Janalakshmi Financial downgrades may weigh on debt MFs

Industry men say Janalakshmi in process of raising equity capital to improve its financial situation

Two back-to-back downgrades of Janalakshmi Financial Services’ debentures are likely to weigh on the mutual fund industry. 
 

At the end of June, over a dozen fund houses through 60 schemes had exposure of Rs 1,400 crore to the high-yielding Janalakshmi debt paper, according to Value Research.

Most of the debentures issued by Janalakshmi have coupon rates as high as 13.5 per cent and mature in 2018 and 2019.

DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund, UTI Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, Kotak Mutual Fund and DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund are among the fund houses with the highest exposure to Janalakshmi. 

Rating agency ICRA in