Lotus AMC mutual fund enters market

Mumbai: Lotus India AMC, a joint venture between Fullerton Fund Management Group and Sabre Capital Worldwide, announced on Monday that it has received the regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, (SEBI) for starting its mutual fund operations in India.

Lotus India asset management companies (AMCs) has appointed financial industry veteran, Ajay Bagga, as its Chief Executive Officer.

The company has further said that Lotus AMC will launch a contra equity fund and liquid fund.

"Given the growth in mutual fund AUM of 61 per cent over the last year, and of 36 per cent over the last three years, coupled with a penetration of less than 2 per cent of households, we feel that the Indian mutual fund industry offers strong growth potential," said Chairman, Lotus India AMC, Rana Talwar.

"Our vision is to create a world class, global scale asset manager that can offer Indian investors solutions to their financial needs, across asset classes and across customer segments," he added.

Gerard Lee, Director, Lotus India AMC Pvt Ltd said, "As the sponsor of Lotus India AMC, we at Fullerton Fund Management are excited by the opportunity to create a long term fund management business in the Indian market. We have already invested in AMC and will continue to invest in future to create capacity in line with true potential of the Indian fund management industry."

Ajay Bagga, CEO, Lotus India AMC said, the company is based on 'Five Pillar Strategy.'

He added the key drivers of their investment strategy were investment processes, product based marketing, anywhere-anytime distribution, regulatory compliance and the the co-owners of the asset management companies.

"We have already invested in a scale that will allow us to rapidly build this business towards our objective of Rs 25,000 crores of AUM within the first few years of operations," said Bagga.

Over the next few quarters, the company would target a presence in the top 100 cities and establish a distribution footprint to rank among the top five asset management companies in India, said company officials.

"Our initial market research has shown a high level of acceptance for our team and our brand, and we look forward to living up to these expectations of both our distributors and our investors," said Bagga.