L&T Finance Ltd agreed March 27 to buy out Fidelity's Indian asset management business for an undisclosed amount.
In a press release, YM Deosthalee, CMD of L&T Finance Holdings, the parent company, said the acquisition provides L&T Mutual Fund--which entered the mutual-fund business in 2009 after acquiring DBS Cholamandalam AMC--"the necessary scale, products and access to retail customers to grow profitably."
Fidelity, a reputed asset manager globally, launched in India in 2004. It was the 15th largest mutual-fund house in India with an average assets-under-management of Rs 8,881 crore, as of December 2011, according to the statement.
Fidelity's funds had an equity focus, an attribute that would complement the debt-heavy focus of L&T funds, Deosthalee said.
Morningstar had analyst coverage on three equity funds run by the company--Fidelity Equity, Fidelity India Growth and Fidelity Tax Advantage--with all three funds earning our highest Gold rating.
Writing in the Parent section of the Analyst Reports (which talks about our view of the fund company) for each of those funds, Morningstar Analyst Vicky Mehta wrote, "From 2005 to 2008, launching equity new fund offers (NFOs) was the norm in the Indian mutual fund industry, the AMC steered clear of trendy equity NFOs that are typically aimed at garnering assets under management, rather than helping investors achieve their investment goals. In the past, regulations permitted AMCs to utilise a substantial portion of new funds' assets toward marketing-distribution expenses. In effect, these expenses were charged to the fund. Fidelity was among the few asset managers that chose to bear a portion of the expenses, which was an investor-friendly move."
Analyst Ratings on all three funds have been placed under review, subject to further developments.