UTI AMC likely to get a head soon

UTI Asset Management Company's 18-month-long wait for a boss may be finally ending.

A report in The Economic Times says the AMC's board has recommended three names to the shareholders, who will take a final decision soon.

"The shortlisted candidates are AIG India chief executive and country head Sunil Mehta, senior advisor at McKinsey & Co in India Leo Puri, and Punita Kumar Sinha, former senior managing director of Blackstone Group's India-focused mutual fund," the report said.

Life insurance Corporation, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and T Rowe Price are the share holders of the asset management company.

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The recruitment of a chief has been hanging fire due to various reasons

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One reason, as cited by an earlier Firstpost article, was that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's powerful advisor, Omita Paul, favoured the candidature of her brother, Jitesh Khosla, as the CEO of UTI.

"The surprising thing is not that Paul wants her brother to head the fund, but that the finance ministry is willing to risk a prolonged leadership vacuum - even for a year - to finally push its favoured nominee," the article said.

There were also media reports that suggested US-based fund manager T Rowe Price, the largest shareholder with 26 percent stake, may exit UTI AMC as it is unhappy over the government's decision to appoint an IAS officer with no experience in fund management.

However, with Pranab Mukherjee retiring to Rashtrapati Bhavan, looks like the AMC will get a head soon.

And the fund house has been running headless even as it is managing Rs 61,000 crore of investors' money.