T Rowe Price Buys Into India's UTI - Reports

Vanessa Doctor

24 January 2010

T Rowe Price, the US-based asset management firm, has just acquired a 26 per cent stake in Indian mutual fund company UTI Asset Management, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The purchase came with $140 million price tag and makes T Rowe the single largest stakeholder in the Indian firm, the new service said. The company also reportedly said that it is not interested in purchasing stakes in the ongoing China Asset Management fire sale in Beijing, although it made clear that it is keen on expanding its Asian footprint.

"A lot of the world's alpha (investment return in excess of the broad market) will be created outside the US," Ed Bernard, vice chairman of T Rowe Price, was quoted as having said.

In an article by Asian Investor, T Rowe president and chief executive officer Todd Ruppert had said that the company does not see itself as a Franklin Templeton, although it very serious about its Asian strategy.

"The firm has always been, and will continue to be, fiercely protective of its unique culture. It may organically, but all new hires will have to start from the bottom," Mr Ruppert noted.

Under the terms of the UTI deal, T Rowe will be ginve two seats on the former's board of directors. The US firm will also be advising UTI on a host of business and financial decisions, particularly those that pertain to international investors. In return, T Rowe will gain access to the fast-growing Indian market and will have its services integrated into UTI's local offerings.

The company is believed to be eyeing Taiwan next.