Religare unveils new JV with Invesco

May 14, 2013

The Indian firm introduces Religare Invesco AMC after Invesco's acquisition of a 49% stake is completed. The JV is led by Saurabh Nanavati, as Invesco management join the boards.

Indian financial services group Religare unveiled its new onshore joint venture with US investment firm Invesco yesterday following completion of the deal.

Religare Invesco Asset Management Company will be overseen by Saurabh Nanavati, who is also chief executive of Religare AMC, working alongside his existing management team. Its mutual fund becomes Religare Invesco Mutual Fund, and its mutual fund schemes will be renamed accordingly.

The boards of Religare's asset management company and trustee company have been reconstituted. Invesco's Asia-Pacific chief executive Andrew Lo joins the AMC board of directors, while Dean Chisholm, Invesco's regional head of operations for Asia-Pacific, joins the trustee board.

Religare Invesco Asset Management currently manages around $2.9 billion in assets as at the end of March this year, including offshore and domestic advisory. It serves individuals, corporates and institutions through mutual funds and sub-advised portfolios.

Invesco's acquisition of a 49% shareholding in Religare AMC and Religare Trustee Company has been in the works since last September, with market participants describing Religare as a nascent business in India that had been seeking a powerful global franchise to partner with for some time.

At the time of the Invesco-Religare JV announcement last autumn, Tata was the only fund house in India’s top 15 without an international tie-up. Other partnerships included Nippon Life purchasing a 26% stake in Reliance Capital Asset Management last year; IDFC selling a 25% stake to French bank Natixis; and Goldman Sachs purchasing ETF specialist Benchmark Mutual Fund.

Nanavati has previously told AsianInvestor there is phenomenal value in bringing a local fund house with domestic capabilities to developed markets such as the US, Europe and Japan, noting that the partnership would enhance Invesco’s “presence in an important and growing market, while providing Religare’s clients access to [a] broad range of investment solutions”.