INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - FEBRUARY 16^th - FEBRUARY 29^th - 2008

INDIABULLS GETS GREEN LIGHT FROM SEBI TO FLOAT AN ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY

Indiabulls Financial Services (IBFSL), a leading stock-broking firm, has received Sebi nod to float an asset management company (AMC). Indiabulls AMC will be a subsidiary of IBFSL. Senior officials of Indiabulls said given IBFSL’s capital of nearly Rs 4,000 crore, the AMC will get a start-up capital of Rs 100 crore. The AMC business will allow IBFSL to leverage on its strong retail presence in the equity markets. The AMC will focus on equity and will probably have much higher equity assets under management than its peers”.

Sources close to the development said IBFSL has already initiated talks with some leading foreign AMC firms to form a JV, in which it will retain a majority control. The list of interested foreign players includes Goldman Sachs and Mirae & Fortis. Many foreign players are keen to get into the AMC business in India. They are making a beeline to acquire Standard Chartered AMC, which is up for sale.

IBFSL has a distribution network of over 650 branches. It is also one of the leading players in the third party distribution products space. It is the largest corporate agent for Max New York Life. And it also offers a wide range of financial services, including securities trading, distributorship of insurance products, mutual fund advisory, depository services, equity research and other non-banking financial services.

The company is in the process of putting a team in place. The AMC plans to launch its NFO (new fund offering) in Q2 of the calendar year and targets to mobilise funds worth Rs 10,000 crore by the end of 2008-09.