Fund manager Reliance Nippon Life rises over 18 percent on market debut

BANGALORE/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd surged as much as 18.7 percent in its market debut on Monday as the first mutual fund company to list in the country benefitted from a strong outlook for the asset management sector.

The initial public offering by Reliance Nippon, which counts Reliance Capital Ltd and Nippon Life Insurance Co as its main shareholders, raised 15.42 billion rupees ($238.29 million) and was subscribed over 81 times.

The listing comes at a time when money managers have seen their assets under management surge to a record of over 21 trillion rupees, as retail investors buy shares, many for the first time, sending indexes to all-time highs.

The funds are expected to be sturdy given many investors are buying into mutual funds through monthly instalment schemes called systematic investment plans (SIP).

"Overall the listing is at a decent price. At this moment mutual funds are getting huge funds in the form of SIPs, new funds, etc." said Jaikishan Parmar, an equity analyst at Angel Broking.

"Going forward shareholders will be rewarded well. This is a kind of company you should hold for 5 to 10 years. As yields go up, valuations also rise."

Shares in the company were trading at 291.30 rupees, up 15.60 percent by 0809 GMT in the NSE Nifty that was up 0.3 percent.

The strong retail flows have helped the Nifty gain nearly 28 percent this year, touching a record high on Friday, while IPO sales have hit a record with more than $9 billion raised so far this year.

Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd is the third largest asset manager in India, with 3.6 trillion rupees ($55.65 billion) in assets under management as of end-June, giving it a 11.4 percent market share.

Reliance Nippon was profitable and has a strong nationwide presence in India, analysts said. It has also set up subsidiaries in Singapore and Mauritius and a representative office in Dubai.

($1 = 64.6950 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Arnab Paul in Bangalore and Swati Bhat in Mumbai; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)