Sebi nod for Indiabulls' MF business

Indiabulls Financial Services has got the regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to set up an asset management company. The new company, which will undertake the mutual fund business, will be a subsidiary of Indiabulls Financial Services, said market sources. When contacted Indiabulls spokesperson confirmed that the company has received Sebi approval for starting a mutual fund business.

As of now 33 fund houses are present in the Indian MF space. Additionally, a handful of firms, foreign as well as domestic, are in different stages of seeking regulatory approvals for launching their AMC businesses, mainly lured by the tremendous growth opportunity they see in this business. Going by assets under management (AUM), in the last one year to January, the industry has grown by a whopping 61.6% to Rs 5.48 lakh crore from Rs 3.37 lakh crore as of January 2007.

Along with the growth in AUM, valuation of fund houses has also shot up. Of late, two deals in the asset management space has pushed the valuations of fund houses to a new peak.