Dipankar Basu To Head Sun F & C

The former State Bank of India chairman, Dipankar Basu, will take charge as the non-executive chairman of Sun Foreign & Colonial Asset Management (Sun F & C). Sun F & C, amongst the key foreign institutional investors at the Indian capital markets, will now use Basu's experience for overall strategy and new business development at the asset management company.

Sun F & C is a joint venture between the UK-based Foreign & Colonial (one of the oldest and largest investment houses and pension fund managers in the world) and an non-resident Indian (NRI), the SUN group.

Sun F & C will now focus on its Indian operations through pension fund management (being a major player internationally managing $20 billion worth of funds), alongside offshore funds.

Sun F & C, which is majority owned by Hypo Bank and Bayerische Vereins Bank AG, thereby becoming Germany's second largest bank, has conducted a strategic study on its business areas.

The bank places India as one of the key markets where asset management and pension fund management will be important. Basu, who is currently chairman of the Securities Trading Corporation of India and a member of the disinvestment commission, will look into the areas of strategy and development.

These areas were handled by the board as a whole.

Nikhil Khattau will continue to function as the chief executive officer of Sun F & C and will be involved in assistance in strategy formulations and its implementation.

Commenting on Basu's entry, Khattau said, "He has been associated with leading financial institutions/banks. Besides, he has also been head of SBI's UK operations for several years and was closely involved with the setting up of SBI Caps and SBI Mutual Fund."

The markets expect some forward movement in the pension fund area, with a 'tweaking' of existing rules and greater avenues for investment of such funds.

Sun F & C currently has two funds, a Value Fund and an India Performance Fund. The Value Fund has witnessed an increase of 38.43 per cent since December 31, 1997, with a NAV of Rs 13.22. The India Performance Fund, an offshore fund, has in the same period increased by 29.2 per cent with a NAV of $129.6.

The Sun F & C board consists of eight members, with four being independent nominees and two being foreigners on the board, Jeff Chowdhary, director F&C Emerging Markets and Graham Walker, chief operating officer of the F & C group.