Mutual funds await JioBlackRock's pricing and product strategies

Interesting Days Ahead

- NESIL STANEY

INDIA'S CROWDED MUTUAL funds industry has gone through many challenges. Yet another looms large – a potential disruption caused by the entry of JioBlackRock which brings in scale, digital reach, and global credibility. With the sheer size of BlackRock and the large customer base of Jio, peers will have to look deep within in terms of digital strategy and the rest, experts said.

"The fear of industry disruption from JioBlackRock is real," said Alok Ranjan, a senior fund manager, who heads equity investments at ITI Mutual. "The market, however, is so underpenetrated," he said.

JioBlackRock is a 50:50 venture between Reliance's Jio Financial Services and US-based BlackRock, which has $11.58 trillion assets, mostly in passive exchange-traded funds (ETFs).