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Business News/ Companies / Ashu Suyash to take over as Crisil CEO in place of Roopa Kudva
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Ashu Suyash to take over as Crisil CEO in place of Roopa Kudva

Suyash is known for her practical, yet unconventional approach towards expanding businesses

A file photo of Ashu Suyash. Photo: Hemant Mishra/MintPremium
A file photo of Ashu Suyash. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint

Mumbai: Ashu Suyash on Monday quit as chief executive of L&T Investment Management Ltd to head ratings agency Crisil Ltd, marking the exit of the only woman to head an asset management company in Asia’s thir-biggest economy. Suyash takes over from Roopa Kudva as the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Crisil with effect from 1 June, Crisil said in a release.

Following a 550 crore acquisition of Fidelity Worldwide Investment’s India asset management business by the mutual fund arm of diversified conglomerate Larsen&Toubro Ltd on March 27, 2012, Suyash was appointed as the CEO of L&T Investment Management.

Fidelity, the second-biggest fund house in the world (after Vanguard), had hired Suyash as the country head for its India operations in 2005. And, following the acquisition of Fidelity’s mutual fund assets by L&T MF, the combined entity got a total average assets under management (AUM) of about 13,497 crore on the basis of data available for the quarter ended December 2011. However, the deal by L&T was termed by many analysts then as one of the expensive ones since Fidelity Mutual Fund then had a cumulative loss of 333 crore. In 2010-11, its losses had more than doubled to 62.39 crore from the year earlier. Fidelity MF had average AUM of 8,881 crore in the quarter ended December and at 550 crore, the deal value was 6.2% of the AUM.

Historically, acquisitions of Indian mutual funds have been consummated at valuations ranging from 1.6% to 13% of AUM. But despite its mounting losses, Fidelity managed to clinch the deal at a higher-than-average valuation due to its large portfolio of equity fund assets (around 80%), which were built under Suyash’s leadership and her unconventional business approach over the span of seven years.

Sundeep Sikka, chief executive of Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd and chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), said Suyash is “very composed, articulate and passionate" about her work.

“Ashu has a valuable experience as a banker and as a mutual fund manager. She has seen the world from both the sides as a corporate banker and an asset manager. We would like to compliment her on the enormous knowledge she got in the pension space and her work with Amfi on it. I am sure Crisil will benefit from her experience. The industry’s association with her will continue as rating agencies work very closely with the mutual fund industry, but we will surely miss her work in the fund management industry," Sikka added.

Prior to her stint at Fidelity as managing director and country head of the asset management business that she helped set up in 2005, Suyash worked with Citigroup India. During her 15-year tenure with Citigroup, she held several positions across operations, investment banking, finance, sales and marketing, and general management.

Navneet Munot, chief investment officer at SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd, said Suyash’s “efforts in building the Fidelity’s fund management business in India is something commendable and unforgettable. She has seen the financial services industry from different sides and during different phases. Her past transitions both from Citigroup to Fidelity and Fidelity to L&T have been successful ones and the latest move too should be. Given her breadth of experience, she should do well in Crisil too."

Suyash is known for her grounded and practical, yet unconventional approach towards expanding businesses. During her tenure at Fidelity, the fund house was focusing on low-margin products to attract customers through greater volumes of sales. Under Suyash’s leadership, L&T MF managed 30 MF schemes, with 13 being equity-oriented, 13 debt-oriented, one fund of fund and three hybrid funds. Under Suyash, the L&T Investment Management business has almost doubled in the past two years with assets under management growing to more than 22,000 crore.

Suraj Kaeley, group president (sales and marketing) at UTI Mutual Fund, said, “Ashu is a people’s person. She manages relationships very well and that’s useful in building organizations. She also has a good feel of the macro which is a strength. The transition, when Fidelity’s India asset management business was sold to L&T MF, was managed very well. It was a fantastically managed transaction I would say. Every single person from the Fidelity team was retained."

“L&T has done very well under Ashu. The numbers show that...they have nearly doubled their assets under her," he added.

Vishwanath Nair contributed to the story.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anirudh Laskar
Anirudh reports on significant corporate matters including large mergers and acquisitions, India's emerging e-commerce sector and regulatory issues in the corporate and financial services industry. Over the past 17 years, he has covered many beats including banking, NBFCs, aviation, automobile, insurance, markets, SEBI, IRDAI, mutual funds, investment banking, private equity, deals, and conglomerates.
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Published: 16 Mar 2015, 07:18 PM IST
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