JM Financial To Expand Its MF Business

Nimesh Kampani ended his partnership with Morgan Stanley and got a pile of cash in return. He is using that cash to build a finance powerhouse from scratch. He has already bought into ASK Securities and got a foothold in equity research and trading and now he is going to boost his mutual fund business. "We will invest more in mutual fund business. We are targeting (funds) have Rs 5,000 crore equity assets," said Nimesh Kampani, Chairman, JM Financial. Things are changing at JM Mutual Fund, Sandip Sabharwal the star fund manager who turned around SBI's mutual funds has joined Kampani as chief investment officer and JM's performance has improved in just six months.
JM Basic is now the best performing fund in the six-month period with 81 per cent returns. Other equity schemes are also doing well. Investors are taking note of this performance, the equity assets under management (AUM) has grown from Rs 150 crore in January this year to over Rs 800 crore. JM is also looking at launching new schemes and is looking at merging some of the old schemes. "We are restructuring our scheme portfolio, reduced the number of scrip and have started taking concentrated bet and that is yielding results," said Sandip Sabharwal CIO, JM Financial. JM Mutual Fund is trying to change its focus and wants to emerge as a fund powerhouse. The entry of Sarbharwal as head of fund management will fit into Kampani's strategy.