UTI AMC shortlists 3 names for Chairman and MD position

UTI AMC, India's oldest asset management company with assets of around Rs 61,000 crore, could finally have a permanent boss after being headless for the last 18 months.

The AMC's board has recommended to its shareholders names of three candidates for the position of chairman and managing director, two persons familiar with the development told ET. The shortlisted candidates are AIG India chief executive and country head Sunil Mehta, senior advisor at McKinsey & Co in India Leo Puri, and Punita Kumar Sinha, former senior managing director of Blackstone Group's India-focused mutual fund.

A final decision will be taken by the five shareholders of UTI AMC - LIC, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and T Rowe Price. The four Indian shareholders hold 18.5% each while the US-based T Rowe Price owns a 26% stake.

The board has also recommended the name of an internal UTI AMC executive as a fallback option if the shareholders do not agree on the three external candidates.

UTI Mutual Fund director Sachit Jain, who is part of the three-member search committee constituted by the board, said the board had sent the names of shortlisted candidates to the shareholders but declined to disclose their names. The UTI board chairman, PR Khanna, refused to comment and the three candidates, Puri, Mehta and Sinha, too, declined to comment.

Puri, the former head of McKinsey India, rejoined the consulting firm in December 2011 as senior advisor after serving a four-and-a-half-year stint as managing director of private equity major Warburg Pincus. He serves on the boards of Max India and Max Healthcare.

Mehta has been the country head and chief executive of AIG India and is responsible for all of its Indian businesses, including life and general insurance, financial services and investments. Prior to joining AIG, he was with Citibank for over 18 years.

Sinha, the daughter-in-law of former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, was in-charge of Oppenheimer's India-focused fund which was subsequently taken over by Blackstone. The fund with asset under management of about $1.22 billion was sold to Aberdeen Asset Management in December 2011.

UTI AMC, which runs India's fifth largest mutual fund, has not had a full-fledged chairman since UK Sinha left UTI to become the head of market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India in February 2011.

Sinha's departure was followed by an unseemly row between the finance ministry and T Rowe Price over the choice of his successor. While the finance ministry pushed for the appointment of Jitesh Khosla, a 1979 batch IAS officer and brother of Omita Paul, the powerful advisor of former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, as the UTI AMC chairman, T Rowe Price insisted that a professional should be appointed.

Several permutations and combinations, including splitting the CMD's post into two, were discussed, but the deadlock could not be broken. A few board members also quit as UTI AMC slipped from fourth to fifth position in the mutual fund league table. Finally, earlier this year, Imtaiyazur Rahman was appointed interim CEO.

Once shareholders select and approve the name of the CMD, it will be ratified by the trustees of UTI.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/UTI-AMC-shortlists-3-names-for-Chairman-and-MD-position/articleshow/15400783.cms

Shriram Ramanathan to head L&T MF's Investment, Fixed Income

L&T Mutual Fund, offering services across the corporate, retail and infrastructure finance sectors, today said it has appointed Shriram Ramanathan as Head, Investment - Fixed Income. "I am pleased to welcome Ramanathan as the Head - Investment - Fixed Income at L&T Mutual Fund. He brings rich experience of over a decade in fixed income across both domestic and international markets. His appointment positions us well for future growth," L&T Finance Holdings Chairman and Managing Director Y M Deosthalee said. 

Prior to joining L&T Mutual Fund, Ramanathan was Portfolio Manager Fixed Income with Fidelity Worldwide Investment's India business. "Fixed income is a key asset class in India, and one of the central planks of L&T Mutual Fund's growth strategy. Current investment interest is high given the global macro environment, and the structural story seems to be excellent one given low penetration rates of fixed income investment products in India. I am delighted at the opportunity to be able to contribute to the expansion of the business here," Ramanathan said.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/shriram-ramanathan-to-head-lt-mfs-investment-fixed-income/1037342.html

Steps to attract retail investors to MFs soon: FM

The government will unveil a slew of measures in the next few weeks to attract more people to invest in mutual funds, insurance policies and others, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today.

"In the next few weeks, we will announce a number of decisions to attract more people to invest in mutual funds, insurance policies and other well-designed instruments," Chidambaram, who took over the reins of Finance Ministry last week for the second time in UPA government, said in a statement.

The Finance Minister has come out with a broad roadmap aimed at regaining the confidence of investors in the Indian economy.

The average asset under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry has been falling in the last two years. The average AUM slumped to Rs 6,64,824 crore at the end of March 2012 and fall of five% last fiscal followed a decline of 11% in 2010-11 financial year.

Further, mutual fund industry's plans to launch pension products to attract retirement money is getting delayed due to taxation and other regulatory hurdles.

As part of efforts to woo investors into the capital market, the government in the 2012-13 Budget had announced Rajiv Gandhi equity scheme.

The scheme would provide 50% tax deduction to retail investors with annual income less than Rs 10 lakh, for investment up to Rs 50,000, with a lock-in period of three years.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/steps-to-attract-retail-investors-to-mfs-soon-fm/181701/on