Kela is back at Reliance MF as equity head

MUMBAI: High-Profile investment strategist Madhusudan Kela is back with Reliance Mutual Fund in his old chair as head of equity. The fund’s website said that Mr Kela had resigned on April 4 as head of equity. For a long time, this was overlooked by the market.

However, in a recent addendum, the company said that he has rejoined the fund in his previous capacity on June 8. When asked, Mr Kela had a curious explanation.

According to him, he had left the fund house to join the holding company Reliance Capital, and is back with the fund again. He didn’t elaborate on the reasons for coming back.

On Monday, Mr Kela looked comfortable as he addressed investors and distributors at a seminar organised by Reliance Capital Mutual Fund at the BSE.

Mr Kela had come under media glare when his name figured in a list of 30 individuals with alleged links with Ketan Parekh. The list had been issued by the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX).

The NCDEX had advised its members to be cautious in dealing with these individuals. The NCDEX had said some of the people on the list “may be using the services of the members of national commodity exchanges for trading in commodity markets. We, therefore, advise the members to be cautious and ensure not to deal with any of the entities/individuals associated with the group.”

Speaking to ET, Mr Kela acknowledged that it was indeed his name which had been on the (NCDEX) list, but added that he had no clue as to how it got there. “I have never traded even 10 grams of commodities in my life,” he said.

However, NCDEX withdrew the list from its website the next day. At that point, NCDEX officials had said that the list was indicative in nature.