Birla Sun Life names offshore head

Birla Sun Life Asset Management, the mutual-fund arm of India's Aditya Birla Financial Services Group, has hired Anuradha Sahai as chief executive of its Singapore entity.

Sahai will lead strategy for overall growth of Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management. As a first step, she will lead efforts to raise offshore investments into India. The firm intends to apply for a capital markets licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to carry out fund-management activities.

In her new role, Sahai reports to A Balasubramanian, Mumbai-based chief executive of Birla Sun Life Asset Management, a joint venture between Canada's Sun Life and Aditya Birla Nuvo.

With 18 years' experience across alternative and traditional asset classes in the US and Asia, Sahai was previously principal of Anew Capital Management, a firm she founded. There she managed the Anew India Opportunity Master Fund, an opportunistic long/short India-focused fund that invests mainly in equity and convertible securities.

Before that, she was at ING Investment Management, where she managed equity, high-yield and convertibles portfolios for almost five years.

Birla Sun Life is the fifth largest asset-management company in India, with assets under management of $13.85 billion as of March 31. It has products spanning equity, debt, balanced and structured asset classes.