What was once the most dominant company in the mutual funds industry is now India’s sixth largest. But Leo Puri, chief executive officer, UTI Asset Management Co. Ltd, spoke to Mint Money and said that UTI is an asset management company (AMC) and not just a fund house with interests in retirements, pension and alternative investments space. The fact that UTI is an independently owned as opposed to one owned by a company or a bank—as most of its large competitors are—adds to the firm’s independence and credibility. Its proposed initial public offer will only broaden the ownership, he said. Edited excerpts:
All the large-sized funds have a supermarket approach. Everyone has a large-cap fund, mid-cap fund, long-term bond fund, short-term and bond fund. Do you think UTI AMC can, perhaps, develop and stay within a niche area?
It’s not about being specialised versus non-specialised. We are a focused AMC and unique in that regard. We are trying to build a set of different businesses; apart from a thriving domestic mutual fund business, we have a successful offshore business, which everybody does not have.
