In order to expand its distribution network, Reliance Mutual Fund will open its branch offices in 500 cities across the country. Currently, the fund house has 177 branch offices, said Sundeep Sikka, MD and CEO, Reliance Nippon Life AMC.
He was speaking to the media at the press conference held today to announce the launch of their IPO. The IPO of the AMC will open for subscription from October 25 and close on October 27. The company aims to raise Rs.1,542 crore through its IPO.
Sikka said that his company aims to establish presence across the country. “We are distributor centric company and we would encourage people to take up mutual fund distribution as a career. We believe that these new distributors will help retail investors take informed investment decisions.”
In a red herring prospectus, the company said, “We intend to leverage our long-standing relationship with IFAs, which allows us to reach investors in remote areas. We also intend to cross sell products to our customers. We have a dedicated retail business development team, which focuses on developing our relationships with PSU banks, which we see as a significant opportunity for future growth, given their geographical reach,” the company said.
The company further said, “We worked with approximately 58,000 distributors including banks, financial institutions, IFAs, NDs, and online platforms, as of June 30, 2017. We intend to broaden our distributor base to grow the share of our AUM coming from retail investors including from B15 locations.”
Reliance Mutual Fund is the first among the top three players in the industry to list its shares on exchanges. As on September 2017, the fund house manages AUM of Rs.2.31 lakh crore in mutual funds and Rs.3.63 lakh crore if we include its PMS and offshore advisory business.
So far, Shriram AMC was the first fund house to have launched its IPO though it is no longer listed.
