Escorts Fin Lines Up $20m Offshore Fund

EFL plans to work out modalities of the fund once its maiden mutual fund which is currently doing its rounds in the market is completed.

The company plans to source through FRS to launch this fund and is currently looking for co-investors.

We`ll deploy it mainly in the equities of initial public offering (IPO) by a range of companies, Jayant Dang, managing director, EFL, said.

However, ELF has yet to finalise a merchant banker, he said.

Regarding focus area of investment, Dang said the company would prefer to have a diversified portfolio instead of tagging onto a few select sectors.

 

Sources in the company indicated that EFL would be eyeing the huge cash reservoirs of foreign governments, specially, the Singapore government's pension fund bonds.

Most foreign fund managers want to diversify now. They're looking away from the US to Latin America and South East countries which are emerging as a strong market for deployment of their surplus cash, he said.

Already, IL&FS and a few other companies are said to have availed of such surplus reserves of pension funds available from the Singapore government and elsewhere.

The fund is unlikely to be based on Sensex market and will be more like a venture capital fund, with emphasis on privately placed stocks as well as privately floated equity funds.