Robeco To Unveil India Equity Fund By Year-End

Europe's oldest asset management company Robeco, which has just bought a 49 per cent stake in Canara Bank's mutual funds business, plans to launch an India equity fund out of Luxembourg by this year-end. There is a lot of European interest in Indian equities. They already have a China Fund and we can create an India Fund as well. They propose to launch an India equity fund in around six months after obtaining necessary regulatory approvals. Present in India last week to ink a joint venture for the mutual funds business with state-run Canara Bank. Robeco's other plans for India include entering the pension funds segment. It also wants to set up a private equity fund across emerging markets, including India. Robeco was presently in negotiations with the Dutch Development Bank for establishing a private equity fund with a focus on SMEs in emerging markets. Robeco, which already has an exposure in India of $0.5 billion through its Emerging Markets Fund, plans to scale that to up to $1 billion. Robeco holds a 65 per cent stake in SAM. The Canara Robeco JV will bring into the Indian market clean technology, smart energy and water products. SAM has tremendous expertise in this segment and they hope to launch its products by end of this year. SAM's products are sold in Australia, China and Japan.