FIIs turn to domestic fund managers

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs), including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and family offices, are hiring Indian asset management companies (AMCs) to manage their India portfolios.

SBI Mutual Fund, Birla Sun Life, Reliance Mutual Fund and UTI MF are among those who have bagged such assignments. “This is an emerging trend and we are seeing a big growth opportunity,” said Sundeep Sikka, CEO of Reliance Mutual Fund.

There is a growing realisation among global institutional investors across geographies that onshore fund managers have the core expertise and better understanding to take a call on the Indian market compared to an offshore fund manager based in Hong Kong or London, he said.

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund CEO A Balasubramanian said the number of queries from foreign institutions to manage both bond and equity portfolios had increased in the last 5-6 months. “Already, $50 million has flowed into various schemes. Apart from our expertise on active portfolio management we are also advising them on other accounts,” he said.

Most global investors normally mandate an emerging market or Asian market fund manager to manage regional portfolio.

These fund managers are typically based in overseas jurisdictions such as London, Hong Kong or Singapore.

Industry experts also attribute this emerging trend to overseas investors’ growing interest in small- and mid-cap stocks.

“A lot of institutional investors across the globe now want to invest in the Indian market. And to have a closer coverage of the universe of stocks listed in India, domestic fund managers are being favoured as they have been tracking them for a longer period of time,” said Jaideep Bhattacharya, chief marketing officer of UTI Asset Management Company.

At present, there are close to 1,750 FIIs and 5,600 sub-accounts registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

In 2010 till date, they have purchased $28.66 billion worth of Indian equities and another $10.16 billion worth of domestic debt instruments.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/FIIs-turn-to-domestic-fund-managers/711741/

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund launches Mobile Investment Manager

Offers Portfolio information, SIP, Purchase and even redemption or switch services on a mobile platform

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (BSLMF), one of the leading mutual fund houses in India, has launched a mobile platform called ‘Mobile Investment Manager’ in partnership with MCHEK India Payment Systems Pvt. Ltd. (mChek). This unique service is available to existing investors of Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund with the benefit of managing their investments from the convenience of their mobile phone.

Mr A. Balasubramanian, CEO, BSLMF, said, “The launch of ‘Mobile Investment Manager’ assumes great significance for BSLMF given the rapidly increasing number of mobile users and the mobile penetration which is currently above 500 million. This would be a 24x7 hour paperless service provided by BSLMF. Most importantly, it allows users the freedom to transact from anywhere and at anytime especially those who are always on the move.”

Commenting on the launch Mr. Gautam Shiknis, Chief Executive Officer, mChek said, “mChek is pleased to partner with Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund to offer mobile investments and portfolio management services, by leveraging the security of the mChek platform and extending it’s footprint of Anytime Anywhere services to the financial services domain.”

On this mobile platform, an investor can seek portfolio information, make additional purchases, register for SIPs and also make switches and redemptions.

To avail this facility, an investor would have to submit the application form along with the ECS Debit registration form to any of BSLMF Branch or CAMS Investor Service Center. Post- verification of the ECS details, the investor would be enrolled for this service and be able to transact from their mobile phone. Amounts towards purchases initiated would be debited from the pre-registered bank account via ECS of the National Clearing Cell of the Reserve Bank Of India. The forms as well as the full information on the service is available at www.birlasunlife.com.

About Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd.
Established in 1994, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Limited (BSLAMC) is a joint venture between Aditya Birla Group, a well known Indian conglomerate and Sun Life Financial Inc, leading international financial services organization from Canada.

BSLAMC is the 5th largest asset management company in India with average assets under management of Rs 67,421 crores for the month of September, 2010. An impressive mix of reach through 105 branches, wide range of product offerings across equity, debt, balanced as well as structured asset classes and strong investment performance has helped the Company garner close to 2.4 Million investor scheme accounts. Known for its consistent investment performance, BSLAMC has received recognition from various institutes of international repute like Lipper and The Asset Magazine - Hong Kong.

About Aditya Birla Financial Services Group (ABFSG)
The Aditya Birla Financial Services Group (ABFSG) has built a significant presence across its verticals, viz life insurance, asset management, NBFC, private equity, broking, general insurance advisory services and wealth management & distribution.

The ABFSG is committed to being a leader and role model in a broad based and integrated financial services business. Its 7 lines of businesses, with about 5.5 million customers manages assets worth USD 20 billion approximately and prides itself for having a talent pool of over 15,000 committed employees. ABFSG has its wings spread across more than 500 cities in India through over 1600 points of presence and about 200,000 channel partners. This allows ABFSG to offer its customers virtually anything other than a savings or current account. With revenue of over USD 1.25 billion (in 2009-2010) ABFSG is a significant non bank player.

ABFSG is a part of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd (ABNL), a USD 3.5 billion conglomerate having leadership position across its manufacturing as well as services sector businesses. ABNL is a part of the Aditya Birla Group, a USD 29 billion Indian business house operating in 26 countries across the globe.

About Sun Life Financial Inc.
Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth accumulation products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of June 30, 2010, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of $434 billion. For more information please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/birla-sun-life-mutual-fund-launches-mobile-investment-manager/414907/