INDIA: Nikko Asset Management (Nikko AM) has entered into a joint venture (JV) with Ambit Holdings to provide investment management and advisory services in the country.
Under the JV, Nikko AM will take up a 50.1% ownership of Ambit Mauritius Investment Managers, which manages Ambit QInvest India Fund, a Shariah compliant long/short India-dedicated equity fund based out of Mauritius. It will also take up to a 49% stake in Ambit Investment Advisors.
The joint venture will also manage and advise the dedicated India funds of Nikko AM and Ambit Holdings, whose assets under management amounted to US$150 million as at the 30th September 2011.
Andrew Holland will be appointed CEO and chief investment officer (CIO) of the as-yet unnamed JV, which will also see Nikko AM assisting Ambit in building out its advisory team in India.
In a related development Bill Wilder, the president and CIO of Nikko AM, will be appointed chairman of the board of Ambit Investment Advisors.
In September, Nikko AM completed a merger with Singapore’s DBS Asset Management (DBSAM), which also gave it a 51% stake in Asian Islamic Investment Management, a joint venture between Singapore’s DBSAM and Hwang-DBS (Malaysia) focused on Shariah compliant investment solutions.