IL&FS Mutual Fund, which manages assets close to Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion), is targeting a 50 per cent growth and adding assets around Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) by March 2004.
N K Sharma, president and CEO, IL&FS Asset Management said, "Our game plan is to have assets under management of around Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) by March 2004 and add at least three new schemes in the next eight months, thus have a basket of 10 products."
He also added, "We have critical mass in the last 18 months and have more than 50,000 retail investors across schemes, (30-40 per cent of the total investors base). Moreover, we have revamped our operations and entered new markets."
Elaborating on the fund's performance, Sharma said, "We have outperformed the industry in assets growth and have grown around 78 per cent over the last quarter compared with 21 per cent by all other private sector funds."
IL&FS Mutual's assets grew from Rs 1,059 crore (Rs 10.59 billion) to Rs 1,888 crore (Rs 18.88 billion) in the last (March-June '03) quarter. Meanwhile, the asset size for private players grew by 21 per cent to Rs 77,591 crore (Rs 775.91 billion).
On being asked whether the fund is looking for acquisition, Sharma said, "We are certainly open to acquisitions, provided the fund has niche products in which we have no presence."
"We are not looking at acquiring the frontline products or brands or just assets," he asserted. Vimal Bhandari, ED, IL&FS, said, "The asset management company has attained a critical mass and we see no further risk to capital in the immediate future, unless there is an acquisition."
IL&FS is the sponsor for IL&FS MF. In the past, IL&FS has managed a number of equity funds for the global financial institutions, private equity investors and venture capital firms. It has managed funds for global institutions such as American International Group and Oppenheimer & Company.
