Union Bank expects SEBI nod soon for AMC foray

MUMBAI: Buoyed by the pick up in insurance venture with Daiichi, Union Bank of India will soon foray into mutual funds business by setting up an asset management company along with its Belgium partner-KBC Group.

The joint venture, in which Union Bank owns 51 per cent stake, is awaiting Sebi's nod to start operations sometime this fiscal and will mark the lender's entry into the mutual funds space.

"The bank is currently implementing a massive business expansion programme that, over the next few years, will change UBI as a financial powerhouse," Union Bank's Chairman and Managing Director M V Nair told PTI.

The bank launched the insurance JV with Japanese insurance firm, Daiichi and Bank of India last year and has 10 products in the market. The JV plans to launch more group- oriented products this year, Nair said.

Union Bank will be the latest entrant in the country's mutual funds market, after other banking giants State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Canara Bank, which are already active in the space.

The lender plans to utilise its 2,600 odd branches to distribute the MF products while the Belgian partner will use its global expertise in MF business to design the product portfolio in line with the domestic market conditions, Nair said.