Sundaram MF keen on pension fund

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">BANGALORE: Sundaram Mutual Fund is keen on having a foot in the pension fund business. The south-based mutual fund company is waiting for the pension fund norms to be in place before making a final decision.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">"We have done well both on debt and equity and we can be very effective in pension fund business too" said T P Ramana, managing director of Sundaram Mutual Fund.The company, however, is yet to take a final decision on the organisational structure for the pension fund business.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">The mutual fund company, part of the south-based Sundaram Finance group, however, is more keen on an organic growth for its business growth. According to Ramana, takeovers and acquisitions always create chemistry problems and added that the group has chalked out a long term strategy for future growth.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Interestingly, a couple of mutual funds owned by public sector banks are still up for grabs but Sundaram believes that they would not be right fit for its business. The mutual fund company has relied heavily on retail customer base and its parent, Sundaram Finance''s large customer base of four lakh customers in 120 locations. Ramana admitted that the fall in interest rates has helped the fund to cross sell its products to Sundaram Finance''s customers. It has made the fund a market leader in south with a market share of 23 per cent.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">The retail focus would get a further push in the current year as Sundaram is entering eight new locations. The fund is also keen to become a national player and most of the locations are coming up outside southern India in cities like Indore, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jaipur, etc. Also, three new products which includes an index fund are slated to be launched soon. It has recently launched Star fund with an objective of investing in companies that are focussed on the export market. Ramana is hoping that new plans and an increased national presence would help Sundaram to become one of the top 10 fund houses within the next three years.</span></div> </div>