JioBlackRock Asset Management plans to launch at least one fund every month, on an average, for the next two years.
The asset management company, a 50:50 joint venture between Jio Financial Services and global asset management firm BlackRock, wants to be “very digital” in terms of distribution going ahead.
After completing one year of operations, the fund house currently has an asset under management (AUM) of around ₹18,000 crore, comprising around ₹12,500 crore in debt. It currently manages 15 funds–6 fixed income funds, 4 index funds, 3 active equity funds and 2 hybrid funds.
Advantage Fund
“ SEBI has already approved a balanced advantage fund. For such funds, the distribution contribution is always higher than direct contribution. So, once with all the distribution we are able to open all the schemes, we will launch this balanced advantage fund. We are ready with the strategy. We will be launching in a few months the first few exchange traded funds (ETFs). In the GIFT City, we will be launching two funds initially and then over the next two-three years, we will keep launching a few schemes,” Rishi Kohli, Chief Investment Officer, JioBlackRock Asset Management, told businessline.
“We want to launch at least one fund every month, on an average, for the next two years. So, the plans are very aggressive,” Kohli said.
The fund house has announced the launch of the Prism Hybrid Long-Short Fund, an interval investment strategy, which allows for redemptions twice a week.
“In terms of SIF (Specialised Investment Fund), this is our first fund. With this SIF, it is the first time we have engaged with distributors. We have got a very strong response already. We also need to gear up the operational team, the sales team, to be able to handle that volume of distributors,” the Chief Investment Officer said.
The asset management company has around 1,200 distributors at present. It is planning to ramp up the distribution in the next two-three months.
JioBlackRock Asset Management does not have plans to open branches across the country. “We want to be very digital and enable even distributors and retail clients with more digital features. From day one we are with all the digital fintechs,” Kohli added.