Japan's Shinsei Bank today announced an exclusive tie-up with UTI Asset Management Company for launching a diversified offshore fund to mobilise over $300 million from Japanese retail investors for investing into the booming Indian stock markets."Shinsei Bank will distribute India specific investment funds to be managed/advised by UTI AMC to Japanese general individual investors," Toru Irokawa, co-head (asset management division) of Shinsei Bank, said.The offshore fund would come under UTI MF's overseas subsidiary UTI International. The funds would be managed by the portfolio management services (PMS) division of the domestic fund house, Ashish Ranawade, head (wealth management division) of UTI AMC, said.Irokowa said there was significant interest among Japanese investors in India, despite a "turbulent period" in May-June period. The sharp 30% fall in stock prices during that period also witnessed some redemptions from Japanese funds in India.It is estimated that Japanese funds hold assets worth $5 billion in Indian markets through 10 India-specific funds. Irokawa said he expects this amount to double in the next 2-3 years, considering the rapid pace of India's economic growth. "There is a good potential for investors for growing their assets in India," he said, "the country's GDP per capita ratio at the moment was similar to Japan in 1960." "The numbers show India is only at the entrance of high growth period," a Shinsei Bank official said.The proposed UTI-Shinsei Fund would invest in companies operating in high-potential IT, pharma and the infrastructure sectors. "Though it is a diversified fund, we will concentrate on 4-5 sectors for investments," Ranawade said.The Japanese bank has big plans for India, Sanjay Sachdev, country manager (India) & regional manager of Shinsei Corporate Advisory Services, said.Shinsei, which is a registered foreign institutional investor, owns a "decent percentage" of the $1 billion `India Equity Fund' managed by the HSBC Bank.
