ASK Investment Managers Ltd. (ASK IM), one of India’s oldest and largest PMS Houses with AUM of $3.90 billion (as on Nov 2020) has added another first to its list by becoming the first Portfolio Manager in the country to have been given a licence to set up a branch in GIFT City, Gandhinagar, by the International Financial Services Centre Authority (‘IFSCA’).
With a centralized regulatory body authorizing and managing the investments in GIFT city, investing for Global Investors and NRI’s could get much simpler as the rules governing the capital inflows /outflows will be specifically framed keeping in mind the overall GIFT city architecture. With the introduction of concept of an IFSC, India is now at an advantageous position, is attractive and has considerably eased investments for foreign institutions and NRIs. Therefore, GIFT City, Gandhinagar is now becoming competitive as compared to jurisdictions such as Singapore, Mauritius, Luxembourg etc..
The Central Ministry of Law and Justice has appointed a new regulatory body (i.e. IFSCA) comprising of representatives from RBI, IRDAI and SEBI. Foreign capital, when it flows into/outside India, has to go through various checks and balances from FEMA perspective. The IFSCA, has been prompt, proactive and responsive to various issues faced by the participants and ensures ironing out the anomalies that comes across when foreign money is being invested in India from GIFT City.
With this move, ASK IM will get a head-start as it already has the required approval in place
Says Shri. Sunil Rohokale, MD & CEO, ASK Group, “ASK continues to focus on international business expansion and client acquisition as we firmly believe that within the Emerging Markets, India has emerged as a much sought-after destination. We are confident that this new branch at GIFT City, Gandhinagar will help to cater to interest of NRIs / FPIs for their requirement to manage funds on either discretionary or advisory basis. The fantastic GIFT City infrastructure and ease of managing global money, with fiscal benefits offered by the Government, helped us in finalising this decision and we are very happy that we now been the first Portfolio Manager to get permission to open up our branch.”
According to recently released NSDL data, while Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPI) across emerging economies witnessed a decline due to the coronavirus pandemic, India saw a surge to $13.5 billion – a testimony to investor confidence in India’s growth story. This surge in foreign funds amid the pandemic has been possible because of the continuous effort of the government, businesses, and agencies to make India a sought-after destination over the last six years.
Shri Tapan Ray, MD & Group CEO, GIFT City said, “Portfolio Management Services (PMS) will open a new business opportunity at GIFT IFSC and bring in investments from global investors, including NRIs. It will also create several new job opportunities for young finance professionals and attract good talent for GIFT IFSC. We welcome ASK Investment Managers for being the first mover in this space and are confident that more PMS players will set up their base in GIFT IFSC in the near future.”
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