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Edelweiss Financial Services, one of India’s leading diversified Financial Services Company, today announced the acquisition of Mumbai-based Forefront Capital Management Pvt. Ltd, a high net worth focused Asset Management Company that spans the alternative as well as the traditional investment space. Forefront will now be part of the Edelweiss Group and this will further strengthen and diversify Edelweiss’s presence in the asset management space.
“The Asset Management space is slated to grow rapidly with increasing economic prosperity and the move from savings to investment. Forefront’s high quality management, innovative and multi-layered product portfolio, and deeply ingrained ‘process driven’ investment philosophy is synergistic to Edelweiss’s existing asset management business. With this, we will widen and deepen our presence in the Asset Management space and provide additional innovative investment solutions to our clients,” said Rujan Panjwani, executive director, Edelweiss Group.
Two of the three co-founders, Nalin Moniz and Radhika Gupta, who will continue to lead and manage the business, are alumni of the University of Pennsylvania/The Wharton School. The third co-founder Anant Jatia, also a Wharton alumnus, will join his family business. Leveraging on their combined experience as portfolio managers with Goldman Sachs Asset Management and AQR Capital Management (an $80 billion hedge fund player) they set up Forefront in 2009. Forefront is known for product innovation in the liquid alternatives space and was India’s first domestic Alternative Fund under SEBI AIF (category III). Its first offshore fund, Forefront India Dynamic Value Fund has been nominated for Best India Hedge Fund by Eurekahedge Asian Hedge Fund Awards 2014 for its performance. Their global experience has helped in building one of the best technology platforms for asset management in India covering investment management, trading, risk management and back office.
Forefront currently manages a wide array of investments focused on the absolute return space, from value oriented equity strategies to multi-asset allocation strategies and has developed deep expertise in the full spectrum of India focused asset management - research, advisory, investments and trade execution. Distributed by leading banks, wealth management houses and IFAs, it caters to close to 200 clients across 12 cities that include corporate treasuries, promoters, CXOs, and prominent single family offices
Radhika Gupta, Co-Founder, Forefront Capital Management Pvt. Ltd. said: “In Edelweiss we believe we have found a terrific partner who will provide a larger platform to launch innovative ideas for domestic and international investors across the asset management space. With our combined market knowledge and expertise and Edelweiss’s institutionalised risk management, corporate governance, technology and full complement of financial services, our clients will be provided world class asset management products as well as holistic investment solutions."
CLARIFICATION
A previous version of this article did not have details about the third co-founder Anant Jatia, which have been added. We regret any inconvenience.
