Axis AMC absorbs Axis Securities' PMS business
Axis AMC has acquired the portfolio management services business of group entity Axis Securities, folding it into a new "Alternates by Axis AMC" platform
Taking alternates AUM past INR 15,000 crore
Axis AMC has acquired the portfolio management services (PMS) business of group entity Axis Securities, folding it into a new "Alternates by Axis AMC" platform and lifting its PMS assets to about INR 15,000 crore, as it chases India's fast-growing high- and ultra-high-net-worth investor market.
The deal, which the Competition Commission of India cleared in February, is an intra-group consolidation, both Axis AMC and Axis Securities sit under Axis Bank, that hands the fund house a ready book of more than 2,500 PMS investors, which it calls one of the country's largest PMS acquisitions by investor count. It reflects a broader race among Indian asset managers to build alternates businesses, PMS and AIFs, aimed at wealthy investors, where fees run richer than in mutual funds. Axis AMC says it wants to be a top-five PMS player within three years.
Financial terms were not disclosed. The entire Axis Securities PMS team, including investment, product and client-servicing staff, has moved across, and Axis AMC has appointed Naveen Kulkarni, who built the Axis Securities PMS franchise, as chief investment officer for PMS and listed-equity alternates. The platform plans discretionary and non-discretionary PMS, family-office mandates and products using its Category III AIF licence. MD B Gopkumar called it "a transformative step" in building an alternates leadership position.
