DSP has appointed Gaurav Pant, latterly of Goldman Sachs, as investment advisor to the new MST Indian Absolute Return Fund, expected to launch in September 2011 as a sub-fund of the Melchior Selected Trust, a Luxembourg SICAV.

At Goldman Sachs, where he worked for eight years, Pant was most recently executive director with Goldman Sachs Principal Strategies in London. He will join DSP’s existing Indian equity investment team based in Mumbai.

The fund aims to deliver an annual return of 12-18 per cent while aiming to reduce the normal volatility experienced by investors in Indian equities. The portfolio will invest predominantly in highly liquid listed equities and consist of approximately 25 carefully constructed themes which aim to generate alpha and isolate risk, the firm said.

Magnus Spence, managing partner at DSP, told WealthBriefing that a key question considered by the firm when constructing the fund was “What is the smart way of investing in India?”

"The dispersion of returns in large, liquid Indian equities is substantial, and greater than that which is found in most other markets. This creates significant opportunities for the generation of alpha,” said Spence, explaining the rationale behind the fund. 

Meanwhile t1ps Investment Management is to launch its next unit trust, the Elite t1ps India Fund, in August 2011, a fund which will invest in small-medium sized Indian companies which the fund manager considers to be fundamentally undervalued. TIM has also recruited a new fund manager to be based in Mumbai who will manage the portfolio in conjunction with TIM’s senior fund manager Tom Winnifrith.

The firm also plans to open an office in Mumbai as of January 2012; this will become the base for its fund management, media and software activities within India.