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Mutual Funds - HDFC MF eyes Zurich India MF

07 Apr 2003

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News reports indicate that the spate of consolidation in the mutual fund industry continues as HDFC Mutual Fund, a leading fund house, is looking to acquire Zurich India Mutual Fund, another leading fund house. Although the press releases have been terse, some noteworthy points have been highlighted.

One very significant point from the investor's perspective is the assurance from HDFC Mutual Fund to retain the key investment managers from Zurich India Mutual Fund including Prashant Jain (currently Zurich India Mutual Fund's chief investment officer) who will head all equity schemes post-merger.

Another point in the press release that needs highlighting is the price of acquisition - about Rs 1,500 bn (i.e. Rs 150 crores) on Zurich India MF's asset base of Rs 33,000 bn. This works out to roughly 4.5% of the latter's assets. This comes at a slight premium to what the most fund houses would be willing to pay under normal circumstances. However, in the case of HDFC Mutual Fund, this can be attributed to Zurich India MF's large equity base of Rs 5.8 bn, which is very attractive for anyone who is interested, moreso for a fund house like HDFC Mutual Fund which despite a large base of Rs 70 bn could garner equity funds of about Rs 3 bn (less than 5% of total assets) only.

What does the merger mean for Zurich India MF investors? We at personalfn view this as a very positive development for Zurich India MF investors. Historically, we have had high regard for Zurich India MF - one reason is its performance and the other more important reason is the conservative, no-nonsense investment approach through which this performance has been achieved. Another fund house, that commands a lot of respect at personalfn is HDFC Mutual Fund, again for its investment approach that is driven by very steady, conservative investment principles. It goes without saying that a combination of these two funds would seem like just what the doctor ordered for Zurich India MF investors.

Source: BACK