After a long period of relative inactivity, the buzz is that DBS Chola Mutual Fund has aggressive plans to rev up its offerings. Going by its two recent high-level recruitments, that may well be the case. Mohit Sachdev (ex-UTI) is now the Chief Marketing Officer while Sanjay Sinha (ex-SBI MF) is the Chief Executive Officer.
But that's no cause for celebration. Though it has been around for over a decade, the AMC has failed to make a mark in this highly competitive industry, despite attempts by earlier CEOs Ved Prakash Chaturvedi (now with Tata MF) and Rajnish Narula (now with Canara Robeco).
Neither have the funds' performances been outstanding, nor have its fund launches generated a significant response from investors.Since inception, the AMC established itself as a debt player. Its Monthly Income Plan (MIP). launched in July 2003, is a 5-star that began to impress from 2007 onwards. It had only three equity funds till 2004, seven were launched from 2005 onwards with none in 2008. Most of the equity funds are too young to be rated by Value Research, their best ones being DBS Chola Opportunities (4-star) and DBS Chola Growth (3-star).
This AMC has seen alterations in its ownership over the years. It was set up in 1997 as a joint venture with U.K.-based Cazenove Fund Management and Cholamandalam Investment & Finance, a part of the Chennai-based Murugappa Group.
A few years later, the Murugappa Group acquired Cazenove's stake. In 2006, Cholamandalam Mutual Fund was renamed as DBS Chola Mutual Fund following the conversion of the fund's sponsor into Cholamandalam DBS Finance Limited, a joint venture of the Murugappa Group with DBS Bank of Singapore.
Maybe this time around, a new team will be put into place, its research capabilities augmented, fresh products will be launched and performance will improve.
But that's no cause for celebration. Though it has been around for over a decade, the AMC has failed to make a mark in this highly competitive industry, despite attempts by earlier CEOs Ved Prakash Chaturvedi (now with Tata MF) and Rajnish Narula (now with Canara Robeco).
Neither have the funds' performances been outstanding, nor have its fund launches generated a significant response from investors.Since inception, the AMC established itself as a debt player. Its Monthly Income Plan (MIP). launched in July 2003, is a 5-star that began to impress from 2007 onwards. It had only three equity funds till 2004, seven were launched from 2005 onwards with none in 2008. Most of the equity funds are too young to be rated by Value Research, their best ones being DBS Chola Opportunities (4-star) and DBS Chola Growth (3-star).
This AMC has seen alterations in its ownership over the years. It was set up in 1997 as a joint venture with U.K.-based Cazenove Fund Management and Cholamandalam Investment & Finance, a part of the Chennai-based Murugappa Group.
A few years later, the Murugappa Group acquired Cazenove's stake. In 2006, Cholamandalam Mutual Fund was renamed as DBS Chola Mutual Fund following the conversion of the fund's sponsor into Cholamandalam DBS Finance Limited, a joint venture of the Murugappa Group with DBS Bank of Singapore.
Maybe this time around, a new team will be put into place, its research capabilities augmented, fresh products will be launched and performance will improve.
