'We Are Committed to the Retail Market in India'

We have a retail DNA and would likr to offer productd that market needs, says Suresh Soni, in conversation with Preeti Kulkarni.

- Preeti Kulkarni

Can you run us past the acquisition and where does DHFL Pramerica stand now?

Year-ended March 2016 was a year of transformation for us. In fact we completed the largest ever acquisition in Indian asset management space. We acquired Deutsche MF which was almost

10 times our size, which is the first time such a thing has happened in India. I would say that it shows our commitment to the market, our commitment to the industry and we have successfully completed that transition. Our AUM in March 2015 was about ₹1,800 crore, which as we speak is approaching around ₹25,000 crore. It has been a wonderful time—year of growth, a year of transition for us and it has not only lead to increase in assets but increase in our capabilities, expansion of our product suite and much better offering to our investors.

What areas are you focusing on right now?

DHFL Pramerica has a retail DNA. DHFL is a large home loan company focused essentially on low and medium end of the market in terms of housing loans. Prudential of America or Pramerica, the other partner, is a joint venture and is an insurance company based out of USA, catering largely to retail population. So we have a retail DNA. We want to be relevant, committed to the retail market in India. We have made sure our product offerings are what the market would like to see, what the retail investors would like to see. They put the right resources ensuring that customer delivery is good for the investment products in terms of performance, in terms of customer service, in terms of overall customer experience and with this background we would like to see our retail footprint increasing and would of course look to build a strong sustainable business on the back of it.

The past 18 months have been a good phase for the industry; how do you view this?