Manulife enters India for the first time
India-based Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services announced Friday that it has entered into a 51:49 joint venture with Manulife Investment Management aimed at expanding the depth and breadth of fund offerings and retail fund penetration in India.
Mahindra Finance has more than five million customers,1,300 offices across India and more than $11.39 billion of assets under management. Manulife is in more than 20 markets globally and has $1.1 trillion in assets under management and administration as of the end of March, 2019. The joint venture signals Manulife’s first entry into India.
Mahindra Finance vice chairman Ramesh Iyer said the two companies share a common vision of building a market-leading asset management business.
Joint venture aims to increase mutual fund sales
“We believe that together we can create a unique value proposition for our retail investors,” said Iyer. “Manulife’s wealth and asset management experience extends over 150 years and they have enjoyed successes across emerging and developed markets. We welcome Manulife as a strategic partner to further drive our efforts at increasing mutual fund penetration in India and driving positive change.”
Paul Lorentz, president & CEO at Global Wealth & Asset Management for Manulife, said he is looking forward to partnering with Mahindra.
“Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services has become a market leader by focusing on meeting unmet customer needs, which mirrors our own experiences in growing our business in Asia,” said Lorentz.
Mutual fund products expected to meet the needs of investors
In a statement, the two companies said there is much growth potential in India. The country has a young population, a growing middle class and only 12% of mutual fund AUM relative to gross domestic product.
The Mahindra-Manulife joint venture will focus on increasing the awareness and accessibility of market-oriented financial instruments, which include mutual fund products, to meet the needs of the rapidly growing investor base in India. The emphasis will be on creating suitable products, investor-friendly service infrastructure as well as growing multi-channel distribution.