Reliance Group, Samsung asset management firms in strategic pact

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group on Friday said it has signed a pact for a strategic alliance with Samsung, which runs Korea's largest asset management company with a corpus of $165.8 billion, to leverage the strengths in their respective domains and domicile.

Both Samsung Asset Management Co and its counterpart in the Reliance Group will explore areas for developing, managing, marketing and distributing each other's products in India and Korea, while also pursuing their interests in the global markets, the two companies said in a statement.

"The Indian asset management market has grown by around 12 percent per annum since 2008 to $190 billion and offers tremendous potential to overseas investors," said Sundeep Sikka, the chief executive of Reliance Capital Asset Management.

"Samsung's leadership experience in Korea, with over 51 percent market share in ETFs (exchange traded funds), and our complementary expertise in investment strategies will help us expand the market for Indian funds globally," Sikka added.

As per information provided in the statement, Samsung managed assets of over $165.8 billion as of February this year across an array of investment products, that ranged from domestic and overseas equities, fixed income, alternative investments, hedge funds and exchange traded funds.

This is sought to be leveraged with the Reliance Group company's portfolio of $40 billion as on March 31 this year, across mutual funds, government-sponsored public funds, managed accounts, alternative investment funds and offshore funds.