Capitalmind, Cosmea Financial apply for mutual fund licences

Three new fund houses entered the Indian MF industry in 2023.

Two new firms — portfolio management service (PMS) Capitalmind Financial Services and new-age financial conglomerate Cosmea Financial Holdings — have applied for mutual fund licences with capital markets regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The companies join the likes of a joint venture between Jio Financial Services Ltd & BlackRock Financial Management as well as Angel One in seeking mutual fund licences.

Capitalmind Financial Services, which was founded by Deepak Shenoy, applied for an in-principle approval for a mutual fund licence on January 5, 2024, the latest mutual fund applications status update shows. The application is under the consideration of SEBI.

Founded in 2014, Capitalmind manages Rs 1,700 crore and has 1,028 clients.

As per Shenoy’s Linkedin profile, he has founded Moneyoga.com, a start-up focused on stock market investors. Shenoy was also CEO-India at Flovate Technologies (since sold to WNS) and CEO and Co-Founder at Agni Software.

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Cosmea Financial Holdings, founded by Soumen Ghosh, applied for a licence on February 27, 2024. Cosmea group operates all its businesses under the brand name of Torus.

Ghosh has 25 years of experience in the insurance industry. Over the years, he has held top positions in multiple business groups in the BFSI (banking and financial services industry) sector, such as Allianz Australia, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance (CEO) and Reliance Capital (ED & Group CEO).

The latest update, provided by SEBI on March 31, also shows brokerage house Abira Securities is no more an applicant for a mutual fund licence. The company had sent an application on December 14.

A joint venture between Jio Financial Services Ltd & BlackRock Financial Management on October 19 filed papers with SEBI to launch mutual fund business in India.

Angel One was granted in-principle approval on February 8, 2023, and is awaiting final registration from the regulator.

At present, the Indian mutual fund industry is one of the most competitive sectors with 43 players and more looking to enter the space, which manages assets worth more than Rs 54.45 trillion.

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Three new fund houses entered the Indian MF industry in 2023 -- Bajaj Finserv Asset Management, Samir Arora’s Helios Mutual Fund and Zerodha Fund House.

All eyes are on the much-awaited launch of Jio-BlackRock Asset Management. BlackRock Asset Managers is the world’s largest fund house.

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Earlier, it was present in India as DSP BlackRock but both entities — India’s DSP and BlackRock —  parted ways in 2018. BlackRock has now re-entered India, partnering with Jio Financial Services (JFS).

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