The Hindu Business Line : New set of fund managers at UTI

Mr Chandraprakash Padiyar, Ms Gautami Desai and Mr Paresh Sharmanow share responsibilities withthe likes of Mr Sanjay Dongre and Mr Amandeep S. Chopra, both of whom may be considered relatively older hands at the MF.

UTI sources partly attribute some of the changes to the recent departure of Mr Sanjay Sinha and Mr Vinay Kulkarni, who have moved over to rival AMCs - SBI MF and Deutsche MF respectively in their cases.

The schemes being managed by the comparative newcomers range from Mastershare and Mastergrowth to Growth & Value Fund and Dividend Yield Fund. The last two are of fairly recent origin, compared to the schemes named earlier.

"We have decided to bring in new blood. At another level, this is a recognition of talent," said Mr U.K. Sinha, who has recently taken over as CEO of UTI MF.

The mandates assigned to the `newcomers' are critical, as a review of the MF's latest communication will indicate.

Mr Padiyar, for instance, is now fund manager for about half-a-dozen schemes. These include products that moved to UTI MF from the erstwhile IL&FS MF - Dynamic Equity, India Advantage Equity (earlier IL&FS Global) and Growth & Value.

Besides, there is Mastershare, a fund launched in 1986 with over Rs 1,600 crore under management.

For Ms Desai, the responsibility is no less significant, not with the 12-year old Mastergrowth, Index Select and several thematic funds placed under her care. These include sectoral products focused on banking, services and petro.

As for Mr Sharma, the mandate covers MEPUS, Mastervalue and UTI Equity (formerly Mastergain) as well as more recent launches such as MidCap and Dividend Yield. Further, his brood comprises Opportunities Fund, which is an amalgamation of five erstwhile schemes, Grandmaster included.

The case of ULIP, the balanced fund that dates back to 1971, is somewhat different, sources maintain while referring to its present fund manager, Mr Siddharth Dembi. The latter now manages the Rs 4,052-crore fund (as on November 30). He is also responsible for UTI-CRTS, the scheme aimed at charitable and religious institutions.

On the debt side, some of the MF's fund managers are Mr Sanjeev Bhasin (Floating Rate Fund, Bond Fund), Mr Puneet Pal (G-Sec Fund) and, also Mr Amandeep Chopra.