Kotak AMC acquires domestic schemes of PineBridge MF

MUMBAI: Kotak Mahindra Capital Management has acquired the domestic schemes of Pine-Bridge Mutual Fund. The deal will add about Rs 660 crore to Kotak’s assets under management (AUM) of roughly Rs 37,000 crore as on August 31. The total assets managed by the domestic mutual fund industry were about Rs 10,00,000 crore as on March 31. Kotak did not disclose the size of the deal, but mutual fund industry officials speculate the acquisition cost could be minuscule.

This deal is the second in India’s mutual fund industry so far in 2014. PineBridge is the third global financial services firm to exit the local asset management industry since December 2013. In May, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund acquired the schemes of ING Investment Management, a joint venture between Dutch financial services group ING, realtor Rajan Raheja and Kirti Equities. Late in December 2013, Morgan Stanley had announced the sale of the schemes of its Indian asset management company to HDFC Mutual Fund.


Several foreign financial services firms are looking to exit the domestic mutual fund industry as most of them are reeling under losses and have been unable to scale up the domestic business. Industry officials said the recent step by Sebi to increase networth requirement to Rs 50 crore from .`10 crore could also force some more smaller fund houses to wind up operations.