LIC Mutual Fund eyes inorganic growth to increase business

Durgapur (WB): LIC Mutual Fund, an associate company of financial behemoth LIC, is looking for inorganic growth to increase its assets under management (AUM), a company official said.

LIC Mutual Fund presently has an AUM of Rs 33,000 crore as of July 2024.

"We are looking at inorganic growth. The company is on the lookout to buyout a fund house and the plan is on the drawing board," Managing Director and CEO of LIC Mutual Fund Ravi Kumar Jha said.

In July 2023, LIC Mutual Fund acquired IDBI Mutual Fund at a consideration of Rs 133 crore.

Jha said, "One fund house is on the radar and money is not a problem to fund the buyout".

He said that at the end of the last financial year, the company's AUM was Rs 27,733 crore. The target AUM at the end of the current financial year is Rs 60,000 crore, and Rs one lakh crore by the end of March 2026.

Referring to the budget which raised the short-term capital gains tax from 15 per cent to 20 per cent for redemption within one year, Jha said that it would be positive for investors.

"The rise in short-term capital gains tax (short term being defined as a time span of 12 months) will prove to be a deterrent for redemption within one year," he said.

Jha said that to increase the business volume, the company is planning to strengthen the branch network across the country.

"We have 36 branches at present. Plans are there to increase this number to 50 by the end of current fiscal," he said.

LIC Mutual Fund is also working on digital transformation by integrating its app with others like Zerodha and Upstox.

The company is also in the process of strengthening its equity fund management team, he said.