BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) hosted an event with Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management to introduce its partners in India to global and regional distributors looking for potential growth above GCC frontiers. The event gathered more than 100 attendees and discussed the main growth themes in India, mainly energy, entertainment and financial services.
With an optimistic outlook, Muneer Fulayfil, Director Middle East and Africa for BNPP IP, said: “Thanks to our partners in India, one of the top ten equity fund managers, Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management, we offer our clients unique opportunities to access the Indian market. Considering the average 8.5% per annum GDP growth over the past 5 years, we are confident that this evolution will sustain over the long-term despite the challenging near-term global and local economic environment.”
Nalam Prasad, Deputy CEO and CIO of Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management also commented saying “Our philosophy is very much client driven, and as a result, we are very happy to have met investors in the GCC, as we want them to benefit from our local expertise.” During his presentation, he stressed that emerging changes in infrastructure, rural India, demographics and energy have an overwhelming importance in the still-nascent growth story in India. He also expected Gas production to more than double in the next three to five years and alter the economic landscape over the long term.
To capitalize on this promising growth, Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management has launched five products under the Select Thematic Funds umbrella including three in 2008. They thus reaffirm their strong conviction in the potential of the Indian market, just like they did in early 2002, when launching two equity funds – Select Focus, a pure-large capitalization product, and Select Mid Cap. These two funds have now become leading products in their category with critical acclaim from the multiple third party entities, both locally and internationally.