ING Vysya enters portfolio management service

Aimed at cashing in on the ongoing bull rally in the equity market, ING Vysya Investment Management has forayed into the Rs 13,000-crore portfolio management business.

The MF aims to garner Rs 100 crore in the first year of its operations in portfolio management. The fund house expects to leverage its worldwide experience and presence.

"We believe that the stock market rally has made millionaires of a lot of people who may have become rich, but will need expert assistance to remain so in the coming months," said Ashish Ranawade, head of the new service, who was the former head of UTI's portfolio management unit.

"We estimate that there are around 25,000 people in India who have disposable income above Rs 1 crore and they have much better options than mutual funds," he said. Only around 2,500-3,000 of them are using such services now, he pointed out.

Besides investors who struck it rich over the past few months, those software professionals who have seen their ESOPs zoom as they tracked the IT services revolution and bull market, are also potential targets of the fund house.

"The service is for those who have a lot of money and have a much bigger risk appetite than can be reflected in a mutual fund portfolio. Depending on the client's instructions, the investment can be based on turn-around stories, momentum stocks and not restricted to the usual large-caps," Ranawade said.

Like many other players in the segment, ING Vysya will offer a fixed-fee based system and a performance-based charging system.

To be restricted to clients with strong stomachs, the fund will make only equity investments now, with the an option of parking the cash in its own fixed income mutual funds in cases of bear attacks on the market.