Error Of Judgment Behind Uti Crisis : Damodaran

The crisis that the Unit Trust Of India (UTI) is facing has been on account of errors of judgment and not because of any mala fide intentions, M Damodaran, chairman, said here on Thursday.

He was addressing a seminar, "Institutions and the Task of Nation Building," organised by the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC). He said, "Despite UTI's monopoly position in the mutual fund industry, it had failed to read the stock markets." He also informed that the report on last year's decisions would be out soon.

Damodaran said it was unfair to say that crores of rupees owned by investors had been swindled. He also said that, contrary to the general perception, UTI's flagship scheme had never given any assurance of risk-free investment. This fact was, however, never highlighted to investors and the true picture of the scheme was never revealed to them. "There are shortfalls but the institution has never defaulted on any of its schemes," he added.

 

"Given time, it would be possible for UTI to regain its role as the country's premier institution," Damodaran said, adding, "The bailout process has gained momentum as assistance from the government is underway".

Other participants at the seminar included IMC president Suresh Kotak and other prominent stock brokers and bankers.