Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Apr 22, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Apr 22, 2006 |
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Markets - Mutual Funds Nilanjan Dey
At the moment, a significant portion of the domestic asset management industry is on account of foreign fund houses.
Kolkata , April 21 Asset management companies with close foreign links by way of joint ventures and fund houses promoted by global players are planning to showcase some of their international products in India. With foreign investment norms applicable to local players undergoing a change, mutual funds propose to bring some of internationally accepted concepts closer to local customers. The idea is also to use these models to promote schemes in the rapidly expanding domestic market. Mutual fund circles confirm that there is scope for showcasing global products in the country today than before. Investors are generally becoming more aware of trends, a development that is evident from the feedback received by fund houses and their distributors. In this context, it makes sense to update them about what is available to their counterparts abroad. Fidelity MF, which in India has recently worked out a scheme to focus on `special situations', has already talked about similar funds launched earlier in a few other countries. These products - such as Fidelity Asian Special Situations Fund - are available elsewhere and adhere to identical asset management policies, it has pointed out. Ms Ashu Suyash, who heads Fidelity MF's Indian operations, points out that the MF has, in this case, drawn on its international experience and heritage. Alluding to the global products will in a way raise awareness of customers in the country, she argued. "There is a lot of consciousness about these issues in certain high income categories. This should spread to other spheres," she said. Mr T.P. Raman, MD, Sundaram MF (which now has a 49.9 per cent partner in BNP Paribas Asset Management), feels there is now an even stronger case for presenting globally renowned examples before the Indian audience.
Growing interest
"It is a sound idea, especially because domestic investors are increasingly becoming interested in global products," he said. Bringing such products to the table is, therefore, important, he added. At the moment, a significant portion of the domestic asset management industry is on account of foreign fund houses. While four of the 30 or so players are joint ventures that are primarily Indian owned - Prudential ICICI and Birla Sun Life being two of them - there are a fair number of partnerships that are largely controlled by foreign entities. These include funds backed by banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Deutsche and ABN AMRO. Besides, there are names like Franklin Templeton and Principal as well. Incidentally, two home-grown outfits, Sundaram and Cholamandalam, have recently reworked themselves into joint ventures, courtesy their association with BNP Paribas and DBS, respectively.
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