US investment bank Merrill Lynch considers India as one of the most attractive markets in the world now because of its high domestic demand and economic growth. “If you consider opportunity vis-à-vis risk, India is one of the most attractive markets in the world,” said Merrill Lynch chairman and CEO John A Thain.

Because of its high demand, economic growth, corporate strength to go global and spending on infrastructure, India would be less affected by the US slowdown, he said in Mumbai on Wednesday. “India will be less affected and more immune to the slowdown, and will continue to grow at an attractive rate,” he said. Stating that Merrill believed that “genuine opportunity would come from outside the US,” Thain said he was bullish about China, Russia and Brazil as well.

“China is also a very attractive market for us. But, China is more coupled with the US and that will have much more impact on the Chinese economy,” he said. “The degree of impact is different for different countries,” Thain added.

Merrill Lynch would continue to increase the number of employees in the country, Thain said. Thain believed India would offer opportunity in the coming days for the company. Merrill Lynch anticipated huge opportunity emanating from the huge amount of wealth being created. On the investment banking side, the bank sees India Inc becoming more global with outbound mergers and acquisition activity on the rise.

Merrill Lynch, he said, has a global footprint to provide advisory services to aspiring Indian companies going for outbound mergers and acquisitions. But on the wealth management side, the company would continue to target high net-worth individuals (HNIs) and not the masses. “We are focused on HNIs. Our business is selected and not for masses. HNI is a rapidly increasing market in India, Brazil, China and Russia,” he said.