Japan fund Nikko to set up joint venture

Thursday, 11 January , 2007, 08:16

Mumbai: Nikko Asset Management Company Ltd of Japan plans to invest an initial amount of $5 million to set up a joint venture asset management company with Ambit RSM, a Mumbai-based financial services provider. The two companies will apply for the licence this quarter, and the fund house should be operational by the end of this year, said Timothy F. McCarthy, Chairman and CEO, Nikko AM. Nikko AM will provide 74.9 per cent of the ordinary stock of the new entity and the rest by Ambit. Ambit will utilise funds from its own resources for the investment, having sufficient net worth for this, said Ashok Wadhwa, Managing Director, Ambit RSM Pvt Ltd. The new asset management company will recruit most of its sales and fund management team from India, while Nikko AM will bring the investment expertise from Japan. Apart from the obvious line of equity and debt funds, the fund house will focus on multi-asset class products with investment in multi-countries, said McCarthy. The fund house will offer global funds, as Nikko AM already has a presence in many countries. "Our main strength lies in playing the role of a `training bank' to provide deep knowledge to all our fund distributors, which will be the most important concern and focus in India," said McCarthy. Nikko AM sees big growth in the retail investor segment in India. It maintains a neutral-to-overweight rating for the country.