Jio BlackRock to disrupt India funds with low-cost strategy

Jio BlackRock Asset Management plans to introduce nearly a dozen equity and debt funds in India by the year-end, focusing on small-ticket investments and bypassing distributors to reduce costs, three people familiar with the firm's strategy said.

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The joint venture between Jio Financial Services, backed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and BlackRock, enters India’s 72.2 trillion rupee ($844 billion) funds market with a business structure that threatens to shake up the sector, as it leverages its large digital network to bypass traditional distributors used by the rest of the industry.

Jio BlackRock plans to leverage Jio, India's largest telecom network, and BlackRock’s investment management platform Aladdin, to offer differentiated products in the crowded market, two of the three sources said.

The asset manager has applied to the market regulator to launch eight funds, the two sources said, adding to the first three funds it launched last month.

The funds will allow for investments as low as 500 rupees ($5.83), the two sources said.

The asset manager said on Monday that it has raised more than $2.1 billion across three debt mutual fund schemes and that 90 institutional investors and 67,000 retail investors have invested in these funds so far.