Industry insiders say that Kailash has the ability to take L&T MF to the next level.
Kailash Kulkarni, former sales head at Kotak AMC, has today assumed the role of CEO at L&T Investment Management.
Industry insiders say that Kailash will be able to steer the fund house well. They believe that L&T MF is comparatively well placed in the industry due to its brand recall.
“L&T MF has an advantage because the parent brand has acceptability since L&T has been coming up with infrastructure bonds. The case was similar with IDFC when it took over Standard Chartered AMC. Such familiarity is always an asset. The other advantage for L&T is that they inherit a portfolio of decently performing schemes from Cholamandalam. The problem from a distribution perspective for L&T MF is that there are too many fund houses and most IFAs don’t work for more than 10 to 15 fund houses,” says a Mumbai-based financial advisor.
Kailash is well placed to deal with the challenges, believes the industry. “Kailash will take the fund house to the next level. He is aggressive and hardworking. There are very few people in the industry who can match up to his working capability,” says a distributor.
Kailash has extensive sales and distribution experience in mutual fund and insurance. Prior to joining Kotak MF, he was the Director-Agency Sales at MetLife India Insurance. “He has 22 years of experience which spans across sales, business development and operations. He’s a people person,” says an official from L&T.
Kailash’s challenge is to increase L&T MF’s market share in the industry. L&T entered the MF space by acquiring DBS Cholamandalam in September 2009. L&T MF is managing Rs. 4,616 crore as on December 2011 and is currently ranked 24th in the 44 player MF industry.
