Aashish Somaiyaa exits Motilal Oswal AMC after 7 year at the helm

Navin Agarwal, who had been managing director for Motilal Oswal Financial Services, will lead the AMC as its MD and CEO

Aashish Somaiyaa, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company (AMC), has decided to quit after heading the fund house for seven years. Navin Agarwal, who was the managing director for Motilal Oswal Fina­ncial Services, will lead the AMC as its MD and CEO.

“Aashish Somaiyaa has decided to move on from the post of MD and CEO of Motilal Oswal AMC in pursuit of his personal aspirations to work for a start-up,” the company said. According to industry grapevine, Somaiyaa may be joining Paytm AMC, but this could not be ascertained.

In the March quarter of 2012-13, when Somaiyaa took charge as MD and CEO, the ave­rage asset size of Motilal Oswal AMC stood at Rs 538 crore, which is now Rs 17,230 crore. Under Somaiyaa, the AMC has widened its product basket from exchange traded produ­cts to actively-managed equity products.

Part of the reason for fund house’s smaller asset base compared to other peers, can be AMC’s main focus on equity products, and largely steering clear of debt product offerings.

The AMC has also gained a sizeable market share in the portfolio management services (PMS).