Troubled Swiss asset manager GAM is set to shutter an Indian equities fund. The retreat comes after its tie-up with a prominent Indian fund fell apart.
Swiss-based GAM said it will wind down and shut its Star India Equity Fund later this month after the fund failed to win enough assets to keep itself alive. The closure of the fund, which invested in listed Indian firms poised for growth, comes shortly after Mumbai-based New Horizon called time on a three-year partnership with GAM.
«The closure of this fund is in line with with our strategy to simplify our product range to concentrate on the most promising and scalable strategies,» a spokesman for GAM said, confirming a report by speciality publication «International Advisor».
No Longer Sufficient
«We continuously review our product offering and if a fund’s current and projected level of assets under management are no longer sufficient to justify its continue operation, it automatically gets reviewed,» the spokesperson added.
GAM had managed the fund on its own since January, when New Horizon stepped away. The Indian closure is the least of GAM's worries: Thesset manager is fighting to survive after bleeding 8.5 billion Swiss francs ($8.5 billion) in the third quarter, the first report since it suspended star bond fund manager Tim Haywood in July.
Takeover Candidate?
The Swiss asset manager is now being treated as a takeover candidate – potentially also by UBS, which originally bought the boutique from founder Gilbert de Botton in 1999, as finews.asia reported on Wednesday.
