Sundaram JV forays into Registrar and Transfer Agency ops

Sundaram BNP Paribas Fund Services has forayed into the Registrar and Transfer agency operations. The company said that it will invest around Rs60 crore over the next three years. According to company representatives, a majority of investments would go into a technology platform.

The firm, which is a 51:49 JV between the Chennai-based Sundaram Finance Ltd and France-based BNP Paribas, also set itself a target to have a market share of around 8-10 per cent of the total assets available for servicing within a span of five years.

Speaking to reporters today, Shridhar Iyer, CEO, Sundaram BNP Paribas Fund services said the venture would have Rs20,000 crore of assets under servicing in the first year of its operations and look to quadruple it to Rs80,000 crore at the end of three years.

It may be noted, presently, the fund services business is dominated by the two biggest registrar and transfer agents Karvy Computer Share and Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), who service 95 per cent of the mutual industry between them.

“We feel, this is the right time to enter the business, given the growth story and growing interest in mutual funds,” said T T Srinivasaraghavan, managing director of Sundaram Finance Ltd, said.

The retail-oriented customer service and the trust we have built,the culture which our joint venture partners also share, would be the key plus points in the fund management business, he added.

To start with, Sundaram BNP Paribas Fund Services would start servicing Sundaram Mutual Fund, which has around 1.4 million customers and later expand full-fledged services to the mutual fund industry and provide specific solutions to asset managers.

The company would also double its workforce at its two centres in Chennai and Madurai from over 150 employees now, in the span of 12 months.

“It is puzzling that only two players offer fund management services to a fast growing and high potential domestic mutual fund industry. We would look at servicing the domestic industry and would look to service our global clients in Europe, UK and France as we go forward,” added Patrick Colle, CEO of BNP Paribas Securities Services.