The Hindu Business Line : Fidelity gets nod to launch MF operations

Its maiden product launch is expected shortly, said Mr Richard Wastcoat, Managing Director, Fidelity Investments International. The company, one of the largest mutual fund houses in the world, will focus on equity products in the Indian market.

Mr Wastcoat said the activities of the company in India would have a strong emphasis on investor awareness and distributor education. "The key to success in the Indian mutual fund market is in how well we execute our plans," he said.

The company plans to use the expertise that it has gathered from running fund houses in various markets in the west, across various functions and areas. "For example, our globally successful investment strategy of "bottom-up stock picking" should help us have well-performing funds in India, as well. We would also use our experience in training staff in countries like Germany and Japan and implement these best practices here," he said.

The sponsor of the Indian mutual fund arm is Fidelity International Investment Advisors, registered at Bermuda. Globally, Fidelity manages assets worth $1.2 trillion, spread across an investor base of 20 million.

While the fund house will launch with an equity fund, the asset management company (AMC) would look at managing other asset classes over a period of time. The AMC would distribute their products through third party distributors, especially banks. The launch is expected to cover 12 major cities in India.

Mr Wastcoat also said the funds would be marketed across a cross section of media including the Internet, print and outdoor media. There would also be many ground events including investor and distributor seminars, said Ms Ashu Suyash, Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity India.

The AMC has been doing the groundwork for setting up the mutual fund business for the last nine months. The company has recruited 17 people for the mutual fund business in India. Fidelity already has over 600 employees working in their offshore units in Gurgaon and Bangalore.

"India is a very big focus market for Fidelity. The company has investments of $1.4 billion in the Indian stock markets as a foreign institutional investor. We are here for the long haul," said Mr Wastcoat.