New Delhi, Jan. 13: Fidelity International Ltd (FIL), the international fund management company, has appointed three senior executives in India.
Ashu Suyash has been appointed business head of the asset management company (AMC), while Arun Mehra has been appointed fund manager of the AMC. Hemang Bakshi has joined Fidelity as head of legal and compliance.
The appointments mark the first step in Fidelity’s intention to launch an Indian mutual fund company during 2004, subject to regulatory approval.
Suyash joins Fidelity from Citigroup in India where she was head of strategy and business development. She has over 15 years of experience in financial services industry, including her tenure at Citicorp Brokerage India Limited — the brokerage and distribution arm of Citibank in India — as CEO (1996-1998) and as head of investor sales (1998-2000).
Mehra has been with Fidelity for over six years as a research analyst based in Hong Kong and more recently as sector leader in London. Arun will relocate to India later this year.
Bakshi has joined from Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company, where he was vice-president of compliance.
Richard Wastcoat, Fidelity managing director, said today, “We have filed our preliminary application with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for their approval to set up a mutual fund in India in 2004. We are delighted to welcome Ashu, Hemang and Arun to Fidelity International in India. Having a strong management team in place is crucial to the future success of our Indian operations.”
Fidelity International Limited, which manages mutual fund and pension fund assets of over $141.5 billion (as of September 30, 2003) for non-US investors and does business outside the United States in 25 countries across the world, has had a presence in India since the third quarter of 2001.
FIL’s Indian operations were initially focused on systems development, through Fidelity Technology India (FTI), a subsidiary of FIL.
In 2003, Fidelity International established a back-office operations centre, including mutual fund administration, a call-centre for FIL’s European mutual fund business and pension fund management back-office operations and systems, in Gurgaon. Last year, it ramped up its number of employees from around 100 to 450.
