MC EXCLUSIVE MC Interview | Jio BlackRock’s big bet: Marrying scale with reach to disrupt India’s mutual fund landscape

We’re very excited to be live and launched. Our first set of funds — primarily cash funds — had a very successful debut, and we’re now progressing with our second set, five index funds. Our vision is to address the entire spectrum of Indian investors by providing affordable, accessible solutions. We aim to achieve this through differentiated products, innovative distribution, and strong digital engagement.

I believe in creating “micro disruptions” — small, consistent innovations in products, investment styles, and customer reach. Over time, these accumulate into larger shifts in the market. It’s a stepwise approach, and we’re just getting started.

Jio has deep consumer reach; BlackRock is a global financial powerhouse. How do you leverage each partner’s strengths?

That’s one of the most exciting aspects of this joint venture — the complementary strengths. Jio brings unmatched presence, an understanding of the Indian consumer, and a strong digital ecosystem. BlackRock contributes global investment expertise, having managed diverse exposures worldwide, including over $100 billion already invested in Indian assets.

We also bring our technology platform, Aladdin — an end-to-end investment management system that helps us design scalable, innovative portfolios and offer clients greater transparency and risk insight. Combining this expertise, technology, and scale allows us to manufacture products more economically, enhancing the value proposition.

So your offering will be both active and passive products?

Exactly. For us, it’s not active versus passive — it’s active and index. We want to provide innovative building blocks across asset classes and investment styles, allowing investors to construct portfolios that suit their goals and life stages.

Our role is to bring differentiated exposures and strategies to India, informed by BlackRock’s experience in global markets. The idea is to offer what works well here but is not yet widely available.

How has the response been to your first set of funds?

We’re very happy. Our first NFOs saw participation from 19 institutions — publicly disclosed — as well as strong corporate inflows. Importantly, retail participation, which is critical in a predominantly retail market like India, has been encouraging.

We have new funds in the NFO stage now, particularly targeted at retail investors, and we’re pleased with the momentum so far.

You mentioned Aladdin earlier. Can you elaborate?

First, Aladdin is BlackRock’s proprietary investment technology platform. It enables us to design and manage funds that are innovative, risk-aware, and scalable. India is a scale market — you need to manufacture at scale and distribute at scale. Aladdin allows us to run sophisticated risk models, perform scenario analysis, and integrate trading to manage portfolios efficiently, whether active or index.

How will you build scale in distribute?

Digital adoption in India is accelerating faster than anywhere else in the world. Investors are increasingly comfortable managing their finances on their phones. Our partner Jio already has a deep understanding of the Indian consumer, and our funds are available on the Jio Finance and MyJio apps, which have millions of users. Beyond Jio, we work with RIAs and other digital platforms. Launching with a digital-first strategy in such a strong ecosystem gives us a powerful start.

So Jio’s platform is the primary driver? Or do you have alternate distribution strategies?

We meet the market where it is. Jio’s platform is a strong starting point, but education will be critical. We’re investing time and effort into explaining our value proposition — why we’re here, why we believe we can win, and how our products can help investors. That message will go out through digital channels, RIAs, and other partners, guiding people to platforms they already trust.

How big is the distribution network you’re building? You’re up against strong incumbents.

The reach is already significant. Jio has 460 million telecom users across India — a diverse, nationwide customer base. Combined with our other digital partners and RIAs, we’re addressing a large share of the market from day one.

Like Coca Coal’s CEO once said famously, Pepsi wasn’t Coco Cola’s competition but it was nariyal pani, nimbu pani and water. India’s biggest competition for mutual funds isn’t just other fund houses — it’s traditional savings. How do you tap into this vast opportunity?

You’re right — there’s huge runway. From a macro perspective, India has strong tailwinds: robust economic growth potential, a demographic dividend, and generally well-managed inflation. Investor participation in mutual funds is still in the teens as a percentage of GDP, compared with ~80% in the UK and ~150% in the US.

The industry has been working hard on education and awareness, and we want to be part of that effort — adding our own perspective and messaging. We aim to help build knowledge, trust, and confidence, so more investors see mutual funds as a viable option. Our platform is one way to access them, but the surrounding education — both on and off the platform — is just as important.

Back to Aladdin — how does it help with index funds? Almost every AMC has one, and fees are low. What’s your edge?

Tracking an index isn’t as simple as buying the same stocks in the same proportions. Transaction costs, cash flows, and market events can all create tracking errors.

Aladdin helps minimize that gap — what we call “tracking difference” — through integrated risk models, stress testing, and trading strategy optimization. For example, during index rebalancing, we can assess potential market impact and trade strategically to reduce costs.

BlackRock has managed trillions in index assets globally for many years, and we’ve honed this capability at scale. That efficiency lets us operate cost-effectively and pass some of the savings back to investors. In short, our edge is delivering index returns as closely as possible to the benchmark, with lower costs and tighter tracking.

And in market share — where will Jio BlackRock be in five years?

We’re just getting started. We’ve launched only a handful of funds, with more coming in the next few months. Right now, we’re in a “launch and learn” phase with a differentiated, digital-first strategy.

The bigger picture is the market itself — we believe the Indian mutual fund industry could be 2–3x its current size in five years. Our share will depend on how our strategy plays out, but in a few months, we’ll be better placed to set realistic, ambitious targets.

Given Jio’s history, that 2–3x could be 10x — with Jio BlackRock as the catalyst. Possible?

It’s possible. The 2–3x view is based on current trends, but we’d love to be the player that accelerates growth even further.

Could you trigger a complete shift in how Indians invest?

If we can quickly build trust and comfort with investors, participation could accelerate fast — especially since access is as simple as opening an app. The ultimate “big disruptor” after a series of smaller ones could be a market where most investors are comfortable going fully digital for mutual funds.

The government’s push is financialization of savings. With SIPs starting at ₹500, what’s the growth potential in that segment?

SIPs are fantastic — they encourage disciplined, long-term investing through cost averaging. Their growth shows more people see the benefits and stick with it.

Our mission is to make investing easier, more accessible, and more affordable. Offering SIPs from Rs 500 is a powerful way to bring more first-time investors into the market, especially via digital channels.

Watch: Jio BlackRock CEO Sid Swaminathan on strategy, innovation edge, and India’s MF boom

You have a broad international perspective, having seen the mutual fund industry globally. This is your first professional assignment in India. How does India compare internationally, particularly with other large emerging markets at a similar stage?

I might sound biased now that I’m here, but I genuinely believe the potential in India is above and beyond many other emerging markets. There are other countries on a similar growth path, but the combination of macroeconomic trends, rapid digital adoption, and where the market is starting from is unique to India. That’s what made this opportunity so exciting for me — to help build and launch a company here. Compared with other parts of the world, this is an incredibly dynamic and promising space.

Read More: Jio BlackRock CEO backs index investing, but will straddle active strategies too

Let’s talk about index investing. Globally, a lot of concerns have been flagged including challenges like index concentration, size bias because of market-cap weighting, and herding around index stocks creating greater inefficiency in the market. Some global champions of passive investing, like Vanguard, have also launched active funds. Where do you stand on the active versus passive debate? Will your initial focus remain on index funds?

For me, it’s never been “active versus passive,” it’s “active and passive.” Both have a place in an investor’s portfolio. Specifically for India, index investing still has a long growth runway. While the share of passive funds in the total industry is in the high teens—maybe approaching 20%—Europe is at 33–35% and the U.S. around 50%. And those global trends are continuing despite the challenges you mentioned. So, the opportunity for indexing in India is very strong.

That said, it’s equally important to offer a thoughtful range of active funds alongside passive products. Our strategy is to serve all investor types—corporates, retail—and provide both active and index solutions.

Read More: Jio BlackRock sees digital trust as ‘ultimate disruptor’ in mutual fund race

From a regulatory standpoint, is there any scope to create conditions that could accelerate industry growth? Are there any regulations from the U.S. or Europe—such as allowing third-party checks in money market funds—that could be adapted here?

We’re still at an early stage in launching our funds and engaging with regulators. One thing my global experience has taught me is that regulatory environments differ in every country—what works well in one place can’t just be “lifted and shifted” elsewhere. As we learn more about the Indian market, we’ll be in a better position to work with regulators on possible enhancements, drawing on global experience but adapting to local needs. Ultimately, these are Indian funds for Indian investors, so localization is key. That’s been consistent with BlackRock’s approach globally.

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