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ASK Private Wealth, the wealth advisory and family office arm of Blackstone-backed ASK Asset and Wealth Management Group, has launched a new fund that aims to raise $100 million by incentivising non-resident Indians (NRIs) to invest in Indian capital markets.
The GCC is a lucrative region for Ask Wealth Advisors and a key contributor to the success of this fund, according to CIO and Senior Managing Partner Somnath Mukherjee, who explained that the company has plans to establish its presence in the UAE.
The ASK Wealth Advisors (ASKWA) India Opportunities Fund, designed for non-resident Indians (NRIs) and overseas citizens of India (OCIs), is looking to capitalise on the growing population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) in the GCC, which is a “very important” market for the company, according to Mukherjee.
“We expect a very large share of the fund’s AUM [assets under management] to be originated from investors domiciled in GCC,” Mukherjee told Zawya, without disclosing a percentage. “ASK Wealth Advisors is also in the process of getting a DIFC [Dubai International Financial Centre] license, and that will enable a bigger push into the GCC HNWI market to position products like this as core India access vehicles for investors there.”
In July, Ask Wealth appointed WhiteOak Capital alum Prateek Pant as the market head to lead the region from the Dubai office, with the aim of working with more global investors and NRI clientele. The office is scheduled to be operational by December.
According to Mukherjee, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia are markets where they expect the maximum interest for the open-ended fund, dedicated to India-focused investments managed by a diverse group of fund managers.
He continued: “ASK Group has had multiple offshore funds targeted towards NRIs (and other offshore investors) for a long time, but they have all been single-manager strategies. This is the first time a multi-strategy, multi-manager fund has been launched to offer a comprehensive India access product to investors.”
The new fund, which is registered as an open-ended Category III Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), domiciled in India’s GIFT City, is structured as a fund of funds that will draw investments from the NRI segment to fund India’s industrial growth.
“GIFT City has matured as an offshore investment booking centre, with clarity on regulations and taxes and great ease of business operations,” Mukherjee said. “Till now, portfolio investments would typically get aggregated in international financial centres like Singapore, Hong Kong and Mauritius. With GIFT City […] the structure enables investors to access multiple investing styles through multiple managers.”
In April, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed funds set up in GIFT City to take 100% investment from NRIs, making it a lucrative centre for wealth managers looking to draw investments into Indian capital markets.
The launch of the new fund comes a year after Ask Private Wealth floated its first Private Credit Fund, with the aim to raise up to 1 billion Indian rupees ($119 million) by harnessing opportunities resulting from regulations-induced dislocations in the credit markets.
ASKWA has several funds under its umbrella, spanning portfolio management services and alternative investment funds, including Harmony, its multi-asset fund across four strategies, and a Growth Opportunities Fund.
(Reporting by Bindu Rai; editing by Seban Scaria)