patters so that the company can treat its customers in a
better way

For the research group, the performance metrics involve the accuracy, revenues
earned on the advice and generation of timely reports by an analyst. The overall
performance of the group is also available is quantified in brief tabular report on
its website. The group has launched an initiative to improve performance of its
analysts by aiming on a minimum accuracy rate of 85% along with eliminating
the reasons of under or non-performance.

Key Segments

Challenges

Sales Channel

In this competitive world an efficient and

motivated sales force.
1. Need to increase the customer base by
creating brand equity for brand
recognition.
2. Understanding the ever changing
demands of the customers by using
efficient tools.
Improving the declining efficiency of senior
analysts.

Customers

Employees (Analysts)