Newsmaker: S V Prasad

The quiet negotiator

S V Prasad normally reads three books simultaneously "" on philosophy, on investments and fiction. The knowledge must have come in handy for the 46-year old chief executive officer of Birla Sun Life to swing his first big deal since he took over less than a year ago.

The acquisition of the assets of Alliance Capital Mutual Fund has catapulted Birla Sun Life to the fifth position among domestic mutual funds with nearly Rs 11,000 crore of assets under management and 900,000 accounts.

After all the hype and hoopla surrounding Alliance's aborted sales of its India operations followed by regulatory action against the AMC and its chief investment officer, Samir Arora, potential acquirers did not dare touch Alliance. Defeaning silence prevailed for several months. No one talked about the sale, nor did Alliance push for it.

That's the time Prasad saw the opportunity and quietly negotiated a deal, which on the face of it, looks hugely in favour of the Birlas. At the moment, Prasad is tightlipped about the size of the deal.

But, he has managed to get exactly what he wants: just assets and no employees, no physical infrastructure, no regulatory headaches.

Alliance's quality of assets and the performance record of its schemes are among the best in the industry. "What attracted us to Alliance was the retail assets. The future is in retail," says Prasad.

"As interest rates are volatile, companies are planning major investment spends, and the government is determined to undo the tax-arbitrage, we need to consolidate on the retail side," says Prasad.

Prasad, popularly called SV by colleagues in the industry, is an old hand in the mutual fund business, with over a decade of experience.

A cricket freak, Prasad's first innings was with JM Mutual Fund "" one of the first private sector entrants in the fund industry "" as its president and chief executive officer.

In August 1998, he took over as the CEO of Zurich India Mutual Fund, which was sold to HDFC Mutual Fund early last year. During his tenure with Zurich, the fund house grew rapidly and became the fifth largest private sector fund in the country.

After cutting the Zurich-HDFC deal, Prasad took a six-month vacation from a clamorous corporate world only to join back as the head honcho of Birla Sun Life.

When he is not cutting deals, Prasad can be found in the gym. The man loves sports. He frequents the gym at least four-five times a week without fail to "keep fit".

His other interests "" a pretty long list "" include music, reading and travel. His favourite cities are London and New York. His holiday spots: Switzerland and Kashmir. "I listen to all kinds of music."

The music his fund investors will like to hear, however, is the jingle of lower costs and higher returns on investments.